Swedish combat boots, rubber and leather, brown, surplus
The Swedes rubberized their combat boots in the days of yore. This is an indestructible, rough, and tough boot made for rough and wet surroundings. Combined with suitable gaiters, they keep the wet shit away from the top part as well. Hot stuff around the world. Used milsurp from the time when people didn’t Facebook, they wrestled with bears.
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The Swedes rubberized their combat boots in the days of yore. This is an indestructible, rough, and tough boot made for rough and wet surroundings. Combined with suitable gaiters, they keep the wet shit away from the top part as well. Hot stuff around the world. Used milsurp from the time when people didn’t Facebook, they wrestled with bears.
Features
Extremely well made, tough ol' ankle boots, these are the classic Tretorn combat boots! No GTX, but good honest rubber and leather instead. Yes, the lower part is completely made from some pretty tough quality rubber and pretty damn stiff, probably even when it was new. We suspect there's a reason for this: the only way to wear the rubber out would be to bend it again and again, so the Swedes made the whole boot extra stiff to make the flexing minimal. Thus, an eternal boot.
The leather used on these is about 2.5 mm (0.1") thick and of extremely high quality, while the rubber is something that probably does not disintegrate ever. A very nice detail for a shoe model as old as these is the bellowed tongue that won't let water seep in from the sides. No wonder the British SAS favored these and the full leather variant during the Falkland conflict over the standard-issue DMS Boots.
On the heel, you'll find a ski groove, the kind that accommodates, say, the old Finnish ski bindings or just about any snowshoes. Couple that with the overall generous sizing for many pairs of socks and you have excellent, old school skiing boots!
A word of warning: the rubber of the soles is not nearly as supple as it was when new. This means it's probably not as grippy as it was back then (if it ever was grippy at all...). It's still tough as nails and will take ages to wear out. In addition, a cobbler should be able to glue on more rubber if needed.
Being ankle boots, these encourage the use of puttees, anklets, or gaiters to provide extra support and keep snow out. Or just fold your wool sock over the shaft for that old time skiing charm.
These usually come with a pair of laces, either leather or cloth. In any case, it might be wise to invest in a new pair as they are old and thus might be unreliable. Some meter-and-a-half should be OK. No insole included. Please get a pair.
Care
Grease the leather parts well before use, and they will take a lot of it. Greasing them too much is kinda difficult. The rubber part should be cleaned but it won’t benefit from greasing. You could try silicon oil to nourish it a bit.
Please read our shoe and bootcare article and be enlightened.
Sizing
The sizes are in the user's foot length in millimeters, with a comparable UK/US size in the brackets. The fit is very roomy, these are meant to be used with many pairs of socks or socks plus footwraps, and thick insoles. These fit more like rubber boots or jackboots. We dare say the last will not cause problems for people with wide feet.
Condition
Used Swedish military surplus and also tossed around in warehouses for decades, but still in good serviceable condition. Buy these and you definitely won’t get anything new. The eyelets can have green oxidation, and they can even come off because of this. You can of course install new ones there if you want or go au naturel. The leather parts would benefit from greasing and cleaning, because they might have stiffened with age. The shoelaces probably need replacing. And invest in new insoles because those are most likely missing. Even if they aren’t, they should only be sacrificed to the Gods of Chaos.
Most have spots of old talcum powder or grease, dead surface mold, or some other type of dirt, just rub it off with a rag. There's also that slightly exotic ol' warehouse smell, a real first-world problem. All these features just increase the rustic charm of these boots.
Recommendations
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Reviews
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recommends
does not recommend
19 ratings
David V. 17.12.2016 ⚠ Unverified purchase
For reference, Swedish size 275 is loose on my US size 10 feet. But mine came with no insoles. Sure need some.
Dry and stiff indeed, nothing a soak and some oil didn't fix.
