tinweasle Posted March 26, 2012 Share Posted March 26, 2012 I have just picked up a pair of the short post war putties, and for the life of me I cant work out just how they would have been worn and made to stay looking neat for more than the time it would take to walk out of the barraks. Can anyone tell me how they were supposed to be worn and what tricks were used to make life easier? Cheers Shaun Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robin craig Posted March 26, 2012 Share Posted March 26, 2012 Shaun, Puttees are an art form that take practice. The intent is that the end result is smart. As you will see the wide fabric angles in at the end and that is where the thin band of fabric starts from. The desired result is that arrowing triangle points backwards at the middle of the ankle on the outside of the leg. So first off practice starting the puttee so that the end land s where it is supposed to. That is half the battle. Next, once you have a nice snug wrap completed you now take the "ribbon' of thin material and continue around the back of the puttee keeping it midway up all the way around. Some people do it a few times. Next, you need to take the end of the "ribbon" and secure it at the outside centre so that it comes up and down in a neat strip at the end of the narrowing triangle. For the life of me I cant remember how we did it but it was instinct after a while. You will find that the ribbon portion may have to be cut down in length but if you dont have the end folded and sewn it will fray all day long. There were some people who had "deluxe" "speed puttees" made up by the local tailors with velcro and sewn material. Most units frowned on them as they were a cheat. The other thing to remember is that the trouser legs should be "bloused" and made to come down just to the top of the puttee. You will never be able to connect the two as they will pull apart. The puttee stays at the top of the boot and partly onto the bare flesh. I will try to sketch it for you and take a snap with my cell phone. I could do it if you were in front of me but i'm a few miles away. Robin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robin craig Posted March 27, 2012 Share Posted March 27, 2012 So, I'm not an artist. Here is the first stage, looking at the outside of the leg. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robin craig Posted March 27, 2012 Share Posted March 27, 2012 here is the finished item. Notice the vertical band at the end of the triangle, this is the end of the ribbon that one has to tie around and then hide the end under the triangle. You will need some rubber bands or ties to blouse the bottom of the trousers. Hope this all makes sense for you, you taxed my brain tonight! Regards Robin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdbikemad Posted March 27, 2012 Share Posted March 27, 2012 (edited) A common dodge was to cut the puttees shorter (strip and tape) but you then lost a lot of the intended support...... They are indeed an art form, but when wearing the things every day, you could get your boots and puttees on within a couple of minutes and looking smart...... DMS boots and puttees were, in my humble opinion, a comfortable and smart arrangement........and far comfier than the first issue of high-leg DMS boots............ Most post-war puttees were made by Fox (in Wellington, Somerset)...sadly long gone now after existing since at least WW1......modern versions were a mix of wool and nylon, earlier wartime versions being largely all wool.....coloured versions existed for some regiments (eg - the Green Jackets, RTR, etc) and some officers took to wearing very pale-coloured (fawn) private purchase examples....... The old webbing anklets lasted into the late-70s in some units, usually boot-polished black, the modern short puttees commencing issue during the early 70s...... Edited March 27, 2012 by wdbikemad Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tinweasle Posted March 27, 2012 Author Share Posted March 27, 2012 Those piccys are spot on and really show what I wanted to know. So am I right in thinking the putties were wraped around the top of the boot, or was it just around the leg? Mant thanks again Shaun Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robin craig Posted March 27, 2012 Share Posted March 27, 2012 In answer to your question, yes part of it is on the boot and part on the flesh above the boot, but I think I posted that already . . . I would agree that boots DMS and putties worn with lightweight trousers and an RM stone (if you could get away with it) shirt and a woolly pully and a stable belt on the lightweights and a comfortably formed beret that had been given the hot sink cold sink treatment. Most comfortable and stylish. While not a tactical bit of kit the stable belt was the best for comfort I would argue. R Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlienFTM Posted March 28, 2012 Share Posted March 28, 2012 I wore puttees with DMS Boots (I don't know if they were worn with other boots prior to DMS, and after DMS they were redundant). DMS boots had a line of stitches either side of the lace holes. The thick end of the triangle as described above (was there