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Boots / shoes to wear with your flight jacket s...

CBI

Well-Known Member
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stanier

Well-Known Member
Found these Loake Loxley boots and had to get a pair. Remind me of M-42 Sevice Shoes but with a more civilian brogue look. Made in a UK G width last so likely need to size down half a size if you get a pair, as I did and a great fit. I think they'll go well with chino's, selvedge denim or smart trousers. Very happy with these.

Will probably change the laces for flat waxed ones though...
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stanier

Well-Known Member
Job done and laces changed for 4mm brown waxed with brass aglets (didn't know that word until today!) Not an easy job as I discovered the aglets were fractionally wider than the boot eyelets, so had to carefully remove them, thread the laces and refit the aglets - bit of pain but pleased with the result which I think looks much better than round laces. The new laces are longer too so I don't have to unthread them to get the boots on and off thankfully!
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LV426

Well-Known Member
Finaly , some news from ATF US boots !! We'll have to wait , but this time it seems that even "the Boss" is happy . I really like the soles and heels new ATF molds ! The shape of the hankle of the Jump boots seems more "in the spirit" of the original ( I can compare with the 1943 pairs i own and they are mre accurate that the modern days Corcoran , I have just a prob with the shape of the heel counter that is - like the most repros - not enough rounded , other details too , but it's just MHO )
I'm really curious about the service shoes type 1 not shown here . ATF never did some before , as far as I know the only repro dealer is SM Wolesale whot provides beautiful ones (out of stock ).

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LV426

Well-Known Member
I need to get my m-42 service shoes resoled and reheeled. Is there a good source of repro hard wearing US Army Light Tread rubber parts? I've found these but not sure of quality? https://smwca.com/products/wwii-u-s-army-jump-boot-replacement-light-tread-rubber-heels
I replaced the heels of my jump boots with ATF heels , they still have some , but the link you provide , like the one on ATF site are for jump boots exclusively . I see that SMW have some correct replacement heels for your M42 , I found also these on etsy , I order some just to get stock ( lot of US ww2 boots ! ) . I choosen thses cause the import price and the fact that I believe that these heels will be less soft than the SMW ones that are too soft to my taste . I will order replacement soles too from ATF for my M42 and 43 here is the link
 

Thomas Koehle

Well-Known Member
Finaly , some news from ATF US boots !! We'll have to wait , but this time it seems that even "the Boss" is happy . I really like the soles and heels new ATF molds ! The shape of the hankle of the Jump boots seems more "in the spirit" of the original ( I can compare with the 1943 pairs i own and they are mre accurate that the modern days Corcoran , I have just a prob with the shape of the heel counter that is - like the most repros - not enough rounded , other details too , but it's just MHO )
I'm really curious about the service shoes type 1 not shown here . ATF never did some before , as far as I know the only repro dealer is SM Wolesale whot provides beautiful ones (out of stock ).

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Hi @LV426 Yves,

THX for sharing!

I own a very early pair of ATF boondockers as well as Service boots. They must be more than 10 yrs old but have not been used yet.

Back then the BOONIEs have been extremely wide - sole was the standard Army-version (yeah ATF admitted it was too expensive to copy those cord-soles) so not that convincing.

I will try to grab some pics as soon as i'm back home ...

What's your opinion Yves about to most accurate repops on the market?

As from photos that i see its SMWholesale???

WW2 IMPRESSIONS even had USMC-para boots in roughout. Unfortunately i was too slow to order and when i decided to pull the trigger my size was sold out ...
 

LV426

Well-Known Member

LV426

Well-Known Member
Hi @LV426 Yves,

THX for sharing!

I own a very early pair of ATF boondockers as well as Service boots. They must be more than 10 yrs old but have not been used yet.

Back then the BOONIEs have been extremely wide - sole was the standard Army-version (yeah ATF admitted it was too expensive to copy those cord-soles) so not that convincing.

I will try to grab some pics as soon as i'm back home ...

What's your opinion Yves about to most accurate repops on the market?

As from photos that i see its SMWholesale???