My 2 pairs were dated 1968 and 1969. They will likely last just as much longer
John K. 06.01.2017 ⚠ Unverified purchase
Björnerik J. 12.01.2017 Verified purchase
Will probably last my lifetime with proper care (I'm 20 years old)
Joose V. 30.01.2017 ⚠ Unverified purchase
Alvaro V. 01.10.2017 Verified purchase
Janne K. 02.10.2017 Verified purchase
Ei kannata luulla että tässä saisi parillakympillä modernia vaelluskenkää mukavuudeltaan vastaavat kengät. Ei saa. Mutta kärsivällisellä rasvauksella ja vieläkin kärsivällisemmällä sisäänajolla tästä saa aikasta hyvät kengät syksyiseen ja keväiseen suomalaiseen metsään. Kilometrien nielemiseen on omat kenkänsä ja vakavammin vaeltamista harrastavat käyttäkööt niitä, mutta nämä ovat yksinkertaiset ja pomminvarmat valinnat vähän rauhallisempaan menoon kosteisiin paikkohin - eli käytännössä kaikkialle kulutettujen polkujen ulkopuolelle muutaman kesäkuukauden ulkopuolella.
En ole vielä löytänyt useammasta palasta ommeltuja nahkakenkiä mitkä saisi luotettavasti vedenpitäviksi millään rasvalla tai vahalla, mutta näiden kumisilaus toimii hyvin. Jalat pysyvät koko päivän kuivana jopa kosteassa heinikossa taaperrettaessa, vaikka välillä astuisikin vähän lätäkköön tai mutaan. Päiväretkille ja sienestyksen tai marjastuksen, miksei metsästyksenkin kaltaiseen vähän rauhallisempaan puuhailuun oiva valinta - kun olen tälläinen pihi, niin säästän mieluusti kalliita goretex-kenkiä vaativammille jotoksille.
Pohja on suunnilleen yhtä jäykkä kuin jäykemmissä moderneissa vaelluskengissä, eli tasaisella ei ole niin hyvä, mutta kivikossa sitäkin parempi. Pohjakumi on myös kovaa, mikä tarkoittaa (toivottavasti) hyvää kulutuskestävyyttä, mutta liukkaat nämä voivat olla. Nahka on siinä määrin kuivaa, että armoton rasvaus ennen käyttöä on ihan välttämätöntä jos meinaa, että kengät kestävät yhtään. (Rasvaa kannattaa laittaa surutta myös kengän sisään: sisältä nämä ovat nahkakengät, kumi on vain päällä.) Sisäänajoa joutuu tekemään vähintään pari viikkoa, ellei enemmänkin, ja rakkoihin on syytä varautua. Yllättävää kyllä, vaa'an mukaan painoa on vain 100 grammaa enemmän kuin viimeisen mallin mukaisilla goretex-vaelluskengillä (1,1 kg vs 1 kg koossa 45).
Kaiken kaikkiaan hinta-laatusuhteeltaan oivat kengät rauhallisempaan ulkoiluun.
N.N. 05.10.2017 ⚠ Unverified purchase
Vaatii sisäänajon, öljyä ja kärsivällisyyttä. Jos nyt jotain moittii, niin pohjat on liukkaat, mutta eiköhän suutari jotain keksi.
Ja kannattaa tarkistaa vastaavien Lundhagsien hinta, on vaan aika monta euroa enemmän ;)
Simon H. 07.10.2017 Verified purchase
Only problem is that they're a little large. I've got insoles and everything in them and they're still a bit loose. Maybe order a size down from what you usually get.
Erik Z. 21.10.2017 Verified purchase
With Swedish military woolen socks (€ 9) and Coolmax hiking socks (€ 5) on my feet the stiffness of the soles and leather are still very noticeable. I've just walked some 20 km in them, and I hope they will form after my feet before 100 km...
The boots look cool and the materials are of very durable quality and won't ever wear out of you care for them, but I'd take my Meindl as hiking boots any day of the week.
The boots were € 19.90 but I needed another € 68 to make them close to bearable to wear, which still make the setup worth it, IF I can break them in properly.
The reason us Swedes got rid of these are we upgraded to the M90 boot almost 30 yrs ago. The M90 is possibly the best boot I've ever worn and beats the M58 (the boots I'm reviewing) by a long shot. I was issued a new pair on conscription and I had to leave them when I was released from service, and if Varusteleka was ever to get their paws on some I'd recommend them to anyone.
In the Swedish military forums the M58 are generally considered to be way too stiff, and the rubber soles too slippery. Some valiant souls have managed to break these beasts in, but that seems to take time, distance and lots of grease to happen...
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