Repro DDR field boots ???

[Jeff Mack]

NOoooooooooooooooooooo!!

http://cgi.ebay.com/Reproduction-Eas...d=p3286.c0.m14

[torstenbel]

and for $60 ..... does anyone buy these?????

[Knuckles930]

oh dear god, this can't be real...
Maybe something for the ebay joke thread?

[iannima]

These things are being reproduced for the obvious reason that the only sizes that can easily be found nowadays are the 26, 26.5 etc. Have a look here:
http://www.moleskin-militaria.com/in...p?cPath=25_105
Thomas is an excellent chap with whom I have dealt many times in the past and he clearly distinguishes between originals and repros. Notice the sizes of both. Nico too had told me that boots were being reproduced by Sturm (but I forget the details)

[Knuckles930]

A very well made point. I never thought of if in that way since most often, the
depot where I get my gear usually has my size. Except for the officers parade boots.

[david stone]

These don't look so much like repro DDR boots but rather more like BRD Feuerwehr boots. What little I can see of the seams looks more like an old BW boot. And the viabrim(sp?) type sole is also commonly seen on some of the west german boots.
I've seen some Chinese army boots which look more like DDR than those..

[KevinH]

It looks like the soles are stolen from your run of the mill work boot/hiking boot. Also there doesn't appear to be stitching for pull up straps. They aren't very good reproductions if they are indeed supposed to be East German.

This confuses me as, as far as I can figure, the biggest thing that would be responsible for so many EG boots drying up would have to be WWII reenactors buying them for their German soldier impressions. Correct me if I'm wrong but while there is a collector base for them amoung us, and perhaps the odd chap who buys them for a Halloween costume or something, this would account for a relatively small portion of the market. This leads me wonder why anyone would bother to make reproductions of rubber sole jackboots. Why not just make better reproductions of leather sole WWII German boots? Unless a lot of people actually buy them for hiking etc. and every day use?

Anyone have any thoughts on this? Is the DDR collector base much larger than I think it is?

[iannima]

It looks like the soles are stolen from your run of the mill work boot/hiking boot. Also there doesn't appear to be stitching for pull up straps. They aren't very good reproductions if they are indeed supposed to be East German.

I would as East German Boots reproductions they are truly atrocious...
However I think that better reproductions are indeed available. I vaguely remember finding a pair in Berlin that did not feel like it had produced during the DDR at all. The markings inside and the leather just felt odd... But aside from this difficult to explain feeling, they were ostensibly identical to an original pair.

Unless a lot of people actually buy them for hiking etc. and every day use?

I use them every day ! I fail to understand your surprise... They are easily the most comfortable form of footwear I have worn. Admittedly I mainly use officer ones. The only reproach I have is that after a while they start squeaking ... although there are ways to overcome or limit that.

Is the DDR collector base much larger than I think it is?

I too was a bit surprised to learn of reproductions were being made but then if Blumentarn suits are reproduced and have a market (I own two ) then the very same people will also presumably want the boots to go with the suit. It must be a niche market in Germany, comprising mainly NVA veterans...

[Klaus1989]

This confuses me as, as far as I can figure, the biggest thing that would be responsible for so many EG boots drying up would have to be WWII reenactors buying them for their German soldier impressions. Correct me if I'm wrong but while there is a collector base for them amoung us, and perhaps the odd chap who buys them for a Halloween costume or something, this would account for a relatively small portion of the market. This leads me wonder why anyone would bother to make reproductions of rubber sole jackboots. Why not just make better reproductions of leather sole WWII German boots?

Apparently Star Wars costumers (not sure how many of these are out there) also use East German boots. I was looking for a source for NVA boots them one time and keep turning up sites on how to make Star Wars outfits. I finally bought pair from WWII site that got some large sizes in.

Most WWII reenactors now use repros or BW Wachbataillon boots though I think.

regards
Klaus

[Knuckles930]

I use them every day ! I fail to understand your surprise... They are easily the most comfortable form of footwear I have worn. Admittedly I mainly use officer ones. The only reproach I have is that after a while they start squeaking ... although there are ways to overcome or limit that.

I also tend to use them when I don't feel like putting on my regular shoes.
But for the squeaking, I found that the sole inside usually is the source Made
of cardboard with cloth atop. Try swapping those with some new ones from
a store or other set of shoes.

