Request for Education on BOOTS and FEET

[Southpaw11]

Is it important to give special attention to one's feet? What's considered "proper" care?

What are the most frequently worn boots for desert ops? mountain ops? arctic ops?

Thanks

SP

[infantry_scout]

Well, I'm not a SEAL but, I am an Army infantry scout, so I spend ALOT of time on my feet. We hump everywhere! You need to give EXTRA SPECIAL attention to your feet. The most important thing is to keep them clean and dry when possible. Your feet will be wet a considerable amout of time depending on the mission and the location. You can't just stop and change your socks all the time. However, mission permitting, if you have time to stop for awhile, if possible, change your socks and throw some Dr. Scholls triple medicated powder on them. The last thing you want is trench foot. If you are still in training, prior to BUD/S, then there shouldn't be any reason why you can't put on clean socks and wash your feet on a regular basis. When I went through Army basic in FT Benning, my feet were wet probably the majority of the time. They issue you two sets of boots and when we were staying out in the field, they would encourage us to bring both pairs, wear one and one in our ruck. I would leave the second pair, but take the insoles out and take them with me. So, if my boots got full of water, I would take the insoles out, dump the water out of the boot, put dry insoles in, dry socks and a bunch of foot powder, and I was good to go, and I always had a brand new set of boots shined up for ceremonies or display under my bunk. You'll develop your own way of doing it.

I've always just worn the boots that they issued, they are the Wellco boots that the USMC used prior to the Army. They are a Gortex combat boot that has a pretty flexible ankle, similar to a jungle boot. There is a boot made by Converse that is pretty good for desert ops, I forget what it is called though. I wore my Army issues in Hokkaido, Japan last March. It was about 15 degrees and there was 6 ft. of snow. My feet stayed warm with just thick socks, with some Seal skin outer socks. Some guys were wearing the rubber "mickey mouse" boots and they worked out ok. I'm sure somebody else on here will have some better info on different types of boots that are good.

Good luck, and keep them feet dry!

[bigv123]

Bates 922's are what they use in BUD/S now iirc. Pretty sure they sell them on this site as well.

Sean V.

[SeaSpectre]

Gramps always told me------if yer feet are happy, your head is happy! I cannot stress enough how important it is to keep care of your feet. I don't care if your just some admin guy-----if your feet hurt, your miserable. Scout hit the nail with his suggestion of using plenty of powder(I prefer the Gold Bond triple medicated), and dry socks are a must----I liked the spare insoles idea. Dry socks don't stay dry very long if put on wet feet and into wet boots.

The regular old jungle boots are great in a wet environment because they drain well on dry land, and they are very comfy once broke in.

[bigv123]

One trick a former service Marine in boot camp, who was our RCPO, told us was to wear two pairs of socks at a time. Cotton next to your skin and the dress nylons outside. I never had a single foot related problem during boot in Orlando...in the middle of Summer.

Sean V.

[boomerwv]

http://shop.navyseals.com/detail.aspx?ID=1650&Name=Bates-922-8"-Tropical-SEALs-Durashock-Boot