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British vs US 1960s Jungle Boots
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 21 มี.ค. 2020
- A comparison of British and US jungle footwear from the late 1960s.
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I think those British boots are a physical manifestation of the government sending the soldiers "thoughts and prayers"
The US issue Jungle Boots were my favorite boots in the Army. I had these issued to me when I was stationed in Panama. I went through 3 pairs of theses boots when we went out to the jungle during exercises because the jungles of Panama were no joke especially being in Airborne Infantry. Usually each soldier would be issued 2 pairs when getting your gear from Central Issue facility and assigned to your battalion. Once you got to battalion and to your company, you were issued another pair so you got 3. Two pairs were for the field and one for garrison. We had Carlos our Boot Man. This guy was a Panamanian who could put a mirror shine on any boot or shoe for everyone in the battalion along with his 4 man crew for $10.00 US Dollars a month. Inside your boot he would stencil your name and your Social Security Number which is also our service number. Everyone from the Battalion Commander, Battalion Sergeant Major, down to Private. These boots were very tough. Only the sweat from your feet will destroy the leather eventually from marching, but your garrison boots will last up to 3 years. I still had my garrison boots when I left Panama to Hawaii. There in Hawaii my garrison boots finally got destroyed and I had another new pair for garrison. The boot was great because the water would drain out from the holed grommets on the arch side of the boots. Fantastic boots and loved them. Today the issue boots with the Panama sole are collectors items and going up in price. The original Vietnam Vibram style tread are really rare because they were still issued until all manufactured were exhausted from remaining inventory issued to soldiers and destroyed from field and combat use. I think I still have 2 brand new pairs lost in my storage issued from Hawaii. By 1995 the OD canvas style was no longer approved for wear and they went to an all black nylon upper but still with the Panama tread. The new black nylon upper Jungle Boots really sucked because the stitching was weak and the nylon uppers broke loose. The black boots are still around on the surplus market because they were not popular and still a fair price.
They are a cracking design it has to be said. Thanks very much for all the information, always interesting to read!
"Right fellows, we need a new jungle boot; any ideas?"
"SAND SHOES!"
"Now there's a good idea"
"No wait I didn't actua---"
Hah, well, as I say, the initial design lies with the US. Why Britain copied it after the US had decided it wasn't fit for purpose I do not know.
I have the Alt Berg version of the US jungle boot. I used it in the Jungle National parks in Malaysia a few years ago while doing anti tiger poaching work. The local guides we used had these rubber shoes with football stud molded sole called "Adidas Kampong" and they just cut holes in the side to drain the water out. I got a pair for $3AUD.
There are military outsole style Kg Adidias nowadays available. They are pure rubber so good for river crossings.
Beware the cheap 'jungle boots'. For light use wear, they are fine but they DO NOT hold up for hard field use.
The Chinese copies have been called 'Halloween Boots', because they last about long enough to be part of a trick-or-treat costume. I've been through many a pair as cheap work boots
Yeah, I picked up a pair of the Chinese repros to wear with Vietnam era kit for demonstration parachute jumps. Not nearly as solid as my old jungle boots I bought at the PX 30nyears ago (which, unfortunately are black, or I would have used those). Good enough for light use, but definately "disposable" because they will not hold up in the long run.
We had the British Green boots issued in Belize but we tended to wear our standard boots. The canvas boots were great to pack in the rucksack when needing dry foot wear.
Ian is a good source for quality Items! (not mentioning he is my Cousin) LOL - back in the 80's we could get US Jungle boots for $3.00 a pair Brand new at the Surplus Shop :(
Those were the days eh? I wasn't even alive in those heady days!
@@RiflemanMoore there is a pair of British 1944 on ebay right now size 10 if anyone needs a set
think $39.00
I got 1950s era US air force winter pants with suspenders thick and heavy with all kinds of pockets and super duty zippers for 5 bucks and matching Jacket with fur hood for 10 dollars in 1983 even in blizzard your sweating your ass of in 10 min of walking or working.
