[x_out86]

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.

I am right there with you brother. Call me old school, but I think you boots should start every shift with a shine. What they look like at the end of your tour is irrelevant.

Guys can give you hell all they want, but after attending the LEOKA presentation that the FBI does, you take a real look at what image you portray in uniform. When the BG's that tried to or did kill officers talk about they took notice of how in shape the officers were as well as how neat their uniform was when the sized them up.....you wont overlook the small things that may let the BG's know that you are not there to play games and go down easy.

[kgain673]

Originally Posted by 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

Lolol

[South Fla]

I saw guys so lazy and not polish their boots with polish, that they sprayed them black with Krylon spray paint.

On the topic of pungent aftershave, when I was in the academy, they actually had a class, or a "block" as they call it now, about wearing unscented deodorant, unscented shampoo, shaving in the shower, unscented soap and not to wear aftershave because the bad guys smelling you coming.

[Cochese]

Originally Posted by CitizenOfDreams

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

Choke yourself.

[Cochese]

I don't polish my boots. I keep them conditioned but that is it. Clean and conditioned looks really good in my opinion. They always look new rather than like **** with a shiny toe cap like some of our guys.

[DaBigBR]

Originally Posted by Cochese

I don't polish my boots. I keep them conditioned but that is it. Clean and conditioned looks really good in my opinion. They always look new rather than like **** with a shiny toe cap like some of our guys.

The only boots worth polishing, IMO, are full grain leather. All of the fake leather just looks more fake with an academy shine on it. Full grain looks good polished up.

[collim1]

Had to work a wreck on the interstate this week and wound up in calf deep mud most of the time. Set my boots outside until the dried the next day and spent a good bit of time picking the mud out of the sole and knocking it off the top.

Got em cleaned up with a damp rag and since I keep a nice polish on them they still looked pretty darn good when I got done.

I am giving them a quick coat now to buff out the scratches on the toe.

[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.

[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...

[Lt Scott 14]

The old school LEO Academy use to dress the footwear in Clarino oxfords. They blistered my feet, so I sought a pair of Bates USPS style shoes. Had to shine and Kiwi the leather, but they were great. The nylon/leather patrol boots do work well, and with a bit of maintenence look ok. My instructors would roll in their graves thinking that Clarino isn't accepted in the law enforcement world. They were crap, and the duty gear didn't last more than a year or two without cracking. I like the nylon better, and it's silent when you walk.

[Metro566]

On dogs I don't polish my boots...there is no need. I keep them clean and conditioned...they look like they did when I bought them.

When I work days, I have a separate pair that is nice and shiny.

On days all I do is crashes and traffic, on dogs all I do is run through dirt and catch crooks. To each their own

[OfficerChris]

I really dont get it why in the USA there is so much effort put in shining boots and uniform inspections.. at least it seems to me like that.

I like it when an officer looks good in his/her uniform, but its not like beeing in the honor guard of the USMC.

Getting a reprimand for that is just a waste of energy and a loss of motivation.

Offcourse I also saw police officers with boots that looked like they worked for weeks at a farm, but thats not really something thats worth more than just mentioning it from time to time.

We had one of these shoe cleaner machines at the station. Every couple of hours I walked by, I used it. Worked fine and cost nearly nothing (I bet you get these for less than 100$)

[Cochese]

Originally Posted by OfficerChris

We had one of these shoe cleaner machines at the station. Every couple of hours I walked by, I used it. Worked fine and cost nearly nothing (I bet you get these for less than 100$)

We had them when I worked in Texas. They were called trustees.

[GRIMLET]

Originally Posted by Cochese

We had them when I worked in Texas. They were called trustees.

A local jail/work center complex has painted patrol boats, washes our vehicles and we can check a few out to clean the impound.

Its not a bad deal at all. We used to throw them a pack of smokes for a good job. Now the jail complex is smoke free so I bring a hamburger combo every couple/three washes.


Posted using Outdoor Hub Campfire

[GRIMLET]

Did it twice, sorry.


Posted using Outdoor Hub Campfire

[Cochese]

Originally Posted by GRIMLET

A local jail/work center complex has painted patrol boats, washes our vehicles and we can check a few out to clean the impound.

Its not a bad deal at all. We used to throw them a pack of smokes for a good job. Now the jail complex is smoke free so I bring a hamburger combo every couple/three washes.


Posted using Outdoor Hub Campfire

The Denton County courthouse. They have an old fashioned shoe shine booth. Buck a boot. Fifty cents to the county and fifty cent to the convict.

I miss them days.

Our trustees here pick up brass at my range and clean puke, ****, and blood out of my car.

I can't complain.

[BigSpenda864]

I used to have to wear those hi gloss military style dress shoes unless I was on midnight shift or special duty. You can't run worth a damn in them and once I had been directing traffic and was standing in the same spot for a while in the summer sun. When I tried to move the damn shoe was almost stuck to the pavement and my feet were almost cooked inside the things.

As for my boots (which is all I wear now), I don't spit shine them like I did in my Army days but I rub a some polish on them and buff them with a brush about every other time I wear them. Generally they stay pretty shiny that way.

I don't think it's a waste of time at all to keep your boots shined up (or staying dress right dress for that matter). Its all about attention to detail in my opinion. A good trait for a LEO.

[Ohio Copper]

I keep mine clean, shiny and presentable.

Go figure last night I had them super shiny and was admiring them when I first got on shift, two hours later I'm trudging through mud looking for a vehicle break in suspect...

[OfficerChris]

Originally Posted by Cochese

We had them when I worked in Texas. They were called trustees.

whats a trustee?

[DaBigBR]

Originally Posted by OfficerChris

whats a trustee?

A jail inmate who works, usually around the facility.

[cowboywannabe]

starting shift while looking like youve just ended shift is a poor excuse.

we have a deal that works like this....you want to wear "tactical" boots, they better be shined before shift or you will be suspended for not wearing the cheap ass coraframs.

[Cochese]

Suspended?

That's retarded.

[OfficerChris]

Originally Posted by DaBigBR

A jail inmate who works, usually around the facility.

ah ok, already thought that after the response above, but the online dictionary didnt know it.