Boots!

[Infernau]

Canuck scout here, made my 1st pair of boots with kingshow hiking boots as a base but now it's near time for a new pair but the shipping price for these has skyrocketted, almost same price as the boots themselves through amazon. I'm a lancer so oatmeal soles (single color) is important. What other boots have you used that don't requiring painting the edges of the soles?

[Chopper]

I took a look through amazon.ca and I'm just not seeing much of anything with the single color sole. Same with the US amazon as well. Most everything seems to be two-tone these days. You may need to resort to painting the sides.

Depending on your budget, there's always crowprops. He makes the inner boots if you want to make your own: https://crowprops.bigcartel.com/product/biker-base-boots-accurate-soles

[Dart]

Yeah, I haven't seen many around here that have single-coloured soles. Kind of annoying... Crowprops is a reliable seller, so that's an option, as mentioned above.

 

[Infernau]

Has anyone used army desert boots, these can be had at a reasonable price used, tan sole, single color and having worn these for years playing airsoft I know they are easy to put on and take off because of the speedlacing and I'm sure the soles are more forgiving to cutting notches in them as it's denser than the kingshow boots.

[Aradun]

I think they’d work for level 1, but the sole is much thicker than the typical work boot and those huge cutouts designed to clear mud from the sole might make it difficult to get the look right for the cutouts required for level 2.

I’ll defer to @Chopper for any final say.

[Chopper]

8 hours ago, Infernau said:

Has anyone used army desert boots, these can be had at a reasonable price used, tan sole, single color and having worn these for years playing airsoft I know they are easy to put on and take off because of the speedlacing and I'm sure the soles are more forgiving to cutting notches in them as it's denser than the kingshow boots.

I've seen a few people try to convert these and, if I recall correctly, the sole material actually makes it more difficult to cut the notches for L2. Also, the sole color is not the correct "wheat" shade for L2, which means you're back to having to paint the sides again.

I think that they'd pass L1/basic if they're built properly. But it would be more work for L2.

[Infernau]

That sucks, the kingshow boots on amazon went from free shipping to 40 bucks to ship.

[Aradun]

There doesn’t seem to be much of a selection at Amazon.ca, and it’s becoming increasingly harder to find traditional works boots with the wheat colored sole even here in the US.

If you’re look at $90 for a pair a boots, for a little more, an alternative would be to snag a pair of Crowprops base boots for around $100 + shipping and use them to construct your own.

[Infernau]

Looked for base boots, nothing there. And I've looked everywhere for oatmeal soles, I even debated ripping off the vinyl on my current boots since the sole is barely worn but the 10.5 sizing doesn't give me a lot if room for an orthotic and hiking socks. And I'm not paint the soles...it's tedious enough cutting the notches in the soles. And near 300 tacos (after shipping and customs) for costume boots is not happening.

[Infernau]

103 bucks for base boots and 60 for shipping...220 cdn on my end for base boots and that's hoping customs are having a good day and don't bend me over on charges...

[Infernau]

I asked Kingshow about the boots and this is the reply I got back! We're doomed!

[Infernau]

Looking over the crl and it says tan for the soles, if they needed a specific color it should be posted as it's getting much harder to find a "wheat tan". I found palladium boots but may be too dark.

[Infernau]

Palladium pampa boots are a darke4 tan but the desert boots are lighter than the pampa boots..

[Chopper]

Palladium used to make a gumsole version. That said, cutting the slots in the palladium soles is also very difficult, if not impossible, particularly around the heel area. There isn't enough material to cut into. I know this because I tried it once upon a time. 

Also there's two large bars on the bottom of the boots that should be removed as well. 

If you're understandably not willing to go with Gio's boots due to the cost, and the only reasonably priced local options are two colored, then your remaining option is to paint the sides of the boots.

[Infernau]

I can imagine having to paint them every other troop due to cracking! And on my front it's almost 400 cdn for those boots. 210 + 60 shipping (360 converted to cdn) and customs.....400 bucks. Brutal!

I'll look high a low for proper boots.

[Infernau]

Going from a 120 build to a 400 must purchase is a bit much lol

[Infernau]

Have scouts used timberland boots? I'm ll

looking at used ones that could be a great fit.

[Retrofire]

Can you post a pic Sebastien? Most of us use a hiking boot in one form or another so not seeing an issue with Timberland as long as the material sits properly on the boot.

[the_wook]

On 11/14/2024 at 4:14 AM, Chopper said:

Palladium used to make a gumsole version. That said, cutting the slots in the palladium soles is also very difficult, if not impossible, particularly around the heel area. There isn't enough material to cut into. I know this because I tried it once upon a time. 

Also there's two large bars on the bottom of the boots that should be removed as well. 

I ordered Palladium Pampa Hi Sneakers as the base for my DIY boots. Is it obligatory for the normal approval (not Lancer) to remove the two bars you mentioned? 

And does a template for the dogbone exist? How thick is this piece in the middle? 

[Chopper]

Can you see the two bars from the side view? If so, then yes, probably. Ask your GML.

There is a template for the dogbone on here. Let me find it and I'll post the link.

[Chopper]

Template is in this post: