I would recommend the Vietnam jungle boots from McRae. My pair has seen hundreds of miles of hiking. From Big Bend deserts and mountains, to the Grand Tetons, to the Cascade Mountains. They are built as tough as the originals. Any other choice is just suboptimal, in my opinion. There really is nothing better.
Awesome to see that a US company still makes them here in the US. I was reading reviews though that they're not goodyear welted, and thus are not resoleable. Not a huge deal, but $184 every time they wear out seems a little steep. I am waiting to see if Nick's Boots in Spokane WA will create an ultimate jungle boot.
@@xc8487 Well no jungle boots are Goodyear welted. It’s not part of the design. You can have a new sole glued on if you wanted to though. And either way, they are made for soft terrain, not for rough concrete that will wear them out way faster.
The squeaking will never go away. My left- issued desert storm jungle boots squeaks just like yours. Its a gluing issue that occurred when assembled. My local cobbler explained it and assured there is nothing cost effective that can be done to make it stop. I got them for work at a FOB, I quickly changed them out. 1990's and have them today.
I've been wearing boots since I was 15. You can't beat a good boot. I tend to always buy waterproof and steel toe, or composite. I had a 20 foot 1 1/2" stainless steel shaft roll off a work bench and land on my foot when I was 15. Never again! I'm 50 now.
I had a pair of Rothco forced entry boots for 95$. My wife and I went on a 10 mile hike into the Meremec national forest. And I was walking through creeks and streams. The next week after wearing them only a handful of times they were coming apart. I think Rothco sells crap!! You couldn't pay me to own another pair.
Rothco makes cheap, Chinese imitations. They have all kinds of low-price, poor-quality gear on the market. Good for airsofters or dorks who wear their stuff to look cool. Not so great for practical purposes.
Boots squeaking is absolutely normal with certain (especially traditionally made footwear). It is caused by two layers of leather (occasionally other materials can do it as well) rubbing against one another either underneath your foot, within the counter or in the tongue area (you should be able to feel exactly where it comes from). And it’s nothing to worry about, most of the time it’s caused by the boot construction loosening up over a period of time. Some manufacturers try preventing it with anti squeak pads (canvas or fibreboard layers in between the leather) or by using different cements, but others don’t and jungle boots (based on the construction of the originals) would eventually start squeaking as well. The Rothco boots don’t do that, because they use cheap, synthetic materials that don’t squeak when rubbing together. Up until the first half of the 20th century, before modern shoemaking glues and manmade materials were developed, most types of footwear would squeak like crazy and it was just an unavoidable part of life for people living back then.
Check out Altama jungle boots. I’ve gone through a few pairs of the desert boots and they worked out well. However the rubber sole on those boots don’t hold up well with extended uses on anti skid surfaces.
@@Rokaize Mcrae's might be better but Mcrae doesn't offer them in adult sizes lol. I think the biggest size jungle boot they offer, as of 31 July 2022, is 7.5
@@patrickbateman312 Well the Vietnam war style ones seem to have issues with low stock right now. The black and coyote variants are in stock with all sizes.
@@johnvoorhees7881 thanks, I bought a pair and they look pretty cool, a bit weird on my feet though compared to my issued wellco jungle boots. Having a bit of a hard time breaking them in due to how the leather really squashes my pinky toe, but I will keep at it 👍 thank you for the reply
Rothco boots are the most uncomfortable boots I've ever worn. The pair I bought started cracking their first day of use, and I was just wearing them around town.
Rotcho was the most uncomfortable shoe I've ever worn, even with insoles. My feet ached after a few hours and my pair never lost the "chemical/tire" smell.
Ah! The kid has met Rothco I see 😀. A fair comparison, but young man, you need to have that head looked at. $150 for a pair of jungle boots?!!! What were you thinking? Always nice to see young people take an interest in history.
150 dollars for good boots is not unreasonable. If you need jungle boots because you're military or contracting or something, that's a fair price to pay.
Guessing there is a middle layer. This middle layer is most likely not glued down. This is found in cheap boots. It slides back and forth when walking creating a squeaky sound. .
Rothco is utter shite. MacRaes if you don’t mind the speed lacing. WPG sells first and second pattern repos that are awesome. I wear my first pattern boots daily, and have for a few months. So far, so good!
I do not recommend sm wholesales jungle boots at all. I had the exact same issue with the eyelets being poorly set but the deal breaker for me was after only two weeks of light use the leather foot bed started peeling up from the bottom of the left boot and made it pretty much unwearable. To sm wholesales credit they did include the stainless steel spike protector as advertised, but when I looked under that I saw cardboard used for cushioning. That was totally unacceptable in my book and I sent them back for a refund. I've looked at their website and the price has stayed at the "sale" price of $159 most likely due to the terrible quality. I'm just dumbfounded because I've never had any issues with their other footwear. Maybe a new contractor but I don't know.
Treating the leather (even fake foreign) makes all the difference. It shows in your wear. It is too late to save them but the next pair should be shined 1st 1st 1st. In the service we had shoe-shine parties where the entire unit would sit together and make them shiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnneeeeeee :) they last 50 times longer.
