Bert said:
Do you think spit shining combat boots is really worth it due to the bubbly surface? I generally put on a coat of Parade Gloss, wait about half an hour,
bush shine it quickly, add a coat of Neutral, wait another half an hour, and brush shine it with a little TLC on the toe. I get a nice lustre. Usually I don't spend
more than 6 mintues total. I'll try the hair dryer technique this weekend.
If you do it right, the "bubbly" surface shouldn't matter, as you're never looking for a mirror shine on your combat boots, just a bit of extra gloss, and a harder shine that lasts longer. If you really know what you're doing, you can make the bubbly surface permenantly flat (I'm not going to explain this, as you can easily ruin your boots in the process), though the bumpy surface eventually turns more or less flat on it's own anyway.
A proper spit shine on your combat boots can give you a shine that lasts pretty much for ever in Garrison, with occasional light touch ups. On the other hand, it can also get you chewed out by your sergeant-major, as you're not really supposed to spit shine them. Excessively shiny combat boots are not tactically sound, they reflect light. You can usually tell how much field time somone puts in by how shiny their boots are.
Here's my exact process for doing my boots after a particularly beating exercise...
First, rinse them inside and out, scrub the outside a little with a stiff plastic brush to begin cleaning away salt. Let them dry. If you don't need your boots again right away, dry brush them with a boot brush to clean away the bulk of any salt that came out of the leather, then rinse them again, scrub them again with a stiff plastic brush. Again, let dry.
Now you'll probably note that with the polish worn away, the leather underneath may be a bit grey. The military used to issue a black dye, I don't know if they still do, I keep forgetting to ask. I've got a bottle of excellent dye from a local shoe maker, cost me $5, but I have yet to use a fraction of it, I wouldn't be surprised if this stuff lasts me forever. Daub a bit of the dye into the grey areas with a Q-tip. You don't really need to worry about the entire boot, just the areas that look grey. (The necessity of the dye is debatable. On the one hand, the boots are polished regularly, so you'll never need to worry about the grey in garrison. On the other hand, when in the field, my boots still look black, even after the polish wears away).
Wait a few minutes for the dye to set, then coat the boots in liquid silicone (Again, the army used to issue this stuff, I keep forgetting to ask if they still do). The spray stuff works great. Let this set for a few hours minimum.
Next, coat the boots in a moderate layer of polish, and blow a hair dryer at them until the polish melts into the leather. If the polish melts in almost instantly, repeat this step again, and again, until it takes more then a few seconds for the polish to melt into the leather. (The hair dryer trick also works great for other things involving leather. Get a can of "Dubbin", smear it over the leather on your combat gloves and arctic mitts and then blow hot air at them until the Dubbin melts in, improves the water resistance without leaving the gloves greasy as a result)
After this, just follow a normal boot polishing routine. Light coat of polish, and brush shine. Maybe spit shine the toe caps for durability, and then put a light brush shine over the spit shine so you don't get in trouble for having spit shined combat boots.
Some people will tell you that this is way too much fusssing over boots, I'm just a bit anal about my boots, follow these steps though and you will always have great looking boots.
Only other thought I'd like to add is on Parade gloss. This stuff is great as a final coat, in a very small quantity, but if it's all you use, it has a habit of cracking, from what I understand, it's harder then normal polish or somthing. And don't even bother with that "Honour Gaurd" instant shine stuff... ignoring for the moment that it flakes off within about five minutes of putting your boots on (If it lasts that long), it's far to shiny for combat boots anyway.
To drebk, no, you're not supplied with boot maintence supplies (Well, you are, but for the Goretex boots, as they require special polish). You'll need a can of Kiwi polish (There are all sorts of shoe polishes, but Kiwi is the best, the others just don't cut it. If you absolutely can't find Kiwi, Tana is probably the best of the alternatives, though still not Kiwi), an applicator brush, and a buffing brush. All these things can be found pretty much anywhere shoes are sold.
nearly blew an o ring when he seen those pics.
