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Wet Weather Combat Boots: Use, Maintenance & Other Stuff.

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Wilson601

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I‘m a bit of a short timer,myself, but i was wondering if anybody had any really good provin ways of keeping your tootsies warm in those new gortex WWB. I read an article in the maple leaf a couple days ago saying thaty of the 200 000 some odd pairs in the system that they‘re next to useless in tempuratures of -10‘ C.  I wore them on an Ex in gagetown mid-october and after the sole froze, ice congelled to the toe caps and I was screwed. Furthermore, Wearing them from day to day they form a moisture inside the toe that doesn‘t air out over nite, result being a frozen toe the next day if your just standing around, us reservist only get one pair issue so i can‘t change pairs everyday.
any tips on sock Combinations or tips for these boots would be greatly appreciated. (minus the smart ***  ‘maybe you should wear your mukluks‘ comments haha) Thanks. Shane  :skull:
 
I‘ve gone through two pair of them. The first pair i kicked a door during fibua (not very hard at all) and the soul cracked. The second pair the bottom of the sole started seperating from the boot leather makign them not waterprrof. it even started doing that on my 3rd pair. Their comfortable for standing around in and their warmer then the normal boots but their going to destroy your feet/shins on any prolonged march.
In my opinion
Im not an expert
 
i see.. Fibua has a way of really killing a pair of boots. I got the heel shot off a pair of mine in the fibua village in gagetown. Reserve units are poorer than your average reg force infantry battalion so even if i wrote off a pair i dont‘ think I could get new ones. :skull:
 
Don‘t write off the reserve system just yet S Wilson. You should have been issued two pairs of WWB (wet weather Boot - ie. not meant for the winter). If you only received one pair, make it a point to go into your local QM and get that second pair! If your boots break/fall apart, you will get a brand new pair, there is no exception to this.
 
I am a reservist and I got two pairs. You are supposed to get at least two pairs so that you can change them from day to day. :p
 
i‘ll see what comes of the lowly private marching into BNQM and telling the WO "I want my second pair of boots goddamit" :p
i have faith in our system... but not when it comes to equipment... as of right now 2RNBR is in the middle of getting everyone CADPAT‘s so they don‘t have time to deal with my complaints about my boots. as far as i know everyone in the unit has ONE pair of WWB .... maybe i should get transfered to whereever you guys are, so i can get my 2nd pair :p
Shaner :skull:
 
I remember once calling myself "a lowly trooper" and then being admonished by my Troop Warrant. He said "you‘re only a lowly trooper if that is what you believe"...

Write a memo, find out how to do it properly. Good way to get noticed and remembered when it comes to PER writing time. ie Pte Wilson demonstrated good leadership potential when requesting a second pair of WWB as IAW IECS issue.
:warstory:
 
You may only get one pair.So of the fellas in the Regs only got one. They were told, because RESs have to be fitted first. Now stop complaining, and wait. THIS IS WHAT PISSES ME OFF, it always seems Res complain more about lil sh1t, then the important stuff, such as training. Do you wear your everday, ie to school, work at Macdonalds NO, then stop.
 
Your WWB‘s are similar to our Matterhorns, right? I ran into the same problem with moisture buil-up when wearing the same pair everyday; I found that removing the insole when you take them off helps. Also, instead of putting them under my bunk, I placed them ontop of my locker where it was warmer so they would dry out better. Clean socks everyday and a little powder on the feet and they worked great.

As for them not being any good below -10 degrees; of course their not, they only designed for temps down the 14 degrees. (and I don‘t imagine they would be too warm then)

BTW, what kind of boots do you all have for when it gets really cold?
 
The new boots are rated for -10C with the new sock system which is a lite weight sock with a heavy weight sock for winter there is a heavier weight sock. They do work down to -10C because our boots are heavier insolated than your Matterhorns, I have prs of each and ours is heavier. You have to be dry and walking. after that is the Mucks. Before that is the new summer boots, nylon Matterhorns.
 
