Care & maintenance

Brush off mud and grit before it dries; dried grit works like sandpaper at the flex point. Wipe leather with a damp cloth and mild soap, never a solvent. Condition full-grain leather every few weeks in dry climates and after any soaking — a thin coat, worked in by hand, is better than a heavy one. Flesh-out and suede uppers take a brush and a water-repellent treatment, not conditioner.

Dry boots away from heat. A radiator, cab heater or dryer cooks the adhesive and cracks the leather. Pull the insoles, loosen the laces, stand them upright and let air do it, or use paper or a low-heat boot dryer overnight. Rotate two pairs if you work consecutive wet shifts.

Replace laces before they fail rather than after; keep a spare set in your bag. Check the outsole edge and the sidewall stitch monthly — an early separation can be re-cemented, a neglected one cannot.

Remove plates, panels and pouches, then hand-wash the carrier in cool water with mild soap and a soft brush at the shoulder and cummerbund contact points where sweat salt collects. Never machine wash, never bleach, never tumble dry — heat and agitation shrink webbing and distort laser-cut laminate.

Clean hook-and-loop with a stiff brush or a comb pulled against the pile; loaded loop field is the most common cause of a placard that will not hold. Air dry flat and out of the sun, then re-check every pouch position against your load-out before it goes back in service.

Wipe stiffened duty belts down rather than soaking them; the internal stiffener is what holds the belt's shape. Store belts flat or hung, not coiled tight. Rinse salt and dust out of buckles and check for grit that keeps a cam-lock from seating. Inspect stitching where a holster or radio pouch rides — that is where the load concentrates.

IFAK and tourniquet carriers should be opened, inspected and re-packed on a schedule. Elastic keepers and shock cord relax over time and are cheap to replace.

Wash uniform shirts and trousers inside out in cool water on a normal cycle, then tumble low or hang dry. Skip fabric softener: it coats the fibres and kills the moisture-wicking and water-repellent finish. Do not bleach ripstop or stretch woven fabric — it weakens the weave and yellows tan and green shades.

Press with a warm iron and no steam over reflective or heat-transfer insignia, or work from the reverse. Combat shirts with knit torsos should be washed with the sleeves fastened so the hook-and-loop cuff does not catch the knit.

Hand-wash gloves in cool water and reshape them while damp; heat drying hardens leather palms. Softshell and rain shells wash on a gentle cycle with a technical detergent, then need low tumble heat to reactivate the water-repellent finish. Re-treat shells once water starts sitting in the fabric instead of beading off.

Clean and fully dry everything before it goes away. Store cool, dark and ventilated, never sealed in plastic — trapped moisture is what grows mould on webbing and mildews leather. Keep boots upright with cedar or paper inserts, carriers flat rather than folded, and belts unrolled.

Questions about a specific material on an item you own? Send us the item number through the contact form and we will answer for that exact build. Sizing questions belong on the size & fit guide.