[collim1]

Today the entire shift, minus me, got an earful about their boots looking like crap.

I have been putting Kiwi on my boots every week for years and have caught crap from the BDU guys for years.

Today for once, I got to be excluded from the rant of the day butt chewing.

Besides looking good they wipe clean with a damp rag and scratches only get the layer of polish so they buff out and dont damage the leather.

Shine away guys.

[OFCJIM40]

Company man.


Kidding

[Patchman]

Good for you!

[sheriff733]

Originally Posted by collim1

Today the entire shift, minus me, got an earful about their boots looking like crap.

I have been putting Kiwi on my boots every week for years and have caught crap from the BDU guys for years.

Today for once, I got to be excluded from the rant of the day butt chewing.

Besides looking good they wipe clean with a damp rag and scratches only get the layer of polish so they buff out and dont damage the leather.

Shine away guys.

Yeah, that's what our kiss assess do here, too.



j/k

I don't polish. So, I just went and bought a pair of the 5.11 HRT boots (I think is what they are called) with the felt toe so now I have an excuse not to.

[Kingarthurhk]

In the Border Patrol we had a Field Office Supervisor who wanted brass polished and boots and leather polished before shift. They didn't care what mess you looked like after shift when you had been humping the brush for 10 hours.

On day shift I thought the shiny brass was stupid. You weren't going to catch many people lit up like a Christmas tree when the sun hit you.

But, that was old patrol. The new kids get nylon instead of leather and no brass to polish. Less work, and less wear and tear on the back.

[blk69stang]

Originally Posted by Kingarthurhk

But, that was old patrol. The new kids get nylon instead of leather and no brass to polish. Less work, and less wear and tear on the back.

Yeah, when they rolled out the nylon gear the claim was the change was to "reduce weight". You know what? My nylon duty gear weighs within a half pound of what my old leather gear weighed. So weight savings was negligible.

And the best part? The Nylon gear doesn't last. I have to replace all of it once a year because the mesquite abrades the nylon and causes it to fray. Looks like I'm wearing an afro wig around my waist about the time I have to replace it.

My old leather gear, OTOH, was just getting broken in nicely at the four year mark when they forced me to change.

The jerks even got rid of the old "cowboy cut" on the back of the uniform shirts when they went to these new BDU type unis. Oh, gee, we only had guys fight tooth and nail to keep the cowboy cut when they were forcing us out of DOJ and into DHS because the cowboy cut was part of our heritage. Then, six years later, they crap all over our heritage and the hard work of the guys who fought to keep it when we voluntarily decide to go to BDUs and nobody bothered to carry over the cowboy cut. It's little stuff, I know, but it was part of our identity. I hate it when these pencil-pushing ladder-climbers have no connection to our heritage, and no idea what the guys in the field actually want/need... they just take whatever dumb idea they happen to think is best and cram it down our throats.

Yeah, morale is awesome in the Patrol right now.

[4949shooter]

Originally Posted by blk69stang

Yeah, when they rolled out the nylon gear the claim was the change was to "reduce weight". You know what? My nylon duty gear weighs within a half pound of what my old leather gear weighed. So weight savings was negligible.

And the best part? The Nylon gear doesn't last. I have to replace all of it once a year because the mesquite abrades the nylon and causes it to fray. Looks like I'm wearing an afro wig around my waist about the time I have to replace it.

My old leather gear, OTOH, was just getting broken in nicely at the four year mark when they forced me to change.

The jerks even got rid of the old "cowboy cut" on the back of the uniform shirts when they went to these new BDU type unis. Oh, gee, we only had guys fight tooth and nail to keep the cowboy cut when they were forcing us out of DOJ and into DHS because the cowboy cut was part of our heritage. Then, six years later, they crap all over our heritage and the hard work of the guys who fought to keep it when we voluntarily decide to go to BDUs and nobody bothered to carry over the cowboy cut. It's little stuff, I know, but it was part of our identity. I hate it when these pencil-pushing ladder-climbers have no connection to our heritage, and no idea what the guys in the field actually want/need... they just take whatever dumb idea they happen to think is best and cram it down our throats.

Yeah, morale is awesome in the Patrol right now.

Just curious....what do you mean by the cowboy cut?

[4949shooter]

Since we only wear our boots with "Class B" uniforms, I have mixed feelings about polishing them. I always had my "B" boots polished from the academy days, but the thought process here is becoming more of if we are wearing class B's than we don't want to shine.

Class "A" uniform shine away.

I just got issued a new pair of 511's. I haven't done anything with them yet, but I think I will just keep them lookling "fresh" with a base coat of polish as Cochese mentioned.

If you wear boots every day with your class A uniform, then I could see keeping them spit shined.

[Kingarthurhk]

Originally Posted by blk69stang

Yeah, when they rolled out the nylon gear the claim was the change was to "reduce weight". You know what? My nylon duty gear weighs within a half pound of what my old leather gear weighed. So weight savings was negligible.

And the best part? The Nylon gear doesn't last. I have to replace all of it once a year because the mesquite abrades the nylon and causes it to fray. Looks like I'm wearing an afro wig around my waist about the time I have to replace it.

My old leather gear, OTOH, was just getting broken in nicely at the four year mark when they forced me to change.