a line of stitching on the puttee? I could go home and look at the pair that has sat in a drawer for a quarter of a century but I really cannot be bothered. If there is a stitch line on the puttee, this is what lined up) was meant to line up with these stitches. This left the point of the triangle just short of the ankle bone. As described, find out on your own ankle where to start the puttee so that the thick part finishes in the correct place. Secure it by wrapping the thin band round the ankle as many times as it takes until there is just a short length left. When the short band passes the point of the triangle for the last time, fold it down through 90 degrees then wrap the tail neatly round and round the body of the thin band until it is entirely consumed (ensuring any loose end is tucked out of sight). Smart as a carrot, bags of support for the ankle and comfortable, but even after years of practice, the only short cut is to butcher the puttee to save loops (Istr people also putting velcro on to save the final tying loops, but frankly it didn't work. I very quickly gave up "customising" items of uniform and went with it as issued). During training, it was normal between periods to change uniform into the appropriate dress (combats, PT, field training, overalls, barrack dress, Number 2s, overalls, etc). If the troop / intake / section / whatever you care to call it was slack at uniform changing between lessons, it was not unheard of when the Permanent Staff got fed up of waiting to invite the intake to a Change Parade at 1800 hours outside the block. First uniform would be given, then with the parade assembled, you'd be sent away to change into another uniform and fall back in in three minutes. Puttees were a disaster on Change Parade: undo, roll off, change uniform, roll back on, tie. The PS could just stand there for hours if necessary ordering uniform changes until the intake got a grip and changed uniform in the allotted time. It usually got the message across. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tinweasle Posted March 28, 2012 Author Share Posted March 28, 2012 Fantastic info gents, I'm thinking a paper clip used to hold the strip in place when you turn it through 90 degrees may hold it in placeand stop it comming lose, to be honest I dont think I am ever likly to put them on other than to give it a go when I get my DMS boots through but I do like to at least have an idea how these things were done Cheers Shaun Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tim gray Posted March 29, 2012 Share Posted March 29, 2012 Fantastic info gents, I'm thinking a paper clip used to hold the strip in place when you turn it through 90 degrees may hold it in placeand stop it comming lose, to be honest I dont think I am ever likly to put them on other than to give it a go when I get my DMS boots through but I do like to at least have an idea how these things were done Cheers Shaun Hi Shaun, I wouldnt bother with the paper clip, once your sorted on how its done the natural tension of the end result will hold it, if you find the last bit of the narrow tape keeps popping out and flapping around, just reduce the no of winds and tuck a longer bit in. I also found if the triangle did not quite land on the ankle bone as required during quick change parades it was possible to just grab the sucker and twist, played hell with yer socks and occasionally would almost kill the blood flow to your foot but better than being late!!!!! The result of being late was often a scream of "TREE" the aforementioned tree being many miles away and had to be circled. Regards Tim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tinweasle Posted March 31, 2012 Author Share Posted March 31, 2012 So is this close to how it should be done? I spent about 20 min doing that one :undecided: and gave up and I just could not get the later trousers to sit right Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
airportable Posted March 31, 2012 Share Posted March 31, 2012 Looks smart. We will not mention a photo I posted on a f/b group. Got a bit heated, 80 odd post regards wether the trousers are held at the bottom with the putties or twists used! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robin craig Posted March 31, 2012 Share Posted March 31, 2012 As stated in my earlier post, the trousers are NOT connected to the putties. Use twist thingies or rubber bands to "blouse" the bottom of the legs. R Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulbrook Posted March 31, 2012 Share Posted March 31, 2012 Ohhhhhhhh Lord - the smell of wet puttees.............. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulbrook Posted March 31, 2012 Share Posted March 31, 2012 Oh and a top tip (although I bet it has been mentioned already) When you take them off roll them up the wrong way (ie starting with the tape and making sure that the dart seam is on the outside of yr neat roll). Put your elastics round the roll to keep it altogether for storage. Then when you come to put them on in the middle of the night in a rush you can bang them on unrolling them round the top of the boot and top of yr sock nice and neat and firm (but not too tight) in a jiffy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony B Posted March 31, 2012 Share Posted March 31, 2012 Learn to bandage horses, puttes are easy! :-D One point though, make sure the tension is even alll the way around. If you get a ridge it can cause ireparable damage to joints . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdbikemad Posted April 1, 2012 Share Posted April 1, 2012 Trousers NEVER tucked into puttees !!! Always bloused over the top...... The technique was to use rubber bands or, commonly, "Twists" that were basically a commercially-sought length of green-colour elasticated cord that was twisted and with hooks on the ends.....available in the NAAFI and from most surplus outlets at the time.....the technique is still used today with modern boots.... You simply put these on your lower legs, above the puttees, and then rolled the lower edge of your trousers into them from underneath.....the trousers should then blouse down over the puttees........ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlienFTM Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 Trousers NEVER tucked into puttees !!! Always bloused over the top...... Trouble is dress regulations used to say trousers ALWAYS tucked into puttees. ALWAYS enforced in training establishments; NEVER enforced elsewhere. The technique was to use rubber bands or, commonly, "Twists" that were basically a commercially-sought length of green-colour elasticated cord that was twisted and with hooks on the ends.....available in the NAAFI and from most surplus outlets at the time.....the technique is still used today with modern boots.... You simply put these on your lower legs, above the puttees, and then rolled the lower edge of your trousers into them from underneath.....the trousers should then blouse down over the puttees........ During the Cold War, stout elastic bands were common as muck, being used to hold bundles together (NBC kit is the one that always sticks in my mind). Nobody I knew in the 70s or 80s saw or used twists; elastic bands were universal. It was only later that the PRI (President of the Regimental Institute) shop (the regimental shop that sold non-issue goods like regimental and stable belts, profits going to the regimental fund) started to stock twists. I have a vague idea that when I visited the Light Dragoons on an Old Comrades weekend a few years ago, twists are now issued and therefore officially sanctioned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gazzaw Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 Yes elastic bands from NBC kits or similar also used the rubber sealing 'O' rings from the lids of 81mm mortar bomb greenies Gary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlienFTM Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 rubber sealing 'O' rings from the lids of 81mm mortar bomb greenies Gary Yes I have heard of those being used. Being Recce we didn't have or need mortars when we could drop 76mm shells 5km away so we never saw the O rings. I suppose Support Troop might have had mortars but I only spent a week in what was then Surveillance Troop (the support troop of its day) without vehicles or weapons after an Arms Plot move, before moving on to Command Troop; the regiment (and the whole division) came on strength of BAOR a couple of months later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruxy Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 So - when / what dress - would you use the canvas gaiters with two brass buckles & not the post-WW2 putties ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlienFTM Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 So - when / what dress - would you use the canvas gaiters with two brass buckles & not the post-WW2 putties ? In 1975 I wore blancoed gaiters in training with the RMP. Any dress bar No 1s / No2s. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdbikemad Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 The old webbing anklets in use with some troops into the 70s were usually boot-polished black and worn on all occasions when puttees would otherwise be worn, including combat and working dress....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlienFTM Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 The old webbing anklets in use with some troops into the 70s were usually boot-polished black and worn on all occasions when puttees would otherwise be worn, including combat and working dress....... Indeed. I do remember wearing them in the Durham ACF. Heart is determined to tell me I wore black polished anklets at Catterick, but head swears we only ever wore puttees. Don't remember handing anklets in when I headed off to Omagh and I certianly didn't have any when I got there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChasSomT. Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 (edited) Not really relevant, I know, but I bought some 'Twists' last year at an Army 'Surplus' store in Kidderminster. I find them ideal when walking cross-country (And, it takes me back . . . . . . !) Edited April 5, 2012 by ChasSomT. spelling Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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