I went to Indonesia a few years back and visited the jungles of northern Sumatra. We were told to bring sturdy footwear like hiking trainers etc. which were absolutely not up to the task (at that time it was the dry season but nevertheless there were downpours every evening and everything was wet). Our guides who were native to the area only wore very cheap injection moulded rubber sneakers, which they have modified by burning holes in them, so the water would be able to get out. Needless to say most of us ended up purchasing those sneakers after a few days. I can’t even imagine what these lads had to go through during the Indonesian confrontation. Thank you for the great video.
I still wore those US jungle boots in Desert storm. The same boots my dad wore in Vietnam but three decades later.
Edit: come to think of it the same rifle and web gear too!
I've seen quite a few photos of them worn in the Gulf, yes! A question, did you do anything about the drainage eyelets? I've read that many glued them up to stop sand getting in.
@@RiflemanMoore personally i didn't have an issue with sand. It was chilly and I had my feet in thick civy synthetic socks.
Interesting, thanks for the info.
@@RiflemanMoore using 100mph tape inside the boots to fair over the eyelets when wearing jungle boots in the desert was common in the 82nd Airborne before the desert boots saw widespread issue.
Used the US boot as a dog handler in the British Army...you could get away with them in summer if you boot blacked the green bit. Great bit of kit for long summer patrols.
I,ve worn the american boots ,,,,and they are comfy and don,t swell around your ankle when sleeping, those british boots are just terrible !
Agreed.
The US jungle boots are so good that I used to wear them year-round in the field, even in the snow. I dumped the "leg" combat boots as a new private and it was jungles in the field, Corcorans in garrison.
And until the Army switched to black nylon in the late 1980s, the "proper" way (for experienced soldiers) to wear them was with OD 550 cord ("paracord") instead of the issue laces.
It's noteworthy that when the US Army switched to the brown "suede" boots as the standard combat boot, they basically used the desert boot as the model - which was really just a tan jungle boot with rough out leather instead of smooth.
Great job again take care out there particularly at present !
Thank you!
How our higher-ups didn't look at this as an obvious bad idea and have it changed like the yanks did is a shock.
US has a higher line to prevent water getting in interns of where the canvas starts and then obviously the drainage
I remember seeing captions to photos referring to Bata boots got the impression they were made in Malaysia
Indeed so, generally a term used to refer to the shorter boots (think Converse high tops) usually carried and worn at night, which I mentioned in the video.
@@RiflemanMoore ah !
Bata was a major shoe company that originated in Austria-Hungary in 1894 and eventually spread over most of the planet. Bata's headquarters was in Toronto, Ontario for many years, but gradually closed down operations and moved to Switzerland, leaving only the Bata Shoe Museum behind.
Sonja Bata, who died two years ago, was a good supporter of the Canadian Armed Forces, being active with the Canadian Forces Liaison Council, which promotes relationships with employers of Reservists, and served as an RCN Honorary Captain for over two decades.
I had a pair of British jungle boots for Kenya that I also did P-Coy in. By that time the soles were the BCH type with spike protection and the leather was a smooth chromed black with a leather strip ant the rear. The drain holes were the big ones as found on the combat caps.
I've been looking for videos on 1950s and 60s type us army combat boots for my winter garrison uniform, mainly to see if speedlace and specific types of soles were used on them. The pair I got was a 2003 boot, and they aren't quite the same, but they should pass the "15 foot rule" that I go by, mainly the top being insulated, the sole and the speedlace, and I want to know if this type was used at all then, as I've seen the ripple sole type boots in period films. Otherwise, I want to know if they could be easily modified to be more period correct
Excellent video!
Thank you!
The US J boot is fantastic even to this day lovely large Panama sole metal plate for spike protection the drains and overall an almost perfect design used them on both my NZSAS selections (failed both)
Nice comparison but no boot will keep your feet dry in the jungle.....constantly wet...which is why many Americans went sockless and just wore the boots.
Interestingly the Australians never adopted the British jungle boot despite being deployed to Malaya as well. The Australians in Vietnam instead issued leather AB’s with tall gaiters or else the black leather GP boot.
Another fine video. TQ.
Thank you!
The funny thing is that converse actually have side eyelets!
Hah, that's true, some do indeed.
The Americans spent more than 1/6 on them.
