Swedish combat boots, rubber and leather, brown, surplus

Extremely well made, tough ol' ankle boots, these are the classic Tretorn combat boots! No GTX, but good ol' honest rubber and leather instead. Yes, the lower part is completely made of some pretty tough quality rubber, these are practiaclly waterproof, especially paired with proper gaiters. Old used Swedish army surplus from the times when things like 'planned obsolescence' were not fashionable. These are getting a bit rare - we got two Euro pallets and that's all there's going to be.

Small sizes go for very very very cheap!

The leather used on these is about 2,5 mm thick and of extremely high quality, while the rubber is something that probably does not disintegrate ever. A very nice detail for 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 favoured 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 snow shoes. 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 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.

Usually included is 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.

Size info

Sizes in user's foot length in millimetres, with a comparable EU/French size in the brackets.

The fit is very roomy, these are meant to be used with many pairs of socks or socks and 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

1: Used and tossed around in warehouses for decades. 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 a slightly musty ol' warehouse smell, a real first world problem. Grease them well, first time preferably before use. The lace eyelets are brass and usually have that bluish green oxidation. They might come off in use, but are easy to replace or just leave out. Some "used" boots are unissued ones with just a lot of oxidation in the eyelets.

2: Unissued, but old. Might have the same surface imperfections as used boots and of course some storage scuffs, but they have never been worn. We recommend the same treatment as with used boots. The eyelets seemed to be overall much less oxidated than on the used boots.