WW2 IMPRESSIONS even had USMC-para boots in roughout. Unfortunately i was too slow to order and when i decided to pull the trigger my size was sold out ...
Too slow to order , that's the story of my life !!!! Ahahahaha ! About the cord soles you can go to Dr Sole that makes some really great soles and heels , I own some and used them to resole an 1943 Type 3 pair .
Yes , the modern repros tends to be wide from D to EE . But that's not a big deal , for me ( my taste ), I always order half or one size higher to get some thick trek socks and thick leather insoles had comfort ( see pics ) These insoles have the advantage to be leather and get some xtra support AND be wide enough to ensure your feet a good stability. The Munson Last is wide by nature , I love that , never felt more comfy !
The more accurate repros ... hard to tell. I would say for the past that about the rough out Type 2 and 3 and jump boots made by Corcoran for private sellers like ATF , WWII impression and also Doursoux are great value. But Corcoran stopped producing them as you may know : too bad . About SMW I can only talk about the type2 that are IMHO not as good as they should for the price . Leather too thin , soles and heels too soft and the shape of the counter heel is not accurate at all . I had two pairs that I sold , that's just my opinion , there is a site who made a review and they find them good - http://www.90thidpg.us/Equipment/Reviews/SMWServiceShoes/index.html .
Then I decided to go for original ones , more expensive , hard to find and to resole but to get the accuracy I had to do that. I made mistake once buying a pair with leather like cardboard , it never happened again , like for og leather jackets I think !!! Now got 2 pairs of type 2 in good leather and seams conditions , a pair of rough out type 3 cap toe really good condition too and 3 pairs of jump boots , 2 Corcoran and 1 International shoes 1943 ( hells like the ones that ATF sell ) .
About the other brands like Buzz Rickson , as I know the only shoes that they still produce are the Type 3 ( I just got a type 2 pair second hand , NICE ), high quality but expensives , my thoughs - I'd prefer wait for the ATF ones .
For a small budget the Sturm Mil-tec are not bad , especially the service shoes type 2 and 3 , I would go for jump boots .Reason : accuracy of the Last , for me they are not trur Munson Last , that is very important for good repros . And if you find the ATF wide , the Mil-Tec are much more wide especially on the middle of the foot ( you see ? ) that provocs a certain instability and miscomfort . Mil-tec has good reviews oin Youtube by reenoactors , but I'm not one .
I forgot the Real Mc Coy's , for the price they have to be super high quality !! or with gold eyelets ;p . They are over priced , it's a joke to me.
To find good repros I go for the second hand now . I found a good seller "fatalitas" , here are some boots he sells , one pair of original resoled ( I would have bought 'em but I already did for his BR type2) He is in France , so for Eu members , no taxes !!




I hope my answer is not too long and in "quite good english" !!!!
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stanier

Well-Known Member
Too slow to order , that's the story of my life !!!! Ahahahaha ! About the cord soles you can go to Dr Sole that makes some really great soles and heels , I own some and used them to resole an 1943 Type 3 pair .
Yes , the modern repros tends to be wide from D to EE . But that's not a big deal , for me ( my taste ), I always order half or one size higher to get some thick trek socks and thick leather insoles had comfort ( see pics ) These insoles have the advantage to be leather and get some xtra support AND be wide enough to ensure your feet a good stability. The Munson Last is wide by nature , I love that , never felt more comfy !
The more accurate repros ... hard to tell. I would say for the past that about the rough out Type 2 and 3 and jump boots made by Corcoran for private sellers like ATF , WWII impression and also Doursoux are great value. But Corcoran stopped producing them as you may know : too bad . About SMW I can only talk about the type2 that are IMHO not as good as they should for the price . Leather too thin , soles and heels too soft and the shape of the counter heel is not accurate at all . I had two pairs that I sold , that's just my opinion , there is a site who made a review and they find them good - http://www.90thidpg.us/Equipment/Reviews/SMWServiceShoes/index.html .
Then I decided to go for original ones , more expensive , hard to find and to resole but to get the accuracy I had to do that. I made mistake once buying a pair with leather like cardboard , it never happened again , like for og leather jackets I think !!! Now got 2 pairs of type 2 in good leather and seams conditions , a pair of rough out type 3 cap toe really good condition too and 3 pairs of jump boots , 2 Corcoran and 1 International shoes 1943 ( hells like the ones that ATF sell ) .
About the other brands like Buzz Rickson , as I know the only shoes that they still produce are the Type 3 ( I just got a type 2 pair second hand , NICE ), high quality but expensives , my thoughs - I'd prefer wait for the ATF ones .
For a small budget the Sturm Mil-tec are not bad , especially the service shoes type 2 and 3 , I would go for jump boots .Reason : accuracy of the Last , for me they are not trur Munson Last , that is very important for good repros . And if you find the ATF wide , the Mil-Tec are much more wide especially on the middle of the foot ( you see ? ) that provocs a certain instability and miscomfort . Mil-tec has good reviews oin Youtube by reenoactors , but I'm not one .
I forgot the Real Mc Coy's , for the price they have to be super high quality !! or with gold eyelets ;p . They are over priced , it's a joke to me.
To find good repros I go for the second hand now . I found a good seller "fatalitas" , here are some boots he sells , one pair of original resoled ( I would have bought 'em but I already did for his BR type2) He is in France , so for Eu members , no taxes !!




I hope my answer is not too long and in "quite good english" !!!!
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Brilliant answer and I appreciate all the detail, thank you!
 
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