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Repairing/Protecting Vietnam Jungle Boots


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Hello, all.

 

After a couple months of diligent searching, I have a few pairs of the early/mid-era model jungle boots I've been looking for.

 

As you can see below, one of the pairs has some light to moderate wear. I have never done any leather repair nor do I know anything about it, so I'm looking for tried & true suggestions from those who are experienced or perhaps have a sequential approach to restoration once they acquire boots or something similar.

 

Some of my questions are...

  • How do I stain the leather again? Do I use some sort of a dye? Is there a specific color or perhaps just regular black? Would I stain just the worn spots or all of the leather for consistency?
  • Is there a method to smooth out or fill in bumps and scuffs on leather? Before or after a dying/staining process?
  • As a final measure, is there specific process one should take to moisturize, condition and shine the leather?

Any brand names or specific product names would be greatly appreciated.

 

Also, is there other common issues (besides the above) one might run into with original issue jungle boots? Perhaps sole deterioration/cracking? What do you do to take care of these trusty boots, even if it's just washing/sanitizing them? I'm willing to listen to all suggestions!

 

JungleBootWear.jpg

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If you are in the US go to a Tandy Leather store and you can buy black dye. Danner makes a boot dressing that you can apply to keep the leather soft.

 

One word of caution do not put them on if they have set awhile in the freezing cold. I did that once and cracked the sole in half. Now thats when they were surplus in the mid 70's.

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I've dealt with the dye. It can be a bit messy, and doesn't ever completely dry. On the other hand, I can wholeheartedly recommend some black show polish, a tooth brush, and a hair dryer.

 

I've cleaned up more than one set of vintage footwear, and this method can't be beat. Just heat up the polish on the rag/toothbrush - no real need to apply heat directly to the boot, but you can if you're *very* careful. In any case, the warmed wax will melt just enough to stain the leather, smooth it, and provide a good surface for another coat. Once you've got the color you like, polish as necessary.

 

If you are in the US go to a Tandy Leather store and you can buy black dye. Danner makes a boot dressing that you can apply to keep the leather soft.

 

One word of caution do not put them on if they have set awhile in the freezing cold. I did that once and cracked the sole in half. Now thats when they were surplus in the mid 70's.

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Nothing wrong with good ol' spit 'n' polish. Try a tin of black Kiwi wax and a soft brush!

I 2nd that emotion. The real deal boots which these look like will recover nicely with a plain old GI shine. If they are already 40 years old and lookin' this good then minimal TLC will keep them another generation or so. Nice grab.

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Thank you everyone for your suggestions! I greatly appreciate it. I believe I will try out the heat/Kiwi wax/brush combo. Sounds to be effective, cost-wise as well.

 

One word of caution do not put them on if they have set awhile in the freezing cold. I did that once and cracked the sole in half. Now thats when they were surplus in the mid 70's.

That's a great point, thanks for relaying the experience of the misfortune. I'll go by the room temp. rule! I guess they aren't called "tundra boots" for a reason :P

 

If anyone else wants to chime in, I'd be glad to hear any tips, tricks or experiences on anything related to jungle boots. Perhaps maybe even sole repair (cracks or splits) since it can be a possibility?

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When I was in the service and the toes of my boots got scuffed up I would use black leather dye on them and after it dried polish them. As for cracked soles just leave as is. I have a pair of the two-buckle jungle boots with cracked soles and have read that was a problem when they first issued them in Vietnam.

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  • 2 weeks later...
Hello, all.

 

After a couple months of diligent searching, I have a few pairs of the early/mid-era model jungle boots I've been looking for.

 

As you can see below, one of the pairs has some light to moderate wear. I have never done any leather repair nor do I know anything about it, so I'm looking for tried & true suggestions from those who are experienced or perhaps have a sequential approach to restoration once they acquire boots or something similar.

 

Some of my questions are...

  • How do I stain the leather again? Do I use some sort of a dye? Is there a specific color or perhaps just regular black? Would I stain just the worn spots or all of the leather for consistency?
  • Is there a method to smooth out or fill in bumps and scuffs on leather? Before or after a dying/staining process?
  • As a final measure, is there specific process one should take to moisturize, condition and shine the leather?

Any brand names or specific product names would be greatly appreciated.

