ATF Repro WWII Type III Service Shoe

Worn for a few days now. Been on errands and hikes.

These seem to be made of a purely chrome-tanned hide. It’s got fairly dense nap and is quite soft. Hasn’t required much break-in and took a decent bit of conditioning well. Fairly thick, which I was pleasantly surprised by. I expect significant color change with wear which is already starting to develop around the toes.

Fit is good, but I have some criticisms. The softness of the upper hide results in there being a bit of lateral “swish” with these boots. They feel snug and right length and width wise while standing, but leaning or attempting to wiggle your foot side to side leads to a decent bit of movement. This phenomenon almost makes you feel like there’s too much volume, but “situationally.” It’s not a huge deal, and I suspect it’ll resolve at least partially as my foot imprints more into the footbed. Also, there isn’t a whole lot of arch support, but that’s standard with an unmodified Munson last.

The craftsmanship is solid overall. The upper stitching is good, and so is the welt stitching and overall finishing of the bottoms. The biggest pros with these boots are the accuracy and the fact that what’s supposed to be made of leather actually is made of leather. The pattern, contractor stamping, outsole, and hardware finish are all accurate to the original Type III service shoes. The welt, midsole, and even the footbed are leather as far as I can surmise, which is far more than can be said for other reproductions in the same price range. An example would be recent issues of the Sturm Mil-tec repros, which have rubber welts and some kind of fiber board midsole. There are flaws like minor welt puckering around the toes, but this isn’t severe to the point where any welt-attachment stitching is exposed. I actually got a pair of Buzz Rickson repros that had significant exposed stitching and gashes in the tongue, so the fact issues like these aren’t present in a $200 boot is nice.

Period accurate and seemingly hard-wearing. Good traction on hikes. No complaints.

Again, period accurate. No issues.

Overall, I like these. They’re built well for the price and look like they’re supposed to. My only real concern is with how much the uppers may lose their structural integrity given how soft they are at present, but that remains to be seen. I suspect the fit issues will resolve the more I wear them, but my plan going forward is to eventually rebuild them with storm welts and a heavier midsole to provide some lateral support and a more solid base. If anyone wants to snag a pair of these, join ATF’s newsletter to get a notification when they’re restocked. Some packaging issues from the manufacturer have forced ATF to sort and release them in batches, and they sell really fast. As far as I can tell, these are the best repros you can buy if you value accuracy and build quality roughly equally. They of course can’t compete with the Lofgren M-43s, but those are also “inspired” boots that are inaccurate in major ways.