Whaddya think of 'Corcoran'-style jump boots?

[Mr Badger]

Finally nabbed myself a pair of barely worn '1941' pattern jump boots off Ebay - £50 including shipping. They're black, which is what I was after, to go with my Highwayman, are made by Georgia and probably date from the 70s. Nevertheless, they still have all of the great detailing (punched toecap, nailed-on sole, etc) and the distinctively bulbous toe shape, which is great for my wide feet. The only difference is the non-leather midsole.

I gave 'em a good feed, cleaned'n'polished 'em and have been wearing 'em around the house this evening. Am very impressed!

Here's the pics off Ebay, they scrubbed up well, it was just surface dust, really:

Anyone else dig this type of boot? If they're as comfortable on a day-to-day basis as they'd seem, I'm tempted to source a brown pair...

 

[HeyMoe]

Wore them with my Class A's in the Army. Pretty comfortable but no where near as comfy as my jungle boots were LOL
I would actually like to find a pair in brown someday.

 

[Bebop]

I had a pair in the Army that I loved. I would spit shine the toes and take care of them like a nut. They had an untimely death about 10 years after I got home from overseas. They were great and seeing them here makes me want to search for another pair.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

Wore them with my Class A's in the Army. Pretty comfortable but no where near as comfy as my jungle boots were LOL
I would actually like to find a pair in brown someday.

With such a low price, you now have no excuse not to get a pair.

http://www.workbootsusa.com/come10hilemi.html

 

[Bebop]

It's good to know that they make them new. I feel kind of creepy wearing someone else's sweat laden boots.

 

[pgoat]

I love 'em!

 

[HHISIII]

Wore them with my Class A's in the Army. Pretty comfortable but no where near as comfy as my jungle boots were LOL
I would actually like to find a pair in brown someday.

I'll always have a special place in my heart for jungles with a panama tread. Those big lugs of a panama tread saved my rear end big time once.


Let's get some pics of the boots all shined up!

 

[Carnage]

I have a pair in brown too and I find them very very comfortable and hardwearing. I quite often wear them with my service dress instead of the required pair of brogues and they go very well..

 

[Preacher Man]

Corcoran - style boot sizing question:

I don't have a pair of these but I've always liked them. They look like they'd be very comfortable. I'm leery about buying shoes/boots online due to my foot size: 10 1/2 B. Do these fit wide as they look like they would? Could I put some kind of insole in them to narrow them a bit? What's your experience?
Thanks in advance.

God Bless
Preacher Man
Romans 10:9

 

[pgoat]

I have found that most army boots are much more wide at the toes than typical footwear. They tend to have a higher (Taller) toe-box as well. This is true even for their C widths, in my experience. A D is quite wide and comfy, and Es are extremely roomy.

One thing, however - they tend to be a bit snug across the area just behind your toes (right behind the toe cap on the uppers). It's not so much the tightness of the toe cap's seam as much as a reduction in height right at that point. This could just be my feet, of course, but it never hurts to try them on in person.

I would think most places would take returns/exchanges if you don't wear them outside; if at all possible try a pair on at a store before buying. I've owned US Jump boots by Corcoran, HH, and a few other brands, and they all seemed to fit the same, as I imagine they are built under contract for a certain spec or pattern.

 

[Mr Vim]

Wore them with my Class A's in the Army. Pretty comfortable but no where near as comfy as my jungle boots were LOL
I would actually like to find a pair in brown someday.

Nothing is as comfy as a good pair of worn in jungles, I miss the green canvas sided ones though.

But when we did away with the green canvas, I switched to the Corcoran field boot, now those were some cadillacs.

And they told me I couldn't wear those either because of the new uniform, so I left and joined the Coast Guard, well that was one of the reasons.

 

[CopperNY]

i had my dad's buddy get me a pair from the PX.

great boots, the only caveat being that they have just about -zero- traction in the snow/mud/wet....

 

[Mr Badger]

Glad to see that these boots are appreciated!

After wearing 'em for a few days, they've started to become really pretty comfy – they seemed very barely worn, the leather betwixt toe cap and the bottom lace was smooth as all. Am gonna saddle soap the top of the vamp, though, as I'm finding that they're a bit hard on my calves, even with two sets of eyelets left unlaced.

Preacher Man - With regards to sizing, I take 11 UK, which some folks say is 11.5 US and others claim is equiv to a 12. These Georgia jump boots are 12D US and fit great, as they're a little bit wider than my brown bull hide Cowtown 'kiltie' ropers, which are also 12D, at somewhere between a D and E width fitting.

I'd say that this pattern of boot certainly is roomy but, size-for-size, not as much so as my pair of Chippewa 27911 engineer boots, which were 12E – I had to get a pair of thick insoles for them, tighten the strap up all the way, and they're still a bit large.

I did think I'd need to swap the insoles from the Chippewas into the Georgias, until I got a new pair, just so I could wear 'em to work, but that made the jump boots too tight across the top of the foot - where pgoat was talking about.

Sorry I can't post any pics of the boots post-shine, but we're still without a digital camera...

 

[Mr Badger]

A mate popped round to return some books, so I took the opportunity to get him to snap them boots with his phone... took some napatha and cleaned the black stuff off the edges of the mid-sole, as I think it adds slightly to the semi-dress feel. Haven't bulled 'em, either, as I stick out enuff around town / at work, and I kinda prefer a slightly matt finish anyway...

 

[Mr Badger]

Update on the boots...

Walking to work and back in 'em has been really comfortable, and they're starting to develop some lovely grain between the bottom lace and toe cap. However, there was one quite painful problem — that I've now solved, thank goodness!

I haven't got any 'boot socks' so I'd been wearing 'em with my customary cotton numbers, and the tops of the boots — which are tough double-layer leather — cut into the sides of my legs pretty badly, leaving nasty welts.

I remember an FL-er recently recommending that someone get 'rolled tops' on some boots they were gonna order, and I found out why! Happily, there was an easy solution...

I got some fine sandpaper and took the hardness off the inner/outer edges of the leather around the top of the boots, being careful not to scuff the 'flat' surface and stitching. Next, I softened the edges some more by putting a bead of leather conditioner along em, which I left to soak in and then buffed dry. Finally, I took matters firmly into my own hands, rolling the leather around the top of the boots backwards then forwards until it started to give evenly. That certainly saved my shins!

 

[AlanC]

I picked up a pair of Alden "Jumper Boots" in shell cordovan from Leather Soul Hawaii. They're special order, and not cheap, but are very nice.

 

[HeyMoe]

I picked up a pair of Alden "Jumper Boots" in shell cordovan from Leather Soul Hawaii. They're special order, and not cheap, but are very nice.

Me likes!!!

Links???

 

[Erik]

Brown Corcoran Jump Boots are among my favorite casual options these days. I find they run a 1/4 size or so large, which I like.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

I picked up a pair of Alden "Jumper Boots" in shell cordovan from Leather Soul Hawaii. They're special order, and not cheap, but are very nice.

Nice! Are they available in anything other than cordovan?

 

[AlanC]

Nice! Are they available in anything other than cordovan?

It looks like Leather Soul has had them in black calf, too. They're on the Trubalance last, same as the Indy boot.