.... I was recently in our local militaria store . Saw some Strathcona/RCMP boots, and other stuff. .......
I bought a pair of cut-down Strathcona (or similar) boots for only about $20 in that very same store several years ago! The tops had been shortened quite a bit, but there was still at least eleven or twelve inches or so of lacing to be done, and just like full-length Strathcona boots, they had to be about half unlaced to get them on or off. I have worn them on occasion, but the instep was a bit too tight on my right foot (though the left fit perfectly) and there was still too much lacing to be done for convenience. Matter of fact I took them to a local shoemaker just a couple of weeks ago and had him stretch the instep on the right boot and also cut back the tops even lower .... so they are now like regular ankle boots, which I'll wear with the Stowasser leggings for my CMR and SAC impressions .....
On the topic of Strathcona boots - my annoying friend Roger (the 'batman" who has accompanied me to Musters) showed up here just a few evenings ago to gloat over a purchase he had just made that day at the local Value Village - a pair of virtually new Strathcona boots he got for a mere $100.00! (And I do mean virtually
new .... they have almost no scuffing on the soles, and absolutely none anywhere on the uppers, so they cannot have been worn more than two or three times!) I was contemplating murdering him then and there to get my hands on the boots, but asked him if he'd let me try them on first. Luckily for him, even though they are technically the right size for me, try as I might I could not get either of my my high-arched feet to go fully into them.
Oh well ......