Canadian Army Boots

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purple

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I'd like some serving people to explain just what the situation is on field boots. Apparently, a black combat boot is still made in Canada and issed thru the CF supply system, but troops are also permitted to purchase brown boots privately and be reimbursed for them.

Why are these brown boots necessary when black boots are already issued. What's wrong with the black boots ? Where are the brown boots made -I've heard in the UK? I understand that they are sold thru the CANEX system.
 
The CA moved away from black boots a few years back. Recruits get issued boots for Basic Training and can purchase their own once they're trained. There is a CANFORGEN that covers the purchasing of boots for the CA, it says which colours are allowed, length, etc. Members are reimbursed up to a set amount of money.

To be honest, I haven't heard a single boot related complaint since the CA implemented this years ago. There's been surveys and trials, and eventually the CA will issue civilian pattern boots to members once the system is ready to support, where members will have some of the popular models to chose from.

Issued boots were subpar and low quality. The amount of injuries resulting from improper footwear were ridiculous. It's 2025 and wearing cardboard boots from the 50s has become a ridiculous concept. Furthermore, most militaries have moved away from black/polished boots for operational dress.

The CAF is going towards a "one uniform" model where combats and boots can be worn anywhere around the world, from Canada to the desert. We no longer need to be issued "desert" and tan equipment when going to arid regions as our combat uniforms and boots are now suitable for most locations.
 
I prefer to buy my own boots, the issued ones are part of the reason I have arthritis in my feet. The last try at an issued brown boot was a total failure.

I'm in a tier 2 HQ and my allowance is one pair every 2 years, I forget the dollar value but its >$300.

I order my boots out of Europe, and not get gouged by Canex or the Kit shops on base.

I am wearing Lowa boots and they are excellent
 
woodchopper said:
I prefer to buy my own boots, the issued ones are part of the reason I have arthritis in my feet. The last try at an issued brown boot was a total failure.

I'm in a tier 2 HQ and my allowance is one pair every 2 years, I forget the dollar value but its >$300.

I order my boots out of Europe, and not get gouged by Canex or the Kit shops on base.

I am wearing Lowa boots and they are excellent
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Issued desert boots. I didn't even wear for one day. Before going with my chuck taylors.
 
So the currently issued black combat boots are no good and people are allowed to purchase "good" boots by thermselves and be reimbursed for them?

Obvious question: why doesn't the supply system supply decent boots that are made in Canada?

A lot of us wore the Greb made combat boots that came out in various styles. I thought the first ones in the 1960s were OK.
 
woodchopper said:
I prefer to buy my own boots, the issued ones are part of the reason I have arthritis in my feet. The last try at an issued brown boot was a total failure.

I'm in a tier 2 HQ and my allowance is one pair every 2 years, I forget the dollar value but its >$300.

I order my boots out of Europe, and not get gouged by Canex or the Kit shops on base.

I am wearing Lowa boots and they are excellent
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These ones? They sure look nice.

 
You know Purple, I can fully understand why anyone would want to purchase their own boots. Sadly, not everyone's feet are created equal and neither are footwear.

A boot that works well for you may be torture to the person beside you.

I have worn "issue footwear" from three different nations, none of them were comfortable, especially on long slogs in rough terrain. The first pair, issued Portuguese army issue footwear, made by Lavoro Calca, were about as bad as it gets, for me anyway. The officers were allowed to purchase custom boots for both field duty and regular duty.

I made a comment to you about Rhodesian issue footwear in a previous thread. I was commenting on "non issue" boots in a pic.

Field duty in the boonies can be extremely hard on both feet and the boots, no matter how well they're taken care of.

My people were extremely proud of their issued boots and kept them brilliantly polished. They only wore them on the base when they weren't on duty or parade. Everywhere else, especially the field, they wore what suited them best, and those shiny issues stayed behind.

Some of my people wore home made sandals, utilizing the tread areas from vehicle tires, with all sorts of different methods of attaching them to their feet.

I wore pigskin leather boots with lots of ankle support and thick soles made from Buna N for soles with a couple of layers of leather between for form fitting and softness. Pigskin is porous and breaths better than the leather from cattle/horses. It doesn't last as long, but that was the least of my worries at the time.
 
The Greb factory burned down. That's what happened to the Mk1 and 2 combat boots.

