Jungle boot
Jungle boots are a type of
Development and use
The use of "jungle" or "hot weather" boots predates World War II, when small units of U.S. soldiers in Panama were issued rubber-soled, canvas-upper boots for testing.
In 1942, fused layers of original-specification Saran or PVDC were used to make woven mesh ventilating insoles for newly developed jungle boots made of rubber and canvas.[1][2][3] The Saran ventilating insoles trapped air which was circulated throughout the interior of the boot during the act of walking; moist interior air was exchanged for outside air via the boot's water drain eyelets.[1] In cold weather, the trapped air in Saran insoles kept feet from freezing by insulating them from the frozen ground; when walking, the insoles circulated moist air that would otherwise condense and freeze, causing trench foot or frostbite.[1]
The new M-1942 canvas-and-rubber jungle boots with Saran mesh insoles were tested by experimental Army units in jungle exercises in Panama, Venezuela, and other countries, where they were found to increase the flow of dry outside air to the insole and base of the foot, reducing blisters and tropical ulcers.[1][3] The Saran ventilating mesh insole was also used in the M-1945 tropical combat boot.[1][2]
World War II
Positive reports from users in the Panama Experimental Platoon on the new lightweight footwear led to M-1942 jungle boots used by U.S. military personnel in tropical/jungle environments, including U.S. Army personnel in New Guinea and the Philippines, and in Burma with
In 1944, the Panama sole developed by Raymond Dobie used angled lugs to push soft mud from the soles, clearing them to provide better grip in greasy clay or mud.[1] However, M-1942 (Jungle) and M-1945 (Combat Boot, Tropical) boots used Vibram soles.[6][7] After the conclusion of World War II, American interest in jungle equipment lay dormant until their next tropical engagement in 1965, so an improved jungle boot used Dobie's Panama sole.[1][7]
Although taller, British military forces used a variant of the American jungle boot. Special Operations Executive Force 136 personnel were issued these boots during operations in Burma 1944–45. They were later used in the Malayan Emergency.[8]
The First Indochina War
The French rubber/canvas jungle boots were manufactured by
Vietnam War
In the early years of the American involvement in the Vietnam War, some U.S. Army soldiers were issued+ the 'M-1945 Tropical Combat Boot'. (in Belcamp MD), and Belleville Shoe MFG CO. to produce the M-1966 Jungle boot.
To help prevent American foot injuries from
The US military jungle boot's popularity extended beyond Americans. Poorly-equipped
Post-Vietnam jungle boot designs
The Vietnam-era jungle boots were quite successful. They went through minor improvements since 1962 and used in large numbers by troops in the Republic. Jungle boots were the standard combat footwear for mild weather for decades following Vietnam. The last nomenclature for jungle boots was 'Boot, Hot Weather, Type I, Black, Hot-Wet', and uses either OG107 green or black for the nylon sections of the upper. In addition, the 'Mod 2' boot is identical except with tan color for the leather and the nylon, eliminating the protective steel plate because of its reliability as a conductor of heat in hot sand and vent eyelets because they allow sand in. The US military jungle boot helped influence the design of the notorious Desert Combat Footwear of the Americans' next series of wars,
During the 1980s, some improvements incorporated over the years in American footwear were modified or discarded for cost and convenience to the contractors.[13] This included changes in rubber sole composition (reducing the janitorial load by reducing the tell-tale 'marking' of linoleum floors), and use of waterproof Poron linings instead of the left-overs from 1942 Saran ventilating in-soles.[13] The improved version of the footwear retain their two-way water drain eyelets, so water is sucked into the boot, soaking the open-cell Poron in-soles in constant contact with the bottom of the foot.[14] British forces use Saran insoles in their footwear because they like its insulating properties.[15]
Increasing use of the jungle boot as a general-purpose combat boot wrought further improvements. To use up left-over stock, the issue boot's Dobie sole reverted to a Vibram sole in the 1980s.[13] However, the Vibram sole, while suitable for rocks, sand, or other hard terrain, lacked the mud-clearing qualities of Dobie's sole, and was inferior in jungles or swamps.[10][16] Other improvements were made to lower the costs to tax-payers. By the late 1980s, thousands of incidents of field destruction were reported by troopers, including heel blowouts and loss of water drains (screened eyelets) from poor materials/poor quality control.[17]
Today, Altama Footwear and Wellco Footwear are two American manufacturers of American military jungle footwear.[18] Altama began manufacturing boots for the military near the end of American involvement in Vietnam, in 1969, supplying the military with footwear. Wellco gained the first tax-payers contract for boots in 1965. These companies manufacture footwear with waterproof insoles and Vibram or Dobie outsoles with green cotton/nylon uppers and conventional eyelets, and manufacture an improved version with a black Cordura upper and a Speedlace-and-eyelet lacing system. Atalaia manufactures jungle footwear for the Brazilian Army.[19] McRae boots of North Carolina produces the original green cotton boot and the black nylon boot in the US.[citation needed]
In 2005, the
See also
- United States Army Uniform in World War II
- Desert combat boot
References
- ^ ISBN 1884067107(1996), pp. 172–183
- ^ a b c Risch, Erna, The Quartermaster Corps, Washington, DC: Office of the Chief of Military History, Dept. of the Army (1953), pp. 108–109
- ^ a b Report on Orinoco-Casiquiare-Negro Waterway: Venezuela-Colombia-Brazil, Volume 4, Washington, D.C.: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Office of Inter-American Affairs (July 1943)
- ^ a b George, John B. (Lt. Col), Shots Fired In Anger, NRA Press, pp. 490–491
- ^ Mars Task Force: A Short History http://www.cbi-theater.com/mars/marstaskforce.html
- ^ Kearny, Cresson H. (Maj), Jungle Snafus...And Remedies, Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine (1996), pp. 178–179
- ^ ISBN 1-85532-568-3(2002), p. 58
- ^ p.47 Brayley, Martin & Chappell, Mike The Brit Army, 1939–45: The Far East Osprey Publishing
- ^ Hearings on military posture and H.R. 13456, p. 8177.
- ^ ISBN 1574889842(2006) p. 106
- ^ Kearny, Cresson H. (Maj), Jungle SNAFU...And Remedies, Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine (1996), p. 179
- ^ Interview with General Colin L. Powell, [1]: Colin Powell, later to become Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the U.S. Armed Forces, was injured by sharp objects, but was poorly served by the plates in his footwear; he stepped on them at an angle, penetrating his instep.
- ^ a b c Kearny, Cresson H. (Maj.), pp. 183, 365–368
- ^ Kearny, Cresson H. (Maj.), pp. 365–368
- ^ Westwood, E., Smith, N., and Dyson, R., Comparison of the Influence of Three Types of Military Boot Insoles Upon the Force and Loading Rates Experienced In Drop Jump Landings, Biomechanics Symposia 2001, University of San Francisco (2001), p. 30
- ^ Kearny, Cresson H. (Maj.), pp. 366–368
- ^ Kearny, Cresson H. (Maj), pp. 366–368
- ^ "Jungle Boots". Military Boots Blog. 2009-12-14.
- ^ "Atlas Atalaia :::". www.coturnoatalaia.com.br. Archived from the original on 2011-03-07.