East German Jackboot conversions?

DarExc · #31

Panzerfaust,

Yes, he was in Nachrichten Battalion.

I brought the boots in today and asked the guy to cut them down to be 14" tall and I shouldn't need to stretch them after that. He doesn't have the equipment to stretch the calf part of boots he told me as well.

Wilibald · #32

Hi DarExc

Would you mind posting a picture or two of the completed job?

Hope you will finally enjoy the boots after it's been cut !

Wilibald

DarExc · #33

I will when I get em back, he said end of the weekend, its only a small town kobler here.

DarExc · #34

Here they are after being cut to 14 inches. Next I have to get the leather stitched on the soles, do I get it totaly replaced or add a layer of leather? Also is it best to do my own heel irons and hob nails or have the cobler do it?

Wilibald · #35

Hi !

It looks good DarExc, doesn't it

You could go for leather soles OR ask your cobler to simply glue/stitch a layer of leather on the actual soles and heels (which would probably be cheaper) However, since my own boots were modified with a new sole, I wonder if an extra layer would be as solid as a total replacement.

For the hobnails, well you will be able to install it yourself, but I would personally provide a picture to the cobler and ask him, as he has the professional equipment to do so... Once again though, I suspect that the hobnails would maybe fall apart more easily if nailed in a composite sole, but that is just an opinion.

Hope it helps, and that you'll be happy to put the ankle boots and gaiters back in the closet for a while

Wilibald

DarExc · #36

Thanks, I will try and get it totaly replaced (if he does that). I don't know about totaly replacing the ankle boots though, these jack boots seem to like to give me blisters on my heels! I'm gonna do the ironing thing, the calf size is fine now with my pants on as well after it was cut down, I got some stretch oils just incase though, I got lotsa time today cause I'm off work sick.

DarExc · #37

Got the boots back, put the nails in and now the heel irons came in and look at this. What do I do now?

DarExc · #38

Heel iron close up

Wilibald · #39

Well Jer, seems like we've got a similar problem:

I bought hobnails from Germany 7 months ago on Ebay and the seller said he would include a set of irons... and it won't fit the heels either! (nice job you did with the sole though!

)

I recently saw an Ebay-store that sold those same irons BUT specified it came in three sizes.. and surely enough, we both bought (nobody told us!) a set of what looks like the smaller of them all...

So it's probably not a first for you (it was not a first for me anyway!) with that hobby, but the set of irons you've got (I have got!) seem to be useless (I hesitate to use the word "waste".. well, did I just use it?

)

Take the positive aspect of it all: your boots are now 95% accurate... I guess that patience is the solution *sigh* I will try to re-locate the vendor I told you about and will post his address asap

Wilibald

DarExc · #40

I got mine from http://www.grigsbymilitaria.com/german_footwear.htm any idea where to get larger ones?

Wilibald · #41

Found it for you

Take a look... I do hesitate to buy it though, fearing I could be stuck with TWO useless sets if it is not working either...

http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie ... eName=WD1V

Wilibald

DarExc · #42

You bought from him before and didn't specify the size or something?

Wilibald · #43

I bought a set of 80 hobnails, and the seller said he would INCLUDE the irons as a bonus, but obviously, he probably could not sell it anyway because it was too small to fit on any normal sized boots... So I was happy with his offer and never questionned the fact that it could possibly NOT FIT on the boots I had.

The URL I just posted is from another vendor I found on Ebay. I honestly never did any kind of business with that guy, so I can't say if he is ok or not, but his record looks clean

.

However, the good news is that he provides the measurement for the 3 sizes of horse shoe irons he is offering, so I guess all we'd have to do would be to measure the heels on our boots and order the proper size.

I must say that I am (at the moment) personally reluctant in investing ANOTHER 25$ USD to get such an un-noticeable piece of equipment... I plan to wait a bit and complete my field gear before. I think it would not be a sin if you would ever attend an event with converted boots, full with hobnails, but without horse shoe irons on...

You can take your time to think about that one and make sure you are getting the right stuff

Just an opinion though

Good luck and keep us informed!

Wilibald

DarExc · #44

I got 2 pairs of repro irons at At The Front. They are 8.5cm'sX8.5cm's. I'm going to put em on my jack boots and convert my ankle boots as well.

On anyother note I found out smoothing the leather on Russian boots wont work because they arn't made of leather, its a vinal (sp?) material I was told my the kobbler. I guess I should have got German boots eh!?

craigob · #45

bah... the smoothing of the boot works fine in the east german boot..ifs that what you meant by russian boots - hell it took me 2 hours to do my very first pair but they passed inspection.

There will be vendors at odessa, not sure who yet but i know they will be there, you may be able to pick some irons there..