“For still-hunting I like spiral puttees, not spat but plain, as here illustrated. They are strips of woolen cloth with selvage edges, specially woven and “formed,” which wind round the leg like a surgeon’s bandage and tie at the top. Do not wind too tightly. They are pliable, noiseless against brush, help to keep ticks and chiggers from crawling up one’s legs, and, with the clothing underneath, are a sufficient defense against any snakes except the great diamond-back rattlers. “In experiments, only in rare instances has snake virus stained blot- ting-paper placed behind two thicknesses of heavy flannel.” (Kephart 1918, 146)
So why are puttees something I have come to enjoy when outdoors? This is a great question, especially when you do some research and dig up trench foot has been a speculated adverse effect of WWI troops wearing them. To address this concern I would like to put forth two of my own considered speculations: soldiers put them on too tight when negatively effected circulation, trench conditions were horrible no matter what footwear or clothing were issued, and lastly the soldiers did not change out or take them off and reapply them to account for swelling which is often the same case with socks. Leg wraps and foot wraps have been used since ancient times, long before socks and the advent of modern footwear. I believe puttees offer a great alternative to historical boots when combined with shoes.
Now footwear deserve their own page and I have complete intentions of covering that valuable subject but will strive to stay on task and only discuss puttees. Due to the cold winter months when deer camps are seasonally taking place, woolen puttees offer the legs more warmth which is important when sitting still for any length of time and they offer protection from the briars and brush of the woods. Now I cannot attest to the validity of Mr. Kephart’s claim of protection against snake bite and I certainly will not be testing it out to discover any truth behind it. The flexibility of the wool wraps are noteworthy whereas knee boots are generally more suited to riding horses and due to being made of leather are more stiff. Removing puttees after being in the wet or mud are also easier to remove to be swapped out to dry in comparison to longer legged boots. Cold wet boots can be very difficult to dry in the field without harming the leather and after a long day tramping through the woods removing the boots can be quite burdensome.
When the puttees are wrapped correctly there should be no hinderance to the circulation of the feet or the legs. Even today medical practitioners use the reverse spiral method of bandaging due to the techniques ability to permit circulation if not applied too tightly. The secret is to place the reverse point where there is a contour in the leg which is naturally found by visually inspecting the wrap to see if there are any gaps between wraps or if the puttee is not spiraling evenly to match the other layers already applied. If any tingling or numbness occurs you need to remove the puttee, let the leg “breathe” for a minute and reapply, this should also be done after putting some hiking under your feet because your feet will naturally swell, shoes loosened and puttee wrapped afterwards.
Fox Brothers is a manufacturer of products that utilize wool and when the British army adopted the puttee for their uniforms after seeing them in use in India by native troops. the woolen company became a leading manufacturer to fill the orders. Puttee means bandage in Hindi and it is a fitting name considering the roller bandage requires strips of cloth as well. One of the nicest features of the Fox puttees is that in the manufacturing process they steamed the wool to a curve. This allowed an individual to wrap the puttee without the use of the repeated reverse bandage technique previously discussed. They also marked their puttees with a brass disc that remained attached, one with an “L” noting left leg and “R” noting right leg. This is due to the steamed curve and to help the wearer not wear the puttees “inside out”.
When wrapping the leg you need to start at the ankle securing the puttee with a couple of anchor wraps which will secure it so the wraps can then be continued up the leg to just below the knee, resting on the inward slant of your calf. If you bend your knee and it is uncomfortable or if a pinching feeling occurs then you have wrapped the puttee too high. Ideally, the point of the end of the puttee should be on the inside of your leg so it will not snag on anything when out in the field. Your legs will protect them from getting unraveled and so will the friction of the wool layers against itself. To tie the puttee, you take the cloth tape and wrap it around several times until you have just enough to tuck underneath all of the tape wraps and in front of the point where the wool begins.
If you would like to see how it is done watch a video of how to wrap the puttee below and if you would like to buy a quality pair, please check out my affiliate link here! https://onlinemilitaria.net/shopaff.asp?affid=1633&id=1523
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If you would like to know the history of the Fox company, click this link which will take you straight to the company’s story page!
Bibliography
Horace Kephart, “The Book of Camping and Woodcraft : A Guide for Those Who Travel in the Wilderness / by Horace Kephart.,” HathiTrust (The Macmillon Company, 1918), https://hdl.handle.net/2027/pst.000009209466?urlappend=%3Bseq, 146.
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