The jerks even got rid of the old "cowboy cut" on the back of the uniform shirts when they went to these new BDU type unis. Oh, gee, we only had guys fight tooth and nail to keep the cowboy cut when they were forcing us out of DOJ and into DHS because the cowboy cut was part of our heritage. Then, six years later, they crap all over our heritage and the hard work of the guys who fought to keep it when we voluntarily decide to go to BDUs and nobody bothered to carry over the cowboy cut. It's little stuff, I know, but it was part of our identity. I hate it when these pencil-pushing ladder-climbers have no connection to our heritage, and no idea what the guys in the field actually want/need... they just take whatever dumb idea they happen to think is best and cram it down our throats.

Yeah, morale is awesome in the Patrol right now.

I remember when they changed the regular green to that weird green. We laughed at the first mismatched guy that showed up a muster.

I didn't like the cowboy cut on the shirts, though, because the five strands kept tearing them up.

I like the BDU look I see the new patrol with, but I never liked the concept of the second patch and the fact they made the BP patch smaller.

Heck, I still have my old hats, and uniforms. The leather is probably rotten by now. But, I did make sure I kept my Ike nice.

Morale sucked when i was in too. I am sure that hasn't changed much. Back then, the government in its less than infinite wisdom decided to do cross the board 11's and kill OCORS. That is when I decided I was out, and left.

Unless you wanted to be Nanook of the North, you were frozen in whatever duty station you were at, and it made morale worse, not better.

I guess the government decided to solve morale by making everyone 12's over there across the board. It appears they still don't "get it" 10 years later.

The issue is guys want mobility. You can throw as much money as you want at it, but people want to move around to different duty stations. If they can grasp that concept, I think morale might finally improve.

[Mattz]

Good for you. I polish my boots everyday before shift. Used to catch ****, too.. even to the point guys were telling me to stop polishing my boots. lol

[msu_grad_121]

Funny, this just came up a few days ago on mids. One of the shift's "old timers" was giving the newb on afternoons grief for her boots looking like mirrors, and started in on me, too. Mine aren't shined like hers, but they're definitely better than his. "Oh it's not tactical to have your boots shined like that."

I just told him that by that logic, his shiny bald head isn't tactical, either, and FAR more likely to light him up than our boots.

[Kingarthurhk]

Originally Posted by msu_grad_121

Funny, this just came up a few days ago on mids. One of the shift's "old timers" was giving the newb on afternoons grief for her boots looking like mirrors, and started in on me, too. Mine aren't shined like hers, but they're definitely better than his. "Oh it's not tactical to have your boots shined like that."

I just told him that by that logic, his shiny bald head isn't tactical, either, and FAR more likely to light him up than our boots.

Speaking of not tactical. We had a former police officer from New Orleans come to our border patrol station as a trainee. I would always show up to muster early, it helps to get a seat in the back. I would smell him comming and call out his name before he reached the muster room. He asked me how I knew it was him. I told him it was his aftershave that was pretty pungent. I told him, I could smell him, when wind changes direction in the brush so could all the illegals. No one smells like that out in the brush.

[Panzergrenadier1979]

Our troopers seem to compete with each other over who has the least shined boots.

[Kingarthurhk]

Originally Posted by Panzergrenadier1979

Our troopers seem to compete with each other over who has the least shined boots.

My wife and I had a deal struck up. I would polish boots, brass and leather. She would iron my uniform. Then again, I would polish her shoes for her too.

[blueiron]

Originally Posted by Kingarthurhk

No one smells like that out in the brush.

Perhaps, but the nortenos do when out on the weekend here. We didn't need canines to track them after a crime.

[Kingarthurhk]

Originally Posted by blueiron

Perhaps, but the nortenos do when out on the weekend here. We didn't need canines to track them after a crime.

The people we caught smelled like feet and ass, and would often use their hands to clean the last mentioned area of anatomy.

Even after being cleaned, the processing area laways smelled like a moldy goat.

[merlynusn]

I don't think boots should look like mirrors, but they should at least be black and not greenish because it's been so long since they have had a coat of polish.

[blueiron]

Originally Posted by merlynusn

I don't think boots should look like mirrors, but they should at least be black and not greenish because it's been so long since they have had a coat of polish.

Agreed. Polish them with bleach and the toes and heels come out white.

[CitizenOfDreams]

I thought this thread would be about kicking a civilian with your shiny boots.

[Cochese]

Originally Posted by CitizenOfDreams

I thought this thread would be about kicking a civilian with your shiny boots.

Choke yourself.

[A6Gator]

Originally Posted by CitizenOfDreams

I thought this thread would be about kicking a civilian with your shiny boots.

I thought this thread was about spit-shined boots and some chick...

[Morris]

The last time we had any sort of formal inspection was about six years ago. Boots were clean, serviceable and black. In our area, being polished lasts about as long as it takes to walk to the car.

We have a few gray toes that make me cringe. But since I am not a sergeant, I just shake my head and continue on. It's up to me to keep my gear and footwear in proper order.

[RetailNinja]

I polish once every month or so. Horse hair brush and a damp rag do wonders.

EDIT: College boi here who was taught at the academy to polish boots by my former USMC roomate. His stuff looked like black chrome.

[Sharky7]

[mercs50]

We had a guy with boots so green he looked like the Green Lantern. One of the other guys spit shined one of his boots and he wore them like that for a week before the Sgt. told him to shine the other