Italian Winter Boots, "Moon Boots", Unissued

Now this is something fantabulous! White winter boots of the Italian army’s alpine troops. Comfortable and stylish in that retro space-age kinda way. Fantastic for winter use outdoors, and from there to the Milan Fashion Week or in the '80s after-ski disco with your time machine. If they aren't fashionable this year, they certainly will be the next. The company that made these, probably also equipped certain rebel troops in winter.

Features

The boots state vaguely that these are Italian army boots, but since most of Italy has quite a Mediterranean climate, these are most likely meant for the Alpine troops. You might not want to wear these in Southern Italy. Lookswise they are classic moon boots that were influenced by the astronaut boots of the late '60s. However, they are also heavily influenced by the Arctic indigenous people's boots known as mukluk or kamik.

The color can vary from pure white to creamy white. Depending on your height, these can be knee-height to 2/3 calf-height boots. The flexible rubber sole is very thick, so it insulates very well from the snow. Inside you might find baby blue leather insoles, but you might want to exchange those for something better, such as proper felt insoles or these.

The sturdy boot legs open very wide, so the boots are very easy to slip on. And the fastening system is quick and quite simple. The terrycloth lining breathes well but isn’t overly thick, so it might get a bit cold if you sit still for extended periods of time during a nuclear winter. The upper layer is something synthetic, possibly Nylon. It protects you from the wind but still breathes better than rubber or other denser materials. The weight per boot is 730 g (1.3 lbs), size 41-41. The weight of course goes up a bit when the boots get bigger.

Use

These are meant for folks that like to move in cold temperatures when it isn't wet. So they are perfect for wintery walk-and-stalk hunts, snowshoeing, and escaping the imperial troops on some icy planet in a distant, distant galaxy. If you are more of an urban adventurer, don’t still cast these aside. Moon boots are a timeless classic, also at home in the urban environment. Thanks to the fabric leg and upper, these aren't stiff robot boots. Instead, they allow your foot to move naturally and caress your feet and lower legs in a gentle way, so they feel very comfortable, especially with better insoles.

Because the weather is still quite warm, we haven’t been able to test how these handle real Finnish winter temperatures that some might describe as bloody cold. So, we cannot guarantee that these are ideal winter footwear for e.g. ice fishing in Lapland. The thick sole will insulate very well, but the upper isn’t super thick, so you will at least need very thick socks if you plan on remaining stationary. In any case, if you are looking for boots for just standing still in the mega cold, you might want to have something thicker.

Sizing

The sizes are in the EU system, we added the US size in brackets to help folks who don’t speak EU. However, these are quite snug for being winter boots. Even if the boot says e.g. 43-44, the size is actually quite small 43. So if you want a thick sock and some space for air in your boots, take one size larger than usual. Winter boots can be a tad cold if your toes are too close to the tip. If you plan on using these with regular socks and don’t need heat-insulating air in there, your regular size should be ok.

Note!We didn't first notice that some dastardly fellow has put a different size marking on the boot leg of some of these than what is found on the outer sole. The outer sole has always the correct marking. We went through them again and put the weird ones in correct places. However, if you got a wonky pair earlier on, please contact our customer service and we'll fix it.

Condition

These are completely unused. So, no blood, bullet holes, or chamois poop. Worth noting that the ones we checked are from the late 1990s. So, they have been in the warehouse for quite a while and can have some warehouse dust or minor yellowing on the reinforcements due to aging. However, this has no effect on usability.