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Here’s one for the guys who wear Roughout Service Boots .

B-Man2

Well-Known Member
Hey guys .
If you’re like me and wear your roughouts on a daily basis, after a number of years your boots are going to start to look pretty funky and loose that Steve MCQueen look. This is especially true if you followed most of the advice you received here, and dubbed your boots a number of seasons over the years that you’ve owned them. Pretty soon you’ll realize that while dubbing the boots protects your feet from getting wet and muddy , the dubbing also acts like a dirt magnet and reaches out and attracts every piece of dirt and dust you happen to walk through. Pretty soon boots that looked like the boot on the left ……….. end up looking like the boot on the right of this photo .
F67FB92B-6F2F-4E51-B7A0-7ADD1E84CE7B.jpeg

So ….. After coming to the realization that I didn’t look like Steve MCQueen EVER. ,( A hard reality to accept ;) ) I decided I needed to either start wearing a new pair of Roughouts or figure out a way to revive my old pair . After all there was still some life left in these old boys and I just wasn’t ready to put them out in the trash . So it was time to try something I had never done before . To literally give them a complete scrub down and a bath with saddle soap and a scrubbing brush. When I had finished the first boot I was surprised at the results and thought I’d pass the results on to anyone having boots that needed to be revived . I’ll be doing the other boot and will post some photos of the pair of them once they dry out . Remember if you scrub them down , let them dry slowly on their own without using a hair dryer or putting them next to a heater. On a side note . The boots needed new heels as I had worn the heels down to the inside of the heel compartment . Did you know that in spite of being made of hard rubber the heels are actually hollow with vertical and horizontal rubber bars forming a cross inside of the heel giving the heel 4 small air pockets . I’ll tell you more about this in another post as I ended up having to repair the heels myself do to the crazy cost of replacing the heels on Roughouts.
So here’s the end result compared to the other boot. A bit of dubbing and I’m good for another 1000 miles I’d say ;)
37A2652A-7654-42CD-9706-31E10279DD5C.jpeg
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2FF44BC9-7934-49A7-B46F-E62A69CEE510.jpeg
 
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MaydayWei

Well-Known Member
I may be in the minority, but I don't dub my Roughouts frequently.
I always thought of dubbing for Roughouts like the dye in raw denim.
Dub'em hard in the beginning, and like a good pair of raw denim, just let it fade and scuff with wear.
Creates an extraordinary patina!
 

Mr. Mike

Well-Known Member
Now that you made me curious I checked up a related (but older) thread here and in essence the majority advice was to go for ATF's version as being the most accurate reproduction. Apparently ATF ran out of stock and can only pick up new delivery earliest 2023 o_O . Is there a common sense regarding the "2nd best" option (ideally for Europe)?
THANKS!
 

Smithy

Well-Known Member
Now that you made me curious I checked up a related (but older) thread here and in essence the majority advice was to go for ATF's version as being the most accurate reproduction. Apparently ATF ran out of stock and can only pick up new delivery earliest 2023 o_O . Is there a common sense regarding the "2nd best" option (ideally for Europe)?
THANKS!

I've got a pair of the Mil-Tec Sturm ones from UK based Soldier of Fortune and am exceedingly pleased with them.

https://www.sofmilitary.co.uk/roughout-boots-by-mil-tec-sturm.html
 

Mr. Mike

Well-Known Member
That it is! Interestingly SoF at least offers for EU clients to sell excluding local VAT to avoid double-taxation in the destination country. Charming and unfortunately not adopted by many other UK vendors ...
 

Smithy

Well-Known Member
That it is! Interestingly SoF at least offers for EU clients to sell excluding local VAT to avoid double-taxation in the destination country. Charming and unfortunately not adopted by many other UK vendors ...

I've bought a ton of stuff from SoF over the years and everything has been great. Their customer service is impeccable too - they sent me the wrong helmet once and told me to keep it whilst still sending out the correct one.
 

Micawber

Well-Known Member
I found SoF to be a good company to deal with.

As an aside...
I'm in England and wholly glad that I no longer collect original gear from outside the UK on the scale that I did for many years, in fact going back to the 70's and earlier. I will not engage in a discussion regarding the UK leaving the EU [HATE the term 'BREXIT' almost as much as I do the term 'staycation' - grrrrr]. Current import taxes and handling charges make me thankful for well and truly having scratched the must have this or that OCD itch many, many times over, but at far more sensible costs, in the past.
 

B-Man2

Well-Known Member
Well …. The scrub down is finished and the boots have dried out and are ready to wear , so here’s the before and after photos .

BEFORE

F2217711-4579-4E34-AF7B-9AFB9F3FE946.jpeg



AFTER

DA4F116D-A19F-41A1-AEA3-6D34C4A5B167.jpeg
F13B625C-20CC-4BF1-A381-40423415177A.jpeg
1B70EAC5-91A9-4237-873F-90B7BDD2F0AC.jpeg
2E7F41B4-6851-46B1-99F5-531B3AC52F5E.jpeg


Ok … I hope you guys found this info useful . So don’t toss those old Roughouts in the trash . Just give them a good scrubbing down and a second chance . You may be surprised at how they turn out . Thanks for your time .
 

jack31916

Well-Known Member
Those cleaned boots looks very good and have a nice, well worn look as many of us whish for their jackets.

Don't put any grease or sno-seal on your new roughouts for you're not about to take part in an amphibious landing ;) Just dust them off once in a while

Thanks for this thread.
 

Smithy

Well-Known Member
Jack, I dubbined my Roughouts when I got them as I wanted them to have that darkened appearance that wartime, service used ones had rather than the pure suede-like appearance they have when new. Without the dubbin to me they look like any other Timberlandesque boot. Also for me, we get a fair amount of rain here (and snow for that matter) so there was a nod to practicality as well for why I did it.
 

ausreenactor

Well-Known Member
Do you just brush it on or use a cloth and polish it into the boot? My early ATF ones appear 'fluffy' in one or two areas. The $300 N-1s I grabbed in 2019 are miles ahead....
 

Smithy

Well-Known Member
Do you just brush it on or use a cloth and polish it into the boot? My early ATF ones appear 'fluffy' in one or two areas. The $300 N-1s I grabbed in 2019 are miles ahead....

I did it the way I used to dubbin my rugby boots which is the same way I dubbin my boots once a year here before the snow comes.

Stick the tin and the boots in the sun for 5 minutes to warm up and soften. Get a lint free old rag/bit of an old t-shirt, get a small dollop of dubbin on it and rub it into the leather and stitching using the rag. Use more dubbin as the leather absorbs it, keep going until completely dubbined. Give them a bit of a light rub to remove any excess dubbin, then leave for a day or two. Finito Benito!
 
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