I just bought a pair of boots and puttees, but my puttees keep falling down when I wear them.
Is there a trick in putting them on?
What is the best way to put them on?

Is there anybody who can help me with this............

_________________
One Bullet, One Fashist

Puttees are trouble. Either they fall down because you have thin calves, or they stand out in jagged lines if you have thick ones.
Start at the ankle, and work up to just above the knee. do not cover more than half of the previous 'wrap' around your leg with the next one. Tie them tightly, uncomfortably tightly, or they will fall down. Finally, at least once an hour, stop, unroll them and re-tie them. They're a total pain in the arse. No wonder the RKKA adopted sapogi again.

_________________
Radu Raduvich Himea
Yefreytor
Captain's Orderly

http://www.2ndguards.com/index.html


DEATHSPOON

Comrades,

When rolling them on your leg , if when you get to your calf, you give it a 1/2 twist, fold it and continue to roll, it assists it to grip your leg..

_________________
Look to the Flag!! ,
Listen to the Order!!..



I Serve the Soviet Union!!

This Rezident has Moscow Centre on Speed Dial!

The canvas ones are a pain, and need to be put on very tightly if they are to stay up over any period of time. If you can make a set from wool (black green or brown) the elasticity is there and you will find them a lot easier to use

_________________
Guards Serjant Yevgeni Trubetskoi 2nd Gds rifle div

WW1 British ones were sent in numbers to the RKKA. One of the veterans noted that they were such good quality wool that they were rarely used for the intended purpose, though...
Firms like Lawrence Ordnance and Schipperfabrik do very reasonable repro British long puttees.

_________________
Radu Raduvich Himea
Yefreytor
Captain's Orderly

http://www.2ndguards.com/index.html


DEATHSPOON

Thank you very much for your help, I wil try the twisting methode.
I will also make some out of wool.
I will let you know what the outcome is.

_________________
One Bullet, One Fashist

You can still occationally pick up British puttees from army surplus stores or dealers and they're usually available on good old Ebay. Puttees traditionally need to be bound fairly tight but should come with a Health & Safety warning. They tend to restrict circulation and can cause Thrombosis; a good reason why the British army stopped using them decades ago. Best not wear them for too long periods at a time

Update:

On monday I did a display at the Armouries here in the Netherlands and tried several ways to put on the puttees. But nothing worked..........
I tried the twisting method, the ridiculous uncomfortably tight method, but they kept falling down.
In the end I pinned them to my trousers and still the bloody things kept falling down!



Next time I will make a pair out of wool.

You mentioned black wool, is that ok for puttees?
Because I have some beautiful black wool at the moment.

_________________
One Bullet, One Fashist

Black woolen cloth is fine to use.

Cheers, Ade.

_________________
http://www.2ndguards.com/index.html

Adrian Borisovitch Stepanov
Guards Starshina
Unit 2 I/C 2nd Guards Rifle Div.

I was WW1 reenactor for some years and had plenty of practice putting puttees on.A good trick is to keep the left and right puttees seperate,each time you take them of roll them and put them in the coresponding boot,over time they will begin to take on the shape of your leg and will fit better,also wind them on from the inside of your ankle outwards around your leg so the tape is pointing backwards when they are rolled on.when winding them on keep the bottom edge fairley tight then trap the top edge with the next turn,the overlap should be 2 to 2.5 inches depending on the width of the puttee.They can be a pain but look great once you have mastered it.I will be at Kelmarsh and Detling if anybody needs a demonstration.

Thank you very much for the input.

Has anybody got an idea about the 'ideal' dimensions of the puttees?

_________________
One Bullet, One Fashist

Three metres long, 120mm wide. Tapes seem to vary in style and length, so you have some leeway to be creative there.

_________________
Radu Raduvich Himea
Yefreytor
Captain's Orderly

http://www.2ndguards.com/index.html


DEATHSPOON

Which puttees were more commen? The ones made of canvas or the woolen ones?

As a trained nurse I have been taught how to apply bandages therefore I never have problems with my puttees falling down. I could tell you how to do it but if I did I would be in breach of the UKCC's strict code of conduct.

_________________
Saninstruktor Iosef Trofimovich Grushenko
or
Voennii Vrach Ibrahim Ibrahimovich Shapiro

Either's good.

The original obmotki (the progressive name for puttees!) that I've seen were made from khaki canvas and were slightly thinner than their British WW1 equivalent - and what I have heard is that these canvas ones were more common.

_________________
"Okay, dig out yer best booze and lets talk about me 'till the car comes."

Comrades, Check out this out..

_________________
Look to the Flag!! ,
Listen to the Order!!..



I Serve the Soviet Union!!

This Rezident has Moscow Centre on Speed Dial!

These kind of posts are first class. Thank you Comrade! It has been noted in your work record.

Cheers, Ade.

_________________
http://www.2ndguards.com/index.html

Adrian Borisovitch Stepanov
Guards Starshina
Unit 2 I/C 2nd Guards Rifle Div.

Heres a slightly different way of wearing them without the folds halfway up:
http://www.hardscrabblefarm.com/80th/pu ... uttees.htm
I got mine from replicators WW1 British page and whatever about the rest of his stuff the puttees are fine. Only 16 yankee dollars including postage:
http://www.replicaters.com/ww1britisharmy.htm

Frank