The next attempt were Temperate boots with hockey puck hard soles. The Wet Weather boots had the wrong angle on the Achilles Tendon panel. They killed me! There was a General Purchase boot that was OK but not great. There was one labelled Prospector in the series somewhere. Then the CF threw its hands up and tried a variety of nylon/Cordura and suede boots, some with zippers. The production boots were shyte! And the fabric panels blew out in a few weeks of wear, or the rubber soles split. (( Farking Quebec shoe manufacturing mafia!! )) I had desert boots overseas with the right size on the label but two different sizes of boot underneath. The supply tech in KAF shook her head and gave me something that fit.

My last boots in the service were really old but good condition Mk 2 boots I found at a surplus store in rural Quebec.
 
Ungrateful said:
So you guys are telling me when princess auto puts used military surplus boots on sale for 39.99 that’s not actually a good deal I take it?
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Roll the dice. In my experience the issue boots after the Mk 1 and 2 combat boots, were not worth buying. But .... go try them on. If they fit, buy them. The sizing numbers stopped making sense about 1995. Don't ask who thought the Mondopoint sizing scheme was smarter than a number and a width, but it happened. I have enough Mk 2 pairs to fit, but it was not an easy journey.
 
I wore the Greb Mk III's for years and always thought they were decent enough, but that was what was issued and the options in the wider world were not as they are today. I purchased a pair of US jungle boots and would wear them whenever I could in the summer months. Not an uncommon practice at the time. Only a few times in garrison did I have a warrant officer tell me to take them off.
 
Best hot weather/hot surface boots I ever owned were Lowa Desert Elite Combat boots. Liked them so much that when the heels wore down prematurely, I when to the area's last real cobbler and had them reheeled. The guy did an excellent job, except that he didn't have the same tan colour and the material was harder than the original sole. I think it was the second thing that meant that the reheeled boots quickly gave me knee pain in both knees, pain that got so bad that I had to stop wearing them. Showed them to my orthotic specialist lady and she didn't know why that was happening, so I donated them to charity, some guy got $650 boots for probably $10. Come to think of it, they were $700 boots if you add in the cost of the new heels- I do trust the knee effect was unique to me.
 
Funnily enough, I like the standard US Army jungle boot and have gone through 3 pairs while working as a crop adjuster. The boots don't keep water out, but they do drain and dry fairly quickly. They are no good when it turns cold.

Call me old fashioned but siutable boots and other personal equipment should be issued by the quartermaster instead of by online shopping. :unsure:
 
purple said:
Funnily enough, I like the standard US Army jungle boot and have gone through 3 pairs while working as a crop adjuster. The boots don't keep water out, but they do drain and dry fairly quickly. They are no good when it turns cold.

Call me old fashioned but siutable boots and other personal equipment should be issued by the quartermaster instead of by online shopping. :unsure:
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But we all seen how great the military is with kit.

Everybody feet are different.

A LBV that holds 4 mags, but operational issued 10 mags. MkIII wet weather boots that were ice skates in winter. The Bosina jean jacket vest.
 
purple said:
Funnily enough, I like the standard US Army jungle boot and have gone through 3 pairs while working as a crop adjuster. The boots don't keep water out, but they do drain and dry fairly quickly. They are no good when it turns cold.

Call me old fashioned but siutable boots and other personal equipment should be issued by the quartermaster instead of by online shopping. :unsure:
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Suitable footwear is one of those foundational industrial products QM should be able to issue. And good army boots indicate the health of the national economy. But in our world of unstructured consumer choices, it is not surprising everyone's idea of 'best' will be hard for companies to satisfy.

I like Jungle Boots too. For a while the system had black JBs on scale of issue for hot weather UN or military observer deployments The latest ankle boots are more comfortable than previous contracts. The soles are softer than the previous rubber. Yes, the uppers are softer leather and harder to bring up a mirror shine. Before I released I used up my clothing points on things I would wear. The past few summers I've worn CF ankle boots outdoors and my feet have not objected. These boots were made by TATRA Boots in Dunnville ON.
 
my understanding of the longer term plan is that there will be 5 different types of boots available through logistics unicorp and the online clothing portal, Along with other operational clothing, and you will just use your points to order new boots, t-shirts and socks

the old issued boots MK III were a crap shoot to get a pair that fit and that's after you broke them in. Then the next set you got was a different size and again you had to break them in. Then the Cold wet weather boots were worse.

and no serious army is going to be wearing black boots, unless its for parades.

its actually cheaper to just have the troops buy the boots that work for them and give them a boot allowance. The gouging that Canex and the Kit Shops are doing by jacking the prices up is unfortunate. Supply does not not to hold stock, shipping, etc.... so cost savings there.
 
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