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

decoy said:
Hello all,

Please don't flame me, as I'm a civvie :D

I have been trying to get a pair of WWB/Goretex boots, but I have tiny feet (apparently). The surplus store where I found them says that they don't come in any sizes smaller than 5 (245/104). Is that the case? I'm still swimming in a size 5.

Any help would be appreciated.


Since the WWB are current issued, doesn't that mean that they cannot be sold leaglly in surplus stores.
 
greenjacket said:
Since the WWB are current issued, doesn't that mean that they cannot be sold leaglly in surplus stores.

If they have been sold off a surplus by the overnment then its fine. Something being "current issue" does not mean it cant be sold.
 
CDN Aviator said:
If they have been sold off a surplus by the overnment then its fine. Something being "current issue" does not mean it cant be sold.

Which, IIRC, surplus ones sold off have a hole punched in the tongue/gusset, which is what I have always seen the troops at Base Supply check for when I went to trade in a pair of boots.
 
Nice to see ECCO but, as far as I am concerned, the WWB will always be a hunk of junk
A hunk of junk that I contend is at the root of my knee injury - Completely sectioned Right Quad (with the new soles)

After two operations and looking forward to a third, you couldn't pay me enough money to wear em ever again.
 
???

I don't remember trying to convince you (or anyone else for that matter) that WWB were good boots or that you should wear them.

(Je te souhaite une bonne journée et un sincère prompt rétablissement, géo)
 
..never said you did Ecco... (would've been a lost cause anyway ;) )

Enjoy your weekend.
 
I hate to sound too positive here, but I wore the WWB for several days on a snowshoe trip a couple of winters ago in the Rockies. I wore them with a couple of pairs of Smart Wool socks, a good quality Gore-tex gaiter and MSR snowshoes. Temperatures were around minus 20 to minus 25. The boots worked great, especially compared to the crummy cold injury inducing boots I've worn in Norway with the British Army.

Glass half full  :cheers:
 
daftandbarmy said:
I hate to sound too positive here, but I wore the WWB for several days on a snowshoe trip a couple of winters ago in the Rockies. I wore them with a couple of pairs of Smart Wool socks, a good quality Gore-tex gaiter and MSR snowshoes. Temperatures were around minus 20 to minus 25. The boots worked great, especially compared to the crummy cold injury inducing boots I've worn in Norway with the British Army.

Glass half full  :cheers:

Combined with a set of $12 Canadian Tire ice cleats, they are in fact the cat's a$$ for walking the dog in a slush 'n' ice lubricated park...

(Don't laugh - I've worn the cleats on ex, on a SA range, and on a Cougar pad. They do suck though for getting in and out of vehs, and for bare-icy-to-bare pavement situations)
 
a few years ago when I was greener then i am today, I was in somewhat of a hurry to dry my WWCB's and put foot powder in the boots. Did I totally ruin the gortex membrane  by clogging the pores?
 
genesis98 said:
a few years ago when I was greener then i am today, I was in somewhat of a hurry to dry my WWCB's and put foot powder in the boots. Did I totally ruin the gortex membrane  by clogging the pores?
Umm... this has been a few years ?
How have they been to date ?
Foot powder shouldn't be a problem in any case...
 
genesis98 said:
a few years ago when I was greener then i am today, I was in somewhat of a hurry to dry my WWCB's and put foot powder in the boots. Did I totally ruin the gortex membrane  by clogging the pores?

Technically speaking, it is not GOR-TEX, it is (as described on the CTS site) "a waterproof moisture vapour permeable barrier layer", so whatever info you can find about footpowder affecting GOR-TEX might not apply.  Hard to say not knowing the actual specs on the material used.

I went to the CTS site to read up on their pitch for the WWB maint and found the CTS Footwear FAQ WRT to the WWB.  More on link.

- Despite repeated bulletins issued by CTS staff advising that the WWB was not intended to be worn in extreme cold temperatures, soldiers continued to do so. Naturally, personnel continued to report that the WWB lacked "grip" on some surfaces in temperatures below freezing.

- Until such time as CTS can determine and implement the best possible solution, personnel are once again reminded that the WWB was never designed for wear below -10°C; - it is not a "Cold" Wet Weather Boot. Although the boot has exceeded performance expectations with respect to warmth and comfort below -10°C, the WWB is not ideal for wear in extreme cold temperatures. In conditions below -10°C, soldiers must consider switching to the mukluk as the preferred option.


Now if you go to the page on the WWB, and read the Concept of Use, it says: 

Concept of Use – The WWB will provide climatic and foot protection for the gap between the arctic footwear system and the current, temperate combat boot in cold, wet weather conditions. The WWB and combat sock system are worn together to provide comfort and protection to the soldier between  -10°C and +20° C. The choice of the liner and temperate sock combination or the liner and thermal sock combination depend upon work rate and individual metabolism.

Ok.  CTS folks, you have to pick one.  It is, or it isn't.   ::)   They always say -10 to +20, but one page they say it is, and the other it isn't, a boot for cold wet weather.

According to the FAQ, the soldier is not using the CTS kit properly, as directed by CTS staff...as opposed to the kit is crap. Troops shoud be wearing their mukluks instead. If its a WWB but can be worn at -10 temp...would you think that in -10 temp anything "wet" would be "frozen" and  "cold"?   :blotto:
 
Eye In The Sky said:
personnel are once again reminded that the WWB was never designed for wear below -10°C; - it is not a "Cold" Wet Weather Boot.

In other words: "not designed for use in Canada", right?  ::)
 
Chapeski said:
Not necessarily, just maybe 2 months out of the year ;)

I was going to ask CTS if they could put a "dinger" on the boots when the outside temperature was below -10, they could go "DING!" like a microwave or something to let a soldier know he/she should change to mukluks, as he/she could be busy, caught up in things like firefghts and TICs.

You'd hear things like....

"RELOADING!"

"GRENADE!!!"

"GET THAT *&#@#@*#@ RADIO OVER HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

*ding*

"MY DINGER WENT OFF...BUT MY LACES ARE IN A KNOT!"
 
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