Re: boot maintnance
Weirdest method I ever saw, then or since, was what the DI's made us do with our boots in Parris Island.
Starting new, we began by beating the leather with the backs of the polishing brush until all the stiffness was gone. We did this every night for the first two weeks of Boot Camp. The squad Bay would sound like a carpenter shop.
Each night, we would finish up by daubing and brushing the boot leather, with <span style="font-style: italic">saddle soap</span>...!
After the first two weeks the clubbing was terminated, but the saddle soaping continued every night.
A week before graduation, we were finally permitted to use regular boot polish.
The process converted the rock-hard boot leather into something resembling a pair of gloves.
We were told to put the boots away until we got to 'Nam, and use the other pair for everyday wear. We were also told not to polish the boots in 'Nam, but rather, to work in Vaseline whenever they appeared to be getting dried out.
When we got to 'Nam, if we had the opportunity, we were supposed to do the beat'n soap trick with the second pair of boots from Basic.
Also, the boots we got in PI were equipped with speed hooks, but I never saw another pair like that once we got into the units. We were instructed to save the hook boots for combat, that the time they saved could save a life.
I've used Mink Oil and it appears to work fine. But Wow, the cats go wild for it when I'm using it in the house.
Greg