Boots

[UN_Cop]

Need some help gang. I bought a pair of Danner Ft. Lewis boots, by the way the best boot I have ever put on. Anyway, I was told by a bro that you can not polish the Danner Boots with regular Kiwi polish. Something about the breathability of the Gortex, and blah, blah, blah. I have a hard time believing this because they are ForceCom approved and I do not think the military would do something to screw with a dumb knukle scrapper's mind like mine (ugh..:o.. polish on boot). Anyone of you "high speed low drag" guys got any input on this one?

Take care and be safe.

UN

[CanineCop]

Danner recomends a proprietary boot dressing that they just happen to sell. It does a nice job protecting and waterproofing the leather but doesn't shine well. Over the years I've gone from using the boot dressing all the time, to sometimes with kiwi in between (kiwi doesn't stick to a freshly dressed boot worth a darn), to forget the boot dressing and just use kiwi. I have not had any drop in performance using just kiwi, they just shine better. If I notice the leather really drying out (more of a problem in the Nevada desert then it is in Western Washington) I'll hit it with Danner's dressing or some other leather treatment that soaks in more than wax.

[BPA1042]

I use Kiwi on both my Acadia and Ft. Lewis and have no problems with cracking or anything of that nature. I occasionally hit them with Oakwood leather conditioner if I work in the rain.

[snpusmc]

I first used the Ft. Lewis boots in 1999 and took them to Norway for some cold weather training. I never used the Danner polish and never had a problem. I remember a member of a S/F team looking at me as we pushed off on a week long patrol and commenting that I will be sorry. Needless to say we returned five days later and he was wearing his mickey mouse boots and I had on the danners smileing. I don't see a need to spend the maney for the danner polish when Kiwi works just as good.

[nwohsy]

Different climates and conditions will have varying effects on boots. For the past 12 years I have used kiwi shoe cream rather than the polish. The cream has nourishing properties, and has never dried out the leather of any of my boots. I have seen danners with leather so cracked, that it looked as though it was on the verge of separating. The former Marine explained that they were polished everyday then just started cracking.
kiwi shoe cream comes with a twist the bottom bottle and built in applicator. easy to apply and no brush or rag needed. I used to keep one in my bag for last minute touch up before roll call.