I was stationed at Fort Wainwright from 1/1/69 to 3/20/70. During winter indoctrination we were told how to wear the white bunny boots. We were told in no uncertain terms that the valve on the side is to only be used by airborne troops and were opened to keep the pressure inside the boots constant while jumping out of airplanes. Fast forward 10 years my sister and her family moved to Anchorage. I moved there for 2 years also. My BIL had some surplus bunny boots and insisted that I did not know what I was talking about and any fool knew that you opened the valve and blew air into them to increase the insulating qualities. All that did was to allow moist air enter the inside of the boot that can then freeze and reduce the insulating qualities. He also wore plastic bags over his socks while wearing the bunny boots. As I recall we only broke out the bunny boots when the temp got down to - 20 or colder. Our leather GI boots with wool socks kept or feet in fine shape down to minus 20 or so. When I lived in Anchorage in in 78 and 79 I bought a pair of Sorrel pac boots and never thought I needed to buy myself a pair of bunny boots but then I do not think it ever got colder than -30 either.
Problem with pac boots is that if you go through the ice and dunk your feet, all that fur and wool etc is going to be waterlogged. With the bunny boots, you just dump them out.