[iannima]

I found that the sole inside usually is the source Made
of cardboard with cloth atop. Try swapping those with some new ones from
a store or other set of shoes.

Genosse... that carboard insole goes into the archives straight away... But these boots still have a way of developing squeaks... Then obviously the soles have a tendency to come unstuck from the uppers, so occasionally a squeeze of superglue is useful ... But they all have a tendency to 'sing'... Officer's ones less so than EM's...
It was rather entertaining watching the NVA comedy film because they obviously did not know about changing the cardboard insole... so you have a group of officers pompously striding around... and at every step...
squeak, squok, squeak, squok, squeak, squok, squeak, squok, squeak, squok,...

[KevinH]

I use them every day ! I fail to understand your surprise... They are easily the most comfortable form of footwear I have worn.

Well naturally you are the exception Genosse. I do agree though, now that I've gotten a better set of pads and broken mine in, they are really quite comfortable. And it's so nice to be able to walk through just about ANYTHING. You can't do that with a pair of lace up boots.

I too was a bit surprised to learn of reproductions were being made but then if Blumentarn suits are reproduced and have a market (I own two ) then the very same people will also presumably want the boots to go with the suit. It must be a niche market in Germany, comprising mainly NVA veterans...

I would have thought that collecting NVA veterans would have more taste than to buy something like these boots. I guess I just can't believe that the supply is drying up. The blumentarn I can see as it has been very rare from the beginning and very pricey as a result. I really can't see boots approaching this though.

[KevinH]

Apparently Star Wars costumers (not sure how many of these are out there) also use East German boots. I was looking for a source for NVA boots them one time and keep turning up sites on how to make Star Wars outfits. I finally bought pair from WWII site that got some large sizes in.

Most WWII reenactors now use repros or BW Wachbataillon boots though I think.

regards
Klaus

It would indeed be very interesting, if not a bit frightening, to find out who else uses these things. It looks as though many should be liberated in the name of the workers and farmers.

[Knuckles930]

Genosse... that carboard insole goes into the archives straight away... But these boots still have a way of developing squeaks... Then obviously the soles have a tendency to come unstuck from the uppers, so occasionally a squeeze of superglue is useful ... But they all have a tendency to 'sing'... Officer's ones less so than EM's...
It was rather entertaining watching the NVA comedy film because they obviously did not know about changing the cardboard insole... so you have a group of officers pompously striding around... and at every step...
squeak, squok, squeak, squok, squeak, squok, squeak, squok, squeak, squok,...

I know the issues that have been bestowed upon those wearing NVA boots.
All thought I also favor the officers ones, I tend to wear the EM ones more.
Mainly due to that I have more of those spare and they don't orchestrate each
step.

Also the repairing of the soles is a well know issue. Once had to reglue a whole
sole after the boots got in by mail. But it was well worth it, being officers parade ones.

[iannima]

I guess I just can't believe that the supply is drying up.

As I said earlier, the supply of certain sizes is drying up if it is not dry already. Try and find a Strichtarn in size 52 or 56. Even 48s are not that common... Plenty of 44s kicking around though, which is my size
Next week I am going to Germany, near Magdeburg (indeed a stone throw away from your hometown, Torsten ) at a military vehicle show in Gnadau, Sachsen Anhalt. I have never been but friends who have, inform me that people wear the Blumentarn suits all the time, albeit incorrectly and inaccurately. Some of these chaps, when they came to Beltring, did mention to me the ready availability of bigger sizes as one the factors that prompted them to go for the Blumentarn repros. Because after all MOST veterans would have certainly worn the Strichtarn and not the Blumentarn.
Those who wore the Blumentarn for real must be well in their sixties now and possibly not that keen to rough it in a tent at shows.
The Eastern Block Vehicles (military and not) scene must be substantial in Germany judging by this website:
http://www.reutershagen.de/ostblock/
So there is potentially quite a market, a niche one, but a substantial niche. And perhaps one thing leads to another... having got the suit, some people don't feel right at wearing Bundeswehr laced up boots with it... I know the mechanism all too well... I get one little thing... which then prompts me to buy all sorts of other things... I really did not need... Oh well! as Genosse Viktor says: it is a sweet sickness... We should not assume that we are the only ones who have got the bug! Oh no... far from it!