British vs US 1960s Jungle Boots 

The US issue Jungle Boots were my favorite boots in the Army. I had these issued to me when I was stationed in Panama. I went through 3 pairs of theses boots when we went out to the jungle during exercises because the jungles of Panama were no joke especially being in Airborne Infantry. Usually each soldier would be issued 2 pairs when getting your gear from Central Issue facility and assigned to your battalion. Once you got to battalion and to your company, you were issued another pair so you got 3. Two pairs were for the field and one for garrison. We had Carlos our Boot Man. This guy was a Panamanian who could put a mirror shine on any boot or shoe for everyone in the battalion along with his 4 man crew for $10.00 US Dollars a month. Inside your boot he would stencil your name and your Social Security Number which is also our service number. Everyone from the Battalion Commander, Battalion Sergeant Major, down to Private. These boots were very tough. Only the sweat from your feet will destroy the leather eventually from marching, but your garrison boots will last up to 3 years. I still had my garrison boots when I left Panama to Hawaii. There in Hawaii my garrison boots finally got destroyed and I had another new pair for garrison. The boot was great because the water would drain out from the holed grommets on the arch side of the boots. Fantastic boots and loved them. Today the issue boots with the Panama sole are collectors items and going up in price. The original Vietnam Vibram style tread are really rare because they were still issued until all manufactured were exhausted from remaining inventory issued to soldiers and destroyed from field and combat use. I think I still have 2 brand new pairs lost in my storage issued from Hawaii. By 1995 the OD canvas style was no longer approved for wear and they went to an all black nylon upper but still with the Panama tread. The new black nylon upper Jungle Boots really sucked because the stitching was weak and the nylon uppers broke loose. The black boots are still around on the surplus market because they were not popular and still a fair price.

I think those British boots are a physical manifestation of the government sending the soldiers "thoughts and prayers"

I have the Alt Berg version of the US jungle boot. I used it in the Jungle National parks in Malaysia a few years ago while doing anti tiger poaching work. The local guides we used had these rubber shoes with football stud molded sole called "Adidas Kampong" and they just cut holes in the side to drain the water out. I got a pair for $3AUD.

"Right fellows, we need a new jungle boot; any ideas?" "SAND SHOES!" "Now there's a good idea" "No wait I didn't actua---"

We had the British Green boots issued in Belize but we tended to wear our standard boots. The canvas boots were great to pack in the rucksack when needing dry foot wear.

Beware the cheap 'jungle boots'. For light use wear, they are fine but they DO NOT hold up for hard field use. The Chinese copies have been called 'Halloween Boots', because they last about long enough to be part of a trick-or-treat costume. I've been through many a pair as cheap work boots

I still wore those US jungle boots in Desert storm. The same boots my dad wore in Vietnam but three decades later. Edit: come to think of it the same rifle and web gear too!

Ian is a good source for quality Items! (not mentioning he is my Cousin) LOL - back in the 80's we could get US Jungle boots for $3.00 a pair Brand new at the Surplus Shop :(

I went to Indonesia a few years back and visited the jungles of northern Sumatra. We were told to bring sturdy footwear like hiking trainers etc. which were absolutely not up to the task (at that time it was the dry season but nevertheless there were downpours every evening and everything was wet). Our guides who were native to the area only wore very cheap injection moulded rubber sneakers, which they have modified by burning holes in them, so the water would be able to get out. Needless to say most of us ended up purchasing those sneakers after a few days. I can’t even imagine what these lads had to go through during the Indonesian confrontation. Thank you for the great video.

I,ve worn the american boots ,,,,and they are comfy and don,t swell around your ankle when sleeping, those british boots are just terrible !

Used the US boot as a dog handler in the British Army...you could get away with them in summer if you boot blacked the green bit. Great bit of kit for long summer patrols.

Great job again take care out there particularly at present !

