So, my black leather Cocoran combat boots have worn the soles flat (I seem to do that to Cocorans rather easily, in hindsight). Actually, I seem to have ground a 45 degree angle into the back of the heel
Anyhow, the boots squeak, mainly when I’m walking, and mainly as the weight comes off the ball of the right foot. The squeak is diminished or eliminated if I shift my weight onto either side of my foot, but that’s awkward when I do it for more than a few steps (mostly I just do it when walking past offices where folks are having meetings).
It looks like one of the nails in the sole has been exposed enough to get the head ground on a bit, so I’m wondering if the nail has something to do with it. The squeak seems to happen on any surface, but the sound is duller on concrete.
I’ve heard that this could be due to a broken shank, is that something that would be replaced via resoling? I don’t want to buy new boots if I don’t have to (these are already broken in, and the BDUs I wear them with are only authorized until November). Plus, there is a shop at the BX here where the lady says she can resole the boots for about $45, which is definitely cheaper than new boots. I figure I need to get the boots resoled anyways, so if I can get this taken care of too, that’d be a nice bonus, and I can keep on being dressed in style until the wear-out date of the BDUs.
Well, I’m curious as to whether resoling the boot will fix the squeak. If it doesn’t, I’m going to be forced to grab a flashlight and start looking around inside for the mouse.
That’s actually one of my favorite jokes to make about them. They certainly aren’t work boots or running boots, that’s for certain. Mostly they just look freaking snazzy on me.
Your on-base cobbler probably knows as much as anyone about how to re-sole that particular kind of boot without adding squeaks. I’d imagine they work on quite a few more of those than a downtown cobbler. $45 is a good price, so it’s probably a good investment to keep the boots alive for the rest of the year.
Something you can try - sprinkle a little extra talc or foot powder into the boots - the talc might help lubricate the layers that are rubbing and squeaking. Or it might not help at all. IME, it’s a 50-50 shot.
If you managed to break the shank, the boot would be a lot more flexible than normal, and you’d be looking more at a rebuild than a resole. I broke a shank once, and it was dramatic and obvious. It came loose at the front end and acted like the backwards-facing teeth of a moray eel - pulling my foot free took a good bit of careful wiggling.
So, dropped my boots off, depending on how they are when I get them back, I might do the same for my old Marauders on payday, and have a nice lightweight pair of boots to hike in.
And since you were all no doubt sitting on the edges of your seats all weekend, the boots came back awesomely. No squeak, awesome new soles, etc. I think they even polished them, but it’s possible they just wiped the dirt off of them.
