Austrian Mountain Boots, Full Leather, Surplus

The toughest, stiffest combat boot the Austrian army has (or had?). These are meant for rugged mountain terrain, so the durability and sole stiffness are superb. Old time design of leather with no membranes. These would cost a huge lot of money if they were made today.

• Goodyear Welt, or is it even a Storm Welt se see there...
• Full leather construction
• Stiff rubber sole with a coarse tread pattern
• Tunnel lacing on the lower part, with hooks from there upwards
• Note: There might not be laces included or they are too short to lace all the way up
• Bellowed tongue
• Proper good fit
• Enough room for double socks

If there's a country where they know a thing or two about navigating mountainous terrain, it's Austria. Not surprisingly almost all of their combat boot models are more or less suitable for a bit steeper landscape. However, these are specifically meant for mountain troops; the extra stiff sole and hardy construction overall keep your feet safe in difficult ground. There's even grooves for crampons, which we unfortunately don't have.

The shaft could be described as extra high and padded only from the lower part and lower ankle where the risk of injury is the highest. Leather lining on the inside. The leather itself is super high quality, hard wearing but supple kind and will probably last longer than the user.

Size info

Manufactured to European size specs. The lasts are not particularly wide so if you're often between two sizes, consider the larger one in this case. Here's a table to help you compare it to true US sizes.

Conversion table

EU-size	Length of foot	US-size
36	227 mm	US 5*
37	233 mm	US 5.5
38	240 mm	US 6.5
39	247 mm	US 7
40	253 mm	US 8
41	260 mm	US 9*
42	267 mm	US 9.5
43	273 mm	US 10.5*
44	280 mm	US 11
45	287 mm	US 12
46	293 mm	US 12.5
47	300 mm	US 13.5
48	307 mm	US 14.5*

* This size falls in between half and full sizes of the US system and our chart indicates the larger US-size. The rounding is just 2 mm (0.08") so the boot is still going to be large enough.

Care and maintenance

Wash with gall soap (aka. bile soap) or just your regular hand soap with lots of water and a brush. Don't dry in sunlight or high heat, do take out for a walk. When the boots are moist, they are most hospitable to leather oil and grease. This gives you a basic level that you can finish as you please.

Warranty info

These are not covered by the manufacturer at this point. However, you should not be disappointed with these. If you run into a lemon, let us know and we'll sort it out.

Condition

Used for sure, but in a good condition and serviceable with lots of miles to go with the treads. However as evidence from hard use, some boots might have little gap here or there between the outer rubber and inner leather sole where the glue has started to give in.

Note: There might not be laces included or they are too short to lace all the way up. If the laces are somehow not up to your standards, get some laces that are.

Some pairs may have a small tag-hole punched through at the top of the shaft or tongue. Most also have a white X made with a crayon to the toe box or heel. It'll come off with use, brushing, and care.

It is worth knowing that military surplus boots don’t usually come with insoles, and even if they do have them, they are often used. So, get a good pair of insoles at the same time. For example, from us. The Austrians use thin leather soles.

Austrian surplus

Functional, neutral, clean. That's what the Austrian Bundesheer gear is made of. Our Austrian surplus revolves mostly around the Anzug 75 and Anzug 03 clothing systems, but who knows, maybe the "Tarnanzug Neu" will make it's appearance if the Austrians decide to clear the stocks in the future. Get your OD gear while the stocks last.

After the Second World War the Austrian soldier looked like a weird mixture of Allies and Germans; the M1 style helmet and general profile really tried to bring that NATO vibe up, but a lot of the gear and even the dotted camouflage pattern looked surprisingly much like WW2 German issue. In the 70s they took a major leap towards NATO with the introduction of the all-green Anzug 75 clothing and equipment system closely inspired by the American equivalents, finally letting go of the "old stuff". The Anzug 03 brought the game up to date with some changes in effort to modernize the whole thing. Now the Bundesheer is again moving over to camouflage.