boots!?!?

So, the way I'm reading this letter is that you can buy the required shoes at any Army OR Air Force base? I only ask because in the next coming days I will be in the vicinity of an Air Force base (not really any Army bases too close to me) and it would be very convenient to try to pick out a pair of boots and low quarters there.
Will the AF bases have the selected styles of boots we are allowed to buy?

Just wanted to find out a little more information before I tried showing at an AF base with a WP boot/admissions letter. I sure hope that wouldn't attract any strange looks. :shake:
 
tiki said:
So, the way I'm reading this letter is that you can buy the required shoes at any Army OR Air Force base? I only ask because in the next coming days I will be in the vicinity of an Air Force base (not really any Army bases too close to me) and it would be very convenient to try to pick out a pair of boots and low quarters there.
Will the AF bases have the selected styles of boots we are allowed to buy?

Just wanted to find out a little more information before I tried showing at an AF base with a WP boot/admissions letter. I sure hope that wouldn't attract any strange looks. :shake:
Click to expand...

Yeah, AAFES is the Army and Air Force Exchange Service. You can go online to http://www.shopmyexchange.com/ExchangeStores/ to find a store near you but an Air Force base should have one.
 
Can't find the shoes/boots on the Bates website

I can find the Belleville 310 boot and Belleville Khyber Mountain Hybrid TR360 on the armedforcesmcss.net website, no problem. However, I'm not sure about the Bates M-8 Desert Boot. There is a "M-8 Tactical Boot" but it doesn't say "Desert" and the price is far from the $129 in the letter. There is a GX8 Desert Side Zip boot too. Nothing matches up for the Bates boot and from the thread it seems at the store they can end up with steel-toe or something else that is non-conforming.
The 1450 number in the letter doesn't appear on the MCSS website or the Bate's website either. Confusing.
 
My dad says his last few pairs have been Belleville and is happy with how they've performed, especially in his last few tours overseas. Guess I'm getting Bellevilles :)
 
So I went to the founder's day dinner in Atlanta and I talked to a Lieutenant Colonel who has been in admissions. I asked about the boot situation and he told me that when we get to R-day that we are issued two pairs of boots and USMA just wants us to have a broken in pair so our feet are completely destroyed from the new boots. He didn't see the importance of having one of the three on the list, but more importantly, just one pair that is broken in
 
jasondavid92 said:
So I went to the founder's day dinner in Atlanta and I talked to a Lieutenant Colonel who has been in admissions. I asked about the boot situation and he told me that when we get to R-day that we are issued two pairs of boots and USMA just wants us to have a broken in pair so our feet are completely destroyed from the new boots. He didn't see the importance of having one of the three on the list, but more importantly, just one pair that is broken in
Click to expand...

That LTC will not be your squad leader. You will wear an approved pair of boots.
 
From other sources, people have said:

a.) You can get the Bates oxfords, the light/normal models

b.) You have to get the specific M206H model from the PX; not the Bates
 
So can you purchase the Low Quarters from West Point if you go up for a visit? I'd like to make sure I am getting the right pair!
 
JCraft said:
So can you purchase the Low Quarters from West Point if you go up for a visit? I'd like to make sure I am getting the right pair!
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Yes, take your boot letter and go to the PX at West Point. The ladies in the shoe department were very helpful to my cadet. They allowed him to purchase the socks too. We bought a pair of low quarters and a pair of boots and he wore them a lot to break them in.
 
Dixieland said:
Yes, take your boot letter and go to the PX at West Point. The ladies in the shoe department were very helpful to my cadet. They allowed him to purchase the socks too. We bought a pair of low quarters and a pair of boots and he wore them a lot to break them in.
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Great, thanks! I'm going up on 22 April, so that should give me a solid two months for breaking in the boots/LQs and also to actually do some ruck marching in real boots!
 