The British ones did kind of save my life at the Glastonbury Festival 1990 when my collection DMS boots tore my feet to blisters, luckily I had my trusty collection British Jungle boots to wear.... I did a lot a lot of walking there.
My collection works for a living.
True that. The US definitely put a lot of time effort and money into the design as well as eventual manufacture.
What a sharp contrast! Canada didn't really have a version to my knowledge. It's hard to believe that the British version could have ever been accepted for service. Obviously the designer and those that approved the British boot, never had to use them in jungle conditions. Night and day!
Exactly so! I think Canada would have issued standard combat boots in the tropics in a similar period if needed. Australia stuck with a standard combat boot after its introduction in the early years of their involvement in Vietnam.
Canada did not issue a jungle boot gunnerjames is correct ..However that being said, if you had a pair or were going to a climate that required them you could wear them as a private purchase they were all the rage in the late 70's right up until about 1995...and some time onwards..i wish i still had mine...so essentially depending on your unit or RSM you were allowed
I like the British made. I use it during 1980 during operation in Sarawak...fight against communist (Paraku).
Saya dari Malaysia juga.
They said the British made is useless when walking through the rough jungle terrain.
I was issued 2 pairs of the American boots over the years, first pair was the green canvas upper.then a few years later I was issued the all black with speed lacing. Very comfortable once broken in. I wore mine for years and loved them. First pair with issued in Bosnia and the second was issued for kosovo
We got the black ones for OP Grapple 1, I only found out they had steel plates in the sole when I went though airport security in Karachi around 10 years later.
Interesting that they were issued in Bosnia, what was the logic there?
@@RiflemanMoore summer there is scorching so they issued them as part of the hot weather issue. Got issued jungle boots and a floppy hat.
@@RiflemanMoore thinking back to that tour, I turned up wearing CABs, was issued jungle boots out there. Then when winter came in I was issued a pair of pro boots and one of those deputy dog hats. Went home with more kit than I arrived with lol
@@andrewjohnston4127 They were issued to us under the "Boots Warm Weather" monica.
We also got issued winter boots as well, the temperature ranged from +40 in Split to - 50 wind chill in the Dinaric Alps - and you could drive it in less than a day.
Nice touch there with the dog tag.
Thanks, they came to me like this.
I did get this from wikipedia , but it said that some Australian soldiers in Vietnam were willing to trade their Slouch hats for a pair of American jungle boots. I'm unsure of the truth in said claim though.
I've read this too though photos show Aussie use of US jungle boots was very limited outside of the SASR.
Did lads not simply poke a couple of holes into the badly designed (surprise surprise) British issue boots? or was it verboten? The ingenuity of the average British lad would likely see diy improvements made sharpish, anyone have any knowledge of customisation via a sharp implement?.
I have the German version of the American style boots, but in the UK it seems like a death sentence to wear boots like these.
I noticed your American boots are a size 12. Do they run true to size or run smaller or larger? Thanks for the video btw.
They run to size but US sizes are a size up from their UK equivalent, these are equivalent to a UK 11.
The only time I ever wore those British jungle boots were for unarmed combat displays at the Royal Tournament, they were fine for walking around Earls court 😂
About right for that! Not much use for anything else.
Those British jungle boots were probably designed by a Rupert who stayed at the camp because he had the conections from the higher ups . Hahahahahaha
They were essentially copied from a US design.
From my own experience in the 90s the British Jungle boot was clearly unfit for purpose as each pair I had lasted for only 3 or 4 days in the jungle before literally falling apart.
I went through 7 pairs in a month.
I wonder if the british boot could fit into the "barefoot" boot category.
Similare to the vivobare foot boots
I had a pair of British style canvas jungle boots with thicker soles than these out in Cyprus. They might have been high-leg Israeli ones though. For use in the Middle East they were very good but I can understand how they would be rubbish in the jungle.
Oh god not those canvas pieces of crap I’m talking about the Brit J Boot lol
So the British Jungle Boots is made for civilian fashion. If I were in combat I will just wear U.S version?
Us boots see which better than the British though i am a British i prefer the us boots
69th like nice
Noice.
Awful design the British boots
Substandard, certainly.