I had a pair of British jungle boots for Kenya that I also did P-Coy in. By that time the soles were the BCH type with spike protection and the leather was a smooth chromed black with a leather strip ant the rear. The drain holes were the big ones as found on the combat caps.

Excellent video!

I've been looking for videos on 1950s and 60s type us army combat boots for my winter garrison uniform, mainly to see if speedlace and specific types of soles were used on them. The pair I got was a 2003 boot, and they aren't quite the same, but they should pass the "15 foot rule" that I go by, mainly the top being insulated, the sole and the speedlace, and I want to know if this type was used at all then, as I've seen the ripple sole type boots in period films. Otherwise, I want to know if they could be easily modified to be more period correct

I remember seeing captions to photos referring to Bata boots got the impression they were made in Malaysia

Another fine video. TQ.

Nice touch there with the dog tag.

The US J boot is fantastic even to this day lovely large Panama sole metal plate for spike protection the drains and overall an almost perfect design used them on both my NZSAS selections (failed both)

How our higher-ups didn't look at this as an obvious bad idea and have it changed like the yanks did is a shock. US has a higher line to prevent water getting in interns of where the canvas starts and then obviously the drainage

The funny thing is that converse actually have side eyelets!

The Americans spent more than 1/6 on them. The British ones did kind of save my life at the Glastonbury Festival 1990 when my collection DMS boots tore my feet to blisters, luckily I had my trusty collection British Jungle boots to wear.... I did a lot a lot of walking there. My collection works for a living.

I like the British made. I use it during 1980 during operation in Sarawak...fight against communist (Paraku).

I noticed your American boots are a size 12. Do they run true to size or run smaller or larger? Thanks for the video btw.

What a sharp contrast! Canada didn't really have a version to my knowledge. It's hard to believe that the British version could have ever been accepted for service. Obviously the designer and those that approved the British boot, never had to use them in jungle conditions. Night and day!

Nice comparison but no boot will keep your feet dry in the jungle.....constantly wet...which is why many Americans went sockless and just wore the boots.

Interestingly the Australians never adopted the British jungle boot despite being deployed to Malaya as well. The Australians in Vietnam instead issued leather AB’s with tall gaiters or else the black leather GP boot.

I did get this from wikipedia , but it said that some Australian soldiers in Vietnam were willing to trade their Slouch hats for a pair of American jungle boots. I'm unsure of the truth in said claim though.

Did lads not simply poke a couple of holes into the badly designed (surprise surprise) British issue boots? or was it verboten? The ingenuity of the average British lad would likely see diy improvements made sharpish, anyone have any knowledge of customisation via a sharp implement?.

I was issued 2 pairs of the American boots over the years, first pair was the green canvas upper.then a few years later I was issued the all black with speed lacing. Very comfortable once broken in. I wore mine for years and loved them. First pair with issued in Bosnia and the second was issued for kosovo

The only time I ever wore those British jungle boots were for unarmed combat displays at the Royal Tournament, they were fine for walking around Earls court 😂

I have the German version of the American style boots, but in the UK it seems like a death sentence to wear boots like these.

I wonder if the british boot could fit into the "barefoot" boot category. Similare to the vivobare foot boots

I had a pair of British style canvas jungle boots with thicker soles than these out in Cyprus. They might have been high-leg Israeli ones though. For use in the Middle East they were very good but I can understand how they would be rubbish in the jungle.

From my own experience in the 90s the British Jungle boot was clearly unfit for purpose as each pair I had lasted for only 3 or 4 days in the jungle before literally falling apart. I went through 7 pairs in a month.

Oh god not those canvas pieces of crap I’m talking about the Brit J Boot lol

Those British jungle boots were probably designed by a Rupert who stayed at the camp because he had the conections from the higher ups . Hahahahahaha

So the British Jungle Boots is made for civilian fashion. If I were in combat I will just wear U.S version?

Us boots see which better than the British though i am a British i prefer the us boots

69th like nice

Awful design the British boots