Boots.. "Like deja vu all over again"

1. The Belleville's are smaller. From personal experience. Last year, my son ended up 1 1/2 sizes smaller than he was used to.
2. Get what is on the list. Don't deviate. After plebe year you can get other types of boots, but get only the boots on the list for beast and your plebe year. As others can verify, this topic is an annual topic.... Kind of like the debate over whether the sides or the center go up first in a GP medium,. Only with the boots, there is a right answer... Pick one on the list.

3. With respect to other stuff to bring. I suggest:
a. a multitool or leatherman with a NEEDLENOSE pliers. Needlenose is used to adjust sights.
b. moleskin
c. a small red clip-on LED light. The kind that clips on a cap. I think that Browning label carries one. Not on a list, but handy under a poncho at night with a map. Most companies allowed their cadet candidates to keep this device.
d. duct tape.
e. did I mention moleskin
f. More underwear and socks than you think he or she will need.
g. Handiwipes.
h. I guess I already mentioned moleskin so I won't do that again.:smile:
 
Just got my khyber mountain hybrids. $95 from Boots-USA.com
They run about 1.5 sizes smaller than a running shoe. I'm a fifteen in nikes and asics and the 13s fit great. They are almost as flexible as the Nike sfb, but they are much more supportive
 
I'm leaning toward getting at the Khyber Mountain Hybrids too. The only problem is that I can't try them on before I buy them, unlike the other two options (which are available at the MCSS at my nearest base). Have you tried on the Bates & Bellevilles, and if so how do they compare to the Kyhbers?
 
I have not tried on the specific bates or bellevilles we are authorized to wear, but I have worn a different style of bates and I am a 13 in both
 
The MCSS at my nearest base only had the M-8 Bates (out of the pairs we were allowed to buy). The size I got is about 1/2 size smaller than the shoes I wear now. I've been wearing them around for the past few days, and I think they are quite comfortable. In all reality though, choose a pair of boots that YOU think are comfortable, and a pair that YOU like. Don't buy a pair just because someone else likes it. If you can, try to get a chance to try on each of the pairs, and then make your pick.
 
dhawbaker said:
The MCSS at my nearest base only had the M-8 Bates (out of the pairs we were allowed to buy). The size I got is about 1/2 size smaller than the shoes I wear now. I've been wearing them around for the past few days, and I think they are quite comfortable. In all reality though, choose a pair of boots that YOU think are comfortable, and a pair that YOU like. Don't buy a pair just because someone else likes it. If you can, try to get a chance to try on each of the pairs, and then make your pick.
Click to expand...

I definitely agree with this. For me, I don't have access to transportation to get to any bases, but was lucky enough to find a website with free shipping AND FREE RETURN SHIPPING so I could guess and check so to speak. As to the comfort of the kybers, they are really good. I wore them to play a game of basketball just to try them out and start breaking them in and had no problems
 
My son is in the class of 2015. I read the boots letter, then tried to find the boots and shoes on line as well. I was confused and everywhere seemed more expensive than the letter stated. I called the people listed on the letter until I finally got one on the phone. He told me to call the #800 number in paragraph 3 of the letter. Duh! I didn't even see that before. I called and I was able to order both the shoes and boots over the phone. They said it could take up to a couple weeks for them to get here, that worried me, but they just arrived today so that was only 2 days.

We went with the Belleville boots rather than the Bates simply because of sizing, the Bellevilles came in a 12.5 and the Bates didn't. Just for reference he wears a 14 in tennis shoes, but a 12 or 13 in most dress shoes. He had a pair of cheap boots he got off of ebay he uses for paintball that were a 13 and he said they were too long, these seem about right. He hasn't tried the low quarters yet because the Fedex guy came twice the first with the low quarters and we missed him and they won't just leave them so have to go pick them up tomorrow at Fedex

Oh one last thing the shipping was free but the Bellevilles were $114 not the $101 the letter stated but the price on the Bates and the low quarters was correct. I didn't ask about the mountain boots because the guy I talked to at first said to go with one of these, he didn't say why. Hope this helps some others because I wasn't sure what to do.
 
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