Nicholas II refused to approve of the army uniform until he tried it on himself.

Uniforms are a key aspect of any professional military. They not only serve to distinguish the troops of one army from those of another, but consist of the clothing and equipment in which the soldiers will live and work.

In 1909, the Russian Minister of War, Vladimir Aleksandrovich Sukhomlinov, was developing the new standard infantry clothing and equipment, when Nicholas was presented with the equipment and uniform, he was not convinced.

As leader of the army, Tsar Nicholas II was not content to hand out new equipment to his soldiers on the word of a minister. Rather, he wanted to make sure his men were properly equipped by trying it out for himself.

The Tsar only told Alexander Alexandrovich Mossolov, Minister of the Court and Commander of the Palace, of his plan. Mossolov had the equipment of a random soldier camping near Livadia, whose regiment was testing the new equipment, brought to the palace. As a result, the uniform was not made to order and the equipment was not hand-selected for the Tsar. He would test the equipment exactly as it would be issued to a new soldier.

After donning his uniform, rifle, bag, and cartridges, Tsar Nicholas also took out a day's supply of bread and water and set off.

Marching alone, he traveled 20 kilometers (12.42 miles) on a random route and returned to the palace. The round trip of 40 kilometers was the total length of a forced march.

The Tsar's march took between eight and nine hours, including breaks to rest.

Upon his return in the evening, he was thoroughly examined and found to have no blisters or abrasions on his body, he also found that the new military boots were quite comfortable and he had no pain in his feet.

The new uniform and equipment had been approved by Nicholas II, who was not only a Tsar, but also a soldier and spiritual father of Holy Russia.

The next day he signed the approval of it.