Well Recce41, I‘m not complaining about ‘littlethings‘.. your feet, aren‘t ‘little things‘. I‘m sure you‘d agree. I have complained properly about training, with little yeild, I might add as well. As RESs were not allowed to do certain things as often as the Regs are for money reasons and this i can understand, as I‘m sure you can. Furthermore, i‘ll assure you that i‘m AS good a soldier as any trained Infanteer in the regular force. I haven‘t been in very long, but i‘ve been in long enough to know there are some damned fine Reservists, as well as some damned poor Regulars(and vice versa). I‘ll apologize in advance if any of this came across as uncalled for. It may be brazen and opinionated but i feel this is true as well is the sterotype that you and other full-time soldiers have placed upon Reservists. Pro Jure Constans :skull:
 
Reg force personal get a lot more time playing the game then reserves. Your right about each side having good and bad guys but the regs still get exposed to a lot more every day things associated with the military from writting memos to maintencence. Their excersises are also up to 3 weeks compared to week-ends.

Reserve units still get a pretty big budget. My old reserve unit held more life fire ex‘s then the reg force for about 2 or 3 years in a row.
 
Wilson
I mean, I see Res wearing their damn Cadpat, Boots, Gortex around Ottawa. You may say how I know their Res. Sometimes their talking about their kit to their friends, or have seen them in uniform at the mall etc. That burns me good. There are fellas at the Regt that cannot exchange boots, or Cadpat because there is not kit in stock.
Yes res units get a bigger budget per soldier why to keep them. So who do you think should have the two prs, a Reg who wears them 5 days a week for a month or a Res that may wear them 5 days in a month.
 
Recce41. That makes more sense to me. your earlyer post had come across differently and I think there was a misunderstanding. point taken.

I agree, it doesn‘t make sense for a reservist to have a piece of kit that a Regular needs, for obvious reasons. :skull:
 
Hummm, privates walking around the mall in course t-shirts nuke bags and camel backs (packs?)

One reason why i think it‘s a good idea and support having the reserves outfitted with the same gear and at the same time as their regular force counter parts is because when reserves get tasked to work with the reg force be it on a 2 week tasking, supporting them on an excersise or course (pathfinders for example or jlc) or joining them when they go overseas is because its it‘s a hassel trying to get equipment at the last second. "Why don‘t you have this" or "how come you only have one pair of boots, wheres your goretex" i‘ve heard one to many times.

If the reserves are going to support the regular force and keep up to them (in whatever) they have to be given access to the same equipment. Otherwise personally i find it makes the reserves look like a bunch of mecenaries where they have to buy their own mismatched equipment.

This may not be a very popular comment or opinion but the airforce got issued goretex before the army. I‘m sure they are given 2 sets of goretext boots as well. Why wouldnt these be given to the combat arms first?
 
Just from the airforce side of things. At present we do not have an issued pair of goretex boots. Our ground crews wear off-the-shelf bought CSA standards safety boots. While our aircrew wear Matterhorns or Terras - both bought directly from the manufacturer. We are only issued one pair, and they are NOT exchangeable. I was lucky enough to get some WWBs issued to me while doing OJT at an army unit. They are by far superior in comfort and versatility to the above-mentioned boots. In time the CEMS program (airforce equivalent to Clothe the Soldier) will realize this and get the WWBs issued to its airmen.
 
Gents,
I had the privilige of being in the trials for the CWWB. Not that I‘m totally impressed with the outcome...
To answer your initial question, as one post said about removing your insole every nite and changing both pair (assuming you wear two) of sock every day. Below 0 C, it is meant to be worn with the black "polypro" liner sock with the standard issue greys over top. I just completed my PLQ (new JLC) this fall with that combo for the patrol ex (nite temps to -15) and 10 km march at the end with no problem. And during the final ex doing section attacks and deffensives(standing all night in the trenches) had no problem with just black socks in the day and black/grey combo at night. But you have to be religious on foot care. I find that that discipline is lacking in our army now compared to the US. Anyway, give it a try and see how it works next time out...
 
Yes the air force was issued gore-tex before the Army, but it is BLUE ! Now they are looking into changing it all to CADPAT, including flight suits. The AF paid for their blue gore-tex from their own budget, probably cutting a few flying hours here and there to do it. Of course, they would not cut into their TD budget, which is probably larger than the Army‘s ammo budget :cdn:
 
I‘ve just got issued new boots and they say in the instructions not to use polish on them, but rather just silicone. They even say in the instructions that polish, etc., will break down the protective weatherproofing. They basically say to "silicone and forget" (I think its the new hellfire-type boot system, who knows?)

Now, as everyone knows, you look like a freakin‘ moron on parade/in garrison will dull boots. I‘ve been polishing these things like made for the past three days and have had no success in getting any sort of shine out of ‘em. :crybaby:

Has anyone had the same problem with these boots? Does anyone have any suggestions?
 
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