 

Also, is there other common issues (besides the above) one might run into with original issue jungle boots? Perhaps sole deterioration/cracking? What do you do to take care of these trusty boots, even if it's just washing/sanitizing them? I'm willing to listen to all suggestions!

 

JungleBootWear.jpg

 

You can put a coat of leather condition, like Picard on the scuff marks on the toes then use something like a hard piece of plastic to burnish this area. By that I mean to just simply rub it. I use the smooth slab side of a Swiss Army Knife and just burnish away. Then dye the toe area or put some black polish on. This does a lot better than just putting polish on a scuffed area. I do this on old knife sheaths, holsters, boots anything leather that is scuffed. That is if you want to restore a piece. I also have a deer antler that I had ground flat on one side and use it for burnishing. You can use just about anything. I have used a Sharpie on occasion. It just depends on the area that needs to be burnished. When the rawhide area is smooth as a babies butt you will know it's ready for dyer polish.

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If you are in the US go to a Tandy Leather store and you can buy black dye. Danner makes a boot dressing that you can apply to keep the leather soft.

I concur with this suggestion.

 

Tandy makes good quality products, specifically for this purpose.

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  • 7 months later...

If you want to keep the leather supple after dying use Kiwi saddle soap, mink oil, or Dubbin. Polish coats the leather the above 3 Kiwi products soak in and suppliment the natural oil in the leather. Neat's Foot Oil would be another good choice. I restored a Ka-Bar sheath that was suffering from leather dry rot using the mink oil. It halted the deterioration and allowed the leather to recover some, I reapplied a second coat as maintainence about 10 years later, a little goes a long way if its not a daily user. I would not use polish unless I was planning on wearing and regularly maintaining the boots.

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  • 1 month later...

My grunt VN time and Army Airborne time tells me the best thing to do, IF you really want to change what you have, is to use plain ole Kiwi or some other black shoe polish.

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  • 4 months later...
1st.marine.captain.17

For sole preservation, get Lexol's rubber and vinyl conditioner, apply, then let dry over days and wipe off excess. Any other car tire preservative works OK. Just remember to remove excess.

 

As for the leather, strip it white. Then soap once, twice, detergent once, then let dry on a boot dryer (preferably Peet boot dryer). Once they are desert dry, stuff newspaper slowly and carefully inside. Then, get pure neat's foot oil, beef tallow, beeswax, olive oil and start the fun part.

 

Heat the boot up with a hair dryer. Heat the neat's foot oil up. Once boots are hot, neat's foot oil are on it's warmest, use an artist's brush and carefully brush the oil on. It should soak in, especially for aged and used boots. Then mix the neat's foot oil and olive oil together, heat them up and redo the hot stuffing. At last, mix two part neat's foot oil, one part olive oil, two tallow, two beeswax (estimating ratio, re-adjust the actual ratio for realistic use). Heat them up high, then again, in the same temperature above (or a little higher, don't let them bubble). Brush them on, and heat the boots up at the same time. Give them as much as they soak. Then as long as they no longer remain on the surface, set them to dry and cool, preferably for two or more days. Brush the boots before dye them. Use good quality dyes like Fiebing's leather dye. Set the dye to dry after application, then go for Meltonian shoe cream before add the paste wax.

 

That's all for my "two cents".

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  • 3 weeks later...
Niner Alpha

I have a pair I brought back from Vietnam at the end of 1970. They weren't even a matched pair. But.....they were the right size and in better shape than the ones I was wearing day to day.

I posted about it here.... at my site...

 

http://www.6thofthe31st.com/bb/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=1100

 

If the boots in question actually were worn in Vietnam...and not by some big basecamp HQ guy, they shouldn't be polished at all. Bad form. Now what would really be a good find was one of these experimental boots. They were said to have been tested in the Delta by the 9th Division. Maybe so..... but not by anybody I ever noticed.

 

http://www.6thofthe31st.com/bb/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=2726

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Never polished any boots in RVN, still have 2 pair. Sent 1 pair home via mail and the other in my duffle bag. I would not do anything to yours unless you want to portray some HQ type, maybe the Co's driver....

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Never polished any boots in RVN, still have 2 pair. Sent 1 pair home via mail and the other in my duffle bag. I would not do anything to yours unless you want to portray some HQ type, maybe the Co's driver....

 

This. If you're looking for a mint pair or a pair to wear there's plenty out there - it seems far harder to find pairs used and abused (seems the true grunts like to keep them as mementos)!

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