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WHICH Brown Shoe?

Renegade One

Well-Known Member
None
I've looked at the shoes and I'm not sure they can be re-soled, as the heel and sole aren't really "modular." That said, where do you recommend in the Whale's Vagina? I found a great cobbler in Jax, but haven't bothered to look here.
I swear by the folks at Bonita Shoe Repair on Bonita Road…east of the 805 exit. Probably not convenient for you…but I'm sure there are others more local to you.
 

Gatordev

Well-Known Member
pilot
Site Admin
Contributor
That's a little bit of a haul, but I'll keep them in mind. I'm still denying any need for brown shoes (and associated khakis), but I'm sure that will change eventually.
 

fc2spyguy

loving my warm and comfy 214 blanket
pilot
Contributor
None of that affects the bates lite foam soles. I actually kept one pair for "earth" and one for any air
travel, mil or civilian. The ones that went up (ESP in an unpressurized bomb bay) had the soles collapse in short order.
Hmm, not exactly. My bates lites after a grand total of maybe 10 to 12 times wearing.
 

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CubDriver

New Member
I haven't built up the courage yet to ask someone here at Whiting, but what are the leather soled brown boots I see some random guys wearing? They seem so much more maleable and about 10 pounds lighter than the Belleville clunkers we were issued. For a guy who likes to drive/fly barefoot, the Bellevilles are just too much boot.
 

picklesuit

Dirty Hinge
pilot
Contributor
I haven't built up the courage yet to ask someone here at Whiting, but what are the leather soled brown boots I see some random guys wearing? They seem so much more maleable and about 10 pounds lighter than the Belleville clunkers we were issued. For a guy who likes to drive/fly barefoot, the Bellevilles are just too much boot.
Find your balls and ask someone, won't be the hardest question you have to ask as an Officer...I'd guess Redwings, but I just use the "clunkers" myself.
Pickle
 

Renegade One

Well-Known Member
None
Find your balls and ask someone, won't be the hardest question you have to ask as an Officer...
^^^ Yeah. If you can't do that…we probably can't trust you to keep offensive material out of your squadron spaces…just to stuff a couple of disparate threads into the Ready Room blender… ;)
 

PropAddict

Now with even more awesome!
pilot
Contributor
I had my brown Bates re-soled in Bahrain for like 20 BD. Totally worth it, since he shined the shoes on his bench grinder'looking thing for free and I haven't had to do a thing to them since.

What I really want to know is where the hell can I get a pair of white leather shoes with white soles that don't say "Bates Lites" on them. 2-3 years (that amounts to 3-4 wearings, tops) and those soles are toast. Crumbly, nasty toast.
 

Renegade One

Well-Known Member
None
What I really want to know is where the hell can I get a pair of white leather shoes with white soles that don't say "Bates Lites" on them. 2-3 years (that amounts to 3-4 wearings, tops) and those soles are toast. Crumbly, nasty toast.
It appears to be a very small "niche market" for which Bates is the only supplier. I suppose the next time you visit your family boot-maker in London you could order something custom…but even the Royal Navy gets by with "non-white" soles. Probably explains a lot...
 

ea6bflyr

Working Class Bum
None
Super Moderator
Contributor
What I really want to know is where the hell can I get a pair of white leather shoes with white soles that don't say "Bates Lites" on them. 2-3 years (that amounts to 3-4 wearings, tops) and those soles are toast. Crumbly, nasty toast.

I preferred the white shoes I bought at the MCX. Much better quality and they don't fall apart.
 

PropAddict

Now with even more awesome!
pilot
Contributor
And they had white soles?

That seems to be the long pole in the tent on all the hard-soled white oxfords I can find. . .
 

MIDNJAC

is clara ship
pilot
I pretty much just end up buying new white bates about every other time I wear them. Have probably only worn whites about 3 times in 5+ years on active duty. They are like $85 or so......not really a crippling investment for the occasional CoC or whites inspection of your Sailors as a Divo. To be honest, none of my dress uniforms ever wore LTJG insignia......went straight from commissioning as an ENS to never wearing them again until I was an LT (which was basically when I got to the fleet), maybe with exception of summer whites which just involved shoulder boards.
 

PropAddict

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pilot
Contributor
$85 for a pair of shoes I will wear once or twice, tops, while not cripplingly expensive, is still ridiculous.

That kind of attitude is why we get billion dollar, "gold-plated" ships and airplanes that have less functionality than the platforms they replace.;)
 

MIDNJAC

is clara ship
pilot
$85 for a pair of shoes I will wear once or twice, tops, while not cripplingly expensive, is still ridiculous.

That kind of attitude is why we get billion dollar, "gold-plated" ships and airplanes that have less functionality than the platforms they replace.;)

Fair enough. I won't argue that they are crap, but then again, they are a little bit like wearing a wedding dress to a slaughter house. There is simply no way to keep them clean and still black out in the toilet during a dining out after 400 shots and 1 million irish car bombs in a pool of your own vomit :)
 

PropAddict

Now with even more awesome!
pilot
Contributor
Krylon is your friend. I recommend "Gloss White" although "Semi-Gloss" is a little less showy.

I have no solution (obviously. . .) for keeping the soles from crumbling.
 
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