In the Marine Corps, we learned quickly the value of taking care of our boots after field exercises. Field exercises always ended with a few days to clean all our weapons systems and get our gear squared away. One commonly overlooked piece of gear to address was footwear. We always carried spare socks in our packs, but our boots always took the brunt of the abuse. Military boots of the 1990s were the standard leather boots which required regular attention with the number of miles we put on them. Typical maintenance consisted of brushing the dirt off with our boot brush and applying a fresh layer of black boot polish.
Nowadays it’s just as important to take care of your leather footwear. Mobility equals survivability and that includes taking care of the footwear on our feet. To maintain the condition of the leather on my daily Danner boots, I rely on Obenauf’s. The two products I use are the Heavy Duty LP and Water Shield. Using these two products from Obenauf’s is how I preserve and protect my leather boots year-round and especially during the winter months.
*A second coating of the water shield spray is recommended to take full advantage of the product.
