Friendly Persuasion

[JR]

There must be some amongst us who remember the SV boot?.

I can remember when friendly persuasion was a nudge with the toe of the SV boot,Compound 18 the Long Kesh Prison springs to mind, Royal certainly left his inprint there. The 'Kesh' hot bed of political corruption and training ground of sectarian violence.Aye jr

[Artist]

Fred Cummings offered to insert one up me arse after me SLR went Brrrrrmmmmmm! 20 rounds in one second on a 25 metre range.

Oie forgot that I'd rigged it up to fire Automatic aint Oie then. Ooooops!

Artist

[harry hackedoff]

Sole,Vulcanised, before my time Jim. They must`ve been Harry Wazzmans though, just saying "Boots S.V." makes Clance go all dewy-eyed He sends his apologys for the stolen turkeys, mate. He`s lived a life of penitence ever since, and fills himself in on a weekly basis

[sneaky beaky]

I wore Boots SV for most of my military life. I wasn't quite sure what it meant but I think Harry has it right. "Sole Vulcanised".
There was one time in Borneo, when we had to live with a Ghurka Company. We had, had a week of intensive work and we had a rare weekend off. The Ghurkas, being a friendly crowd (unlike their British Officers!!), got us pissed on Ghurka Rum!! If you think that Pussers Rum is strong, then try some of the Ghurkha variant.
We got pissed and stroppy.
Then when the Ghurka Major ( a Nepalese, as opposed to a Brit.) asked us our names, we came out with SV Boot, KD Long, OG Shirt etc.
The next mornings parade with the boss of 2 SBS has gone down in SB folklore!!
Sneaky

[owdun]

Wore SV in various places, desert and jungle,UK and Europe, never had 'em melt or fail in any way, unlike the crap they issue today. Did have a problem sometimes in Malta, when it rained for the first time in weeks,the combination of dust and smooth road surface with rain was farkin lethal. Was called out once, to recover a 3 tonner that had skidded and finished up broadside across the road.No damage to truck or the walls on either side of the road, but there was no way we could recover without knocking one wall down, how the hell it happened was a mystery we never solved. Don Rs were under instruction to stop and wait for pick-up by truck if it rained, as I said, farkin lethal.

Aye Owdun.

[Mike]

Sole,Vulcanised... Yep they were issued in my day, and were followed The DMS boot...Direct Moulded Sole, I think... not a patch on the good old SV boot... Mind you Jacks working boot with steel toe cap was a hard act to follow and were brill for a good bash at Spit and Polish... Wish I could get a pair now.


Aye
Mike

[OIC]

Yes, the good old SV boot, made to last and never let you down. Had the same pair for years.

Can't remember which unit I was in at the time but some bright spark had a small rubber stamp made up which was the imprint of the sole of the boot.

This appeared everywhere, on DRO's, Standing Orders, floors, ceilings, you name it, it was stamped ! Far better than "Kilroy was here".

[Artist]

Mike

Steaming Bats Oppo! A great bit off kit and as you say ace for getting a nice shine on. When I left I had to return them to slops in Nelson. Christ knows why as they were totally unsuitable for anyone else to wear. Printers ink all over them but they still had a nice shine on them. They were a sort of Bluey/Black/Yellow/Green/Red colour! But as I said had a nice shine on them.

Me Pop had two pairs of S.V. Boots but unfortunately Pop was a size Eight and I was a size ten so I never had a pair.

When the RMCHB were first issued we all thought: "Dogs Bollocks these" A few weeks later we all thought "Load of Crap these!" I put me foot into some Gunk on the Moor and the next thing I knew the entire sole had nearly come away. Also they were useless when it came to driving, be it a civvy car or a FFR. It was like driving in Clogs as the soles were about two inches thick!!! At least the DMS boots once broken in fitted like a glove. After that a lot of us bought the German Para boots as they looked similar to the RMCHB if you were as blind as a bat.

As for running in RMCHB.............Killers of the first degree. A lot of blokes ended up with dodgy Achilles Tendons as the things were as maluable as a Owd time Ships Divers Lead ones. Aint got a clue what the Corp wears now mind. NIKE Go fasters?

Artist

[JR]

There is a certain member of the Provisional Irish republican Army,and now a member of the Northern Ireland Parliament who bears the inprint of the SV boot on his arse end,so I suppose you could say that I have my foot in the door of Irish politics.Aye jr

[harry hackedoff]

Which one Jim, Martin or Jerry?
Ste, when the Commando High Leg boot was trialled they were the dogs bollocks.
After the success of the trial, the contract went out to the lowest bidder as per usual and what came out was the shite you describe. The adhesive on the sole was water soluble, makes you wonder if the manufacturer bothered to find out who was going to be using his boots
After a few months they recalled them to fix the sole problem by the means of tiny brass screws Farking joke they were, the achilles problem meant nods were doing training runs in Reebok Royales instead of boots. Useless in the field, they became known as"Unit Boots" because that`s all they were good for, wearing round the Unit. They did look rugsy though