DETAILS * An original MF® pattern, inspired by 1950’s US military jungle boots and service boots. * MF® old school flat toe box. * Shoe Vamp/Heel: Vegetable tanned cow hide, USA origin. Same leather featured on the Black MF® Road Champ engineer boots. The hand-dyed black leather color with brown undertones will age nicely, according to one’s use and conditioning preferences. * Shoe Quarter/Tongue: Single layer heavy canvas from a limited stock of 60’s era NOS duffle bags, EU military surplus origin. Strong cotton-linen blend. * Ankle Band/Eyelet Facing: Genuine Kangaroo leather, origin Australia. Same grade we used for the MF® scutler cap head bands. Kangaroo hide was in the past used to make soccer shoes, due to its non-stretch and rot-resistant properties. * Vintage limited supply of USA-made NOS ‘NITRENE’ rubber half sole and heel combo, “Non Marking, Oil Resistant, Long Wearing” (so they say, so that must be true…) * Waxed cotton round woven chocolate brown laces. * HBT Olive Drab bias taped tongue. * Concealed woven MF® “The Sportsman” label. * Made in USA CARE The Trooper Boots are low maintenance, easy to break-in. I recommend just wearing them as-is and let your feet do the work. They age very nicely, faster if you chose hiking over playing Angry Birds at home. For those worrying about scuffs, mud, stains and nicks, there might be other more appropriate footwear choices out there. If needed, leather conditioners such as Pecard can be applied to keep the leather healthy. For those into waxing, the canvas can be treated with Otter Wax fabric dressing, or left as-is and brushed clean when needed. HISTORY More MF® footwear from our Sportsman catalog… Following the path of our Road Champ Boots released in a black version sometime in 2015, we are issuing a batch of Trooper Boots with the same hand-dyed black leather in time for your summer 2016 jungle adventures. Our Mister Freedom® original Trooper Boot was freely inspired by a pair of vintage US military Government issued boot, double buckle type, first pattern jungle boot dated 13 June 1955. Those early jungle boots were nicknamed ‘Okinawa boots‘, as they often shod US advisors flying out of Okinawa en route to mingle with in-Country barefoot montagnards, during the early days (post Geneva) of the US field involvement in Vietnam. Our ‘Trooper’ is not a replica of 50’s US military Okinawa boots however. We twisted the vintage design into a service boot type shoe, using the now-familiar Mister Freedom® Road Champ last for a flat toe profile, quite in-vogue today. Aside from the leather color difference, the specs of this Trooper Type II issue are the same as the original Type I. The canvas is still military New Old Stock, but we have updated the shoe laces to a shorter, round waxed type. Please note that, unlike the photos suggest, the kangaroo leather ankle band will be punch-stamped with the US shoe size.
Related
Related
Related
Related