Soldier of Fortune : Roughout Boots by Mil-Tec

[Chandler]

If Steve McQueen wore them in The great escape, that’s good enough for me

Yeah, but watch closely in the motorcycle scenes -- he put on his favorite moc-toe boots that he would wear while racing. I think Bud Ekins also wore moc-toes as the stunt double. Not terribly military. ;-)

Also, I think I once read that the roughouts McQueen wears are actually Marine boondockers -- can anyone verify that?

 

[Chandler]

Allow me to try my hand at adding an image... I hope.

My 7 year-old ATF Roughouts with my more go-to Red Wing Iron Rangers as backup.

 

[ausreenactor]

O

Allow me to try my hand at adding an image... I hope.

My 7 year-old ATF Roughouts with my more go-to Red Wing Iron Rangers as backup.

Original laces in the roughouts?

 

[Chandler]

Original laces in the roughouts?

Pretty sure ATF supplies NOS laces -- seems they have an abundant supply.

Original Service Shoe Laces, 40''

The source for authentic, quality reproduction WW2 uniforms and field gear, since 1992.

www.atthefront.com

 

[MikeyB-17]

Out of curiosity: would roughouts be ever worn by USAAF pilots, or was it strictly an Army boot?

There was a difference between the Boondockers issued to the USMC, and the Roughout service boots issued to the army. I imagine the AAF boys would have worn the latter. I would think that flying from bases in Europe, especially the UK in Winter, using dubbin to waterproof them was essential-in fact I understand that that is what was intended, it was issued along with the boots, and they weren’t worn without it.

 

[ausreenactor]

Pretty sure ATF supplies NOS laces -- seems they have an abundant supply.

Original Service Shoe Laces, 40''

The source for authentic, quality reproduction WW2 uniforms and field gear, since 1992.

www.atthefront.com

Grab another pair whenever I order stuff.....

 

[ausreenactor]

 

[Chandler]

Allow me to try my hand at adding an image... I hope.

My 7 year-old ATF Roughouts with my more go-to Red Wing Iron Rangers as backup.

Man, I never realized how flipping dirty those things are until I took this pic! All on the on the outer edges, too.

 

[Smithy]

Just ordered a pair of the Mil-Tec Sturm Rough Outs, pretty excited about them.

Looks like I'll have to dig the Sno Seal out again!

 

[Kermit3D]

I hope you will be happy with it !

I have mine on my feet right now. I have been wearing them every day since I received them. I am very happy with them.
The beeswax is a great protection and they still look good.
Just beware of the sole which tends to wear out quickly... but I guess it depends on the people.

 

[Smithy]

I hope you will be happy with it !

I have mine on my feet right now. I have been wearing them every day since I received them. I am very happy with them.
The beeswax is a great protection and they still look good.
Just beware of the sole which tends to wear out quickly... but I guess it depends on the people.

Thanks Kermit. I've been using Sno-Seal/dubbin for a long time as I water/snow proof my boots just before winter hits every year with the stuff.

I'm really looking forward to getting them. I'll post my thoughts and some pics when they arrive.

 

[Smithy]

Just got the ding-dong from the mail service here that my Roughouts are ready to collect (along with having to pay a little bit of duty to keep the oils of the state turning) so I'll pick 'em up later and post some pics.

 

[Smithy]

Picked them up today. As a matter of fact they had two boxes for me at the post office, one for the Roughouts and one for the Service Boots.

I'll post some snaps later. In the meantime I will say that both are awesome.

 

[Smithy]

Well here they are fresh out of the box. Construction and quality are excellent and they fit perfectly. I'll be getting the Sno-seal out tomorrow and give them a good dubbining. Great boots and as always SoF are a dream to deal with.

And here they are with the Service Shoes.

Both pairs are terrific and I'm thrilled. I'll start a thread for the Service Shoes a little later.

 

[Smithy]

Freshly dubbined with good, old Sno-seal...

 

[B-Man2]

Tim
Did you use a hair dryer to melt the snow seal into the stitching and surfaces or just apply the top coat ?

 

[Smithy]

Tim
Did you use a hair dryer to melt the snow seal into the stitching and surfaces or just apply the top coat ?

I actually used the hair dryer Burt - that's actually a trick we used back when I played rugby with our boots if it was really cold.

We've got heated floors here so I just leave my tin of Sno-seal on the floor for 10 to 15 minutes to soften a little. If it was summer I'd just put the boots in the sun for half an hour to warm up but it's gotten cold here again so I did the old hair dryer trick and did a few passes over the area I was going to work the dubbin in.

I do it the same way as rugby/army boots, two coats not too heavy and then I go back and work a bit more into the seams and stitching. Final buff with a clean cloth, then I'll leave them until tomorrow or the next day to wear.

 

[B-Man2]

I actually used the hair dryer Burt - that's actually a trick we used back when I played rugby with our boots if it was really cold.

We've got heated floors here so I just leave my tin of Sno-seal on the floor for 10 to 15 minutes to soften a little. If it was summer I'd just put the boots in the sun for half an hour to warm up but it's gotten cold here again so I did the old hair dryer trick and did a few passes over the area I was going to work the dubbin in.

I do it the same way as rugby/army boots, two coats not too heavy and then I go back and work a bit more into the seams and stitching. Final buff with a clean cloth, then I'll leave them until tomorrow or the next day to wear.

Tim
Just a quick question .... will you snow seal the Service boots as well and if you do, won’t that make polishing them impossible ?
Just asking in case I pull the trigger on a set .

 

[Smithy]

Tim
Just a quick question .... will you snow seal the Service boots as well and if you do, won’t that make polishing them impossible ?
Just asking in case I pull the trigger on a set .

No I won't dubbin the Service Shoes, well not yet anyway, they're brand new and won't need it. They're going to get a few coats of brown, tan and maybe even cordovan shoe polish. After a year or so of wear I might run some RM Williams Saddle and Leather Dressing over them but that's really dependent on how they're doing.

 

[B-Man2]

No I won't dubbin the Service Shoes, well not yet anyway, they're brand new and won't need it. They're going to get a few coats of brown, tan and maybe even cordovan shoe polish. After a year or so of wear I might run some RM Williams Saddle and Leather Dressing over them but that's really dependent on how they're doing.

Thanks buddy
Appreciate the info.