Russian Foot Wraps, Портянки, Fusslappen. A Lost Art Of Soldiering
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- čas přidán 26. 08. 2024
- How To Make Foot Wraps As It Have Been Done Since WW1 and WW2.
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The Survival Russia Channel is about "The Reality Of Survival". I live on a Homestead in far away Russian wild nature and here are no room for "TV" Survival.
Only Reality counts here. Survival Russia promotes the philosophy of always carrying equipment and never to be parted from equipment which will affect chances of Survival.
So did the old timers and pioneers of both the East and the West.
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Regards, Lars
Good timing. I wore my last clean pair of socks yesterday.
LOL :)
I can wear my footwraps for months between washings and they won't stink as bad as socks after 2 days.
My wife is pissed.. Our dish towels smell like feet now.
hahaha tell her to learn to do laundry correctly.
better then smelling like semen.
wash ur feet next time :)
You have small feet, tovarishch! 😎🐕🦺
Who care?
Actually this is not only Russian. It was used by my grand-grand-father during his military service in the start of 20-th century even before WW1. I learned to use it from my grand-father who was working all his life in the forests in Eastern Europe, later in Komi in Russia and also in desert in Mongolia. The idea can be found also in many traditional village foot-wears in Eastern Europe, which did not have shoes, but put a very thick leather on the walking part of the foot, and this is on top of a tussue wrapped around the leg, maybe not with cotton tissue, but with something different. I am quite sure this can be traced millenia back. It could be that similar idea can be found in North American indians.
I used it also during my miltary serice when I had to walk a lot. And yes, there is nothing better than this when you have to walk long distances and time. Nothing comes even close. Any sock will damage your foot especially with crude miltary shoes, while this will be working like a charm. The secret is that the shape magically accomodates the shape of your foot and your shoes, or boots.
this kind of 'socks' used since ancient rome actually
In cental Europe use also this type of wrasps, in Romanian is "OBIÁLĂ" !
Where are you from?
He mentions Norwegian army socks.
There is such a thing as progress! even in Russia trekking socks are now used. There is nothing better than a good trekking sock. portianki will kill your legs.
When I saw Kyrgyz soldiers wrapping their feet like this in 2002 I thought , "My God what a poor country, can't even give the soldiers socks" Little did I know ha ha.
:'D
Little did you know it's better than socks
Yea, they are pretty poor out that way comparatively speaking... 😂
I never thought I would see that done again! In the late 70's I worked in a nursing home and had to learn to do this wrap since a large number of the older men still wrapped their feet with them. I have done it in the winter as well using old wool neck scarves. I would be going out to milk the cows in those cold over-boots. Now I know where the practice originated! Thanks! (shared this with my brothers. haha...It was their big old boots I was wearing!) I sure enjoy your videos! Thanks!
Awesome. Thank you very much for a great comment friend.
Cool, where was this?
I’ve never seen this before. Thanks so much for your insight!
Shortly after the second World War, my grandmother used to turn my Grandfather's "Fußlappen" or "Schuahfetz'n", as they where colloquially called in austria, in a vest called "Lempatschek", where two Fußlappen were sewn together along the sides and knitten sleeves were attached to form the vest.
Great video. This is how it was done back in the days. The good thing is that, while you would have gone through a pile of socks, you could simply adjust the position of the heel in the foot wrap, and the part that was beginning to wear out would not be in the heel area anymore.
Socks are, of course, a lot more convenient to use, but I think foot wraps are far more practical when resources are scarce. I've heard the big drawback is - if you don't know how to do them right your feet will turn into two big blisters after first 10km.
very interesting lars, thanks so much for making this video and sharing good field skills like these.
historic tips like these are very important before they get lost.
well done mate
Thank you Darren :)
Having worn combat boots most of my adult life(retired Army Vet), in a survival situation, hygiene is important and taking care of your feet is probably a close second. Anyone who has had foot injuries, it might as well be an amputation, LOL . I buy crazy expensive wool socks(they don't have to be expensive socks BTW, wool is hands down the best boot socks though. Rotating your socks is important. I have never used foot wraps, but may try it now on my next hiking trip. Though most of my hiking may only be 6-10 KMs max LOL
Side note, in the US Army we were better equipped, but I think that the Soldiers in the US were spoiled and would have never thought of wraps. I always like to see what other countries do and I always learn a lot.
Lars, LOVE this channel!
Worth taking the time to learn and practice, I think.
I tried hard to learn this a few years ago - but only russian videos were available.
Thank you for this excellent instruction
Ha, i remember doing this 10-12 years ago, working on construction. Old army boots, this instead of socks, and you good to run and jump around of all sorts of bad-for-your-feet stuff all day. Nice vid.
Thank you for that :) Yes Portyanki is a good thing!
i do construction. buy some good quality work boots NOT army boots :) and buy quality socks. your feet will thank you. so will your back.
The Finnish army stopped issuing these in the 1990's. But I belong to the generation who experienced these foot wraps. Everything you said about them is true. Also foot wraps were very cost-effective for the military: one size fits all, virtually no wear and tear, last "forever". And I didn't like fiddling with these :-)
Russians stopped using them in 2009/2012 or so. I have found out most Russian soldiers/ex-soldiers have a special loathing for socks :) I got curious about foot wraps because so many here use them. I thought they were a thing of the past wars. To my surprise i found out they work great. I hope all is well in Finland :)
I am not trying to be picky, but in one sentence you write "Russians stopped using them in 2009/2012" in another "so many here use them" I understand "here" as being Russia now. That is a contradiction!
I meant the Russian Army. The Army officially switched to socks in 2012 i thin but many still use Portyanki of course.
I was wondering when they got phased out in the FDF.
When I served (2/14) there was a guy in my platoon who switched out the issued socks for footwraps whenever we had a longer march and he never seemed to have any problems.
He taught the wrapping to us, but I never used it until after the military because I found it easier to just throw on some socