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Jungle boots are a type of combat boot designed for use in jungle warfare or hot, wet and humid environments where a standard leather combat boot would be uncomfortable or unsuitable. Jungle boots have vent holes on the inner side near the middle of the boot to aid ventilation, and uppers mixing leather with cotton and nylon.
The most well-known type of jungle boot are the ones that the US Armed Forces issued to their personnel during the Vietnam War in which the boot's upper was a mixture of leather for the toe, heel and eyelets and cotton/nylon for the neck of the boot.
The jungle boots that were made for the US armed forces during the Vietnam War sported a direct molded rubber sole (in either a Vibram style tread or a Panama-style tread) which also has a stainless steel plate installed inside the boot's sole to protect the wearer from punji stake traps.
The US military jungle boot helped design the famed desert combat boot which many American soldiers wore during Operation Desert Storm in 1991, Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan in 2001 and Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003. Despite the introduction of the desert boot at the time of Operation Desert Storm, many American military personnel were still issued jungle boots because there were not enough desert boots to issue to all the personnel in the Middle East at the time.
Altama Footwear and Wellco Footwear are two American combat boot companies who manufacture the US military jungle boot in both its original Vietnam War configuration with the green cotton/nylon upper and conventional eyelets and in an updated version with a black cotton/nylon/cordura upper and a hook and eyelet lacing system as well as the desert boot of Desert Storm, Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom fame.
As of 2005, the United States Marine Corps has removed the old black jungle boots from front-line military service and replaced them with a new combat boot called the Jungle Desert Boot after the US Marines adopted the new MARPAT digital camouflage uniforms in 2002 as well as the US Marines being called in to fight in deserts in recent years.
| The above article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/jungle_boot ). 1/18/06 |
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Designed to Get Wet and Dry OutEvery feature of the jungle boot accepts a fact that standard boot design fights: in the jungle, the foot will get wet, so the boot's job is to drain, ventilate and keep working anyway. An all-leather boot in hot, wet, humid conditions stays waterlogged, rots at the seams and cooks the foot. The jungle pattern answers with a hybrid upper, leather kept where abrasion and structure demand it, at the toe, heel and eyelets, and cotton and nylon cloth for the neck of the boot, which dries fast and lets the leg move. The two vent holes on the inner side near the middle of the boot are drain ports as much as ventilation: water that enters over the top or through the cloth exits at the instep rather than pooling under the foot. Makers such as Altama Footwear and Wellco Footwear produced the boot for the United States military in its Vietnam War configuration, with a green cotton and nylon upper and conventional eyelets, and in an updated version with a black cotton, nylon and Cordura upper and a hook and eyelet lacing system. The Sole That Fought Two WarsThe underside carries the boot's other war. The direct-moulded rubber sole, in a Vibram style tread or the deep-lugged Panama-style tread that sheds mud instead of packing with it, protects the stride, and the stainless steel plate inside the sole was armour against punji stake traps, sharpened stakes hidden for the unwary step. The design's success is measured by its descendants and its longevity. The jungle boot helped design the desert combat boot of Desert Storm, Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom, trading drainage for sand exclusion and heat reflection, and supply lagged demand so heavily in 1991 that many American personnel deployed in jungle boots anyway. Front-line use finally ended for one service in 2005, when the United States Marine Corps removed the old black jungle boots from front-line service and replaced them with a new combat boot called the Jungle Desert Boot, after adopting the MARPAT digital camouflage uniforms in 2002 and fighting in deserts. The pattern remains in production for the environments it was named for, where no successor has beaten drainage, light weight and rot resistance in one boot. Common QuestionsWhy do jungle boots have holes in them?Jungle boots have two vent holes on the leather on the inner side of the boot near the middle to aid ventilation. In hot, wet conditions the vents let water drain out and air move, instead of sealing the foot in with the water. What protected soldiers from punji stakes?The Vietnam-era United States jungle boot had a stainless steel plate installed inside the boot's sole to protect the wearer from punji stake traps, under a direct-moulded rubber sole in either a Vibram style tread or a Panama-style tread. Did the jungle boot lead to the desert boot?Yes. The United States military jungle boot helped design the famed desert combat boot worn during Operation Desert Storm in 1991, Operation Enduring Freedom in 2001 and Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003, though many personnel were still issued jungle boots in Desert Storm because desert boots were in short supply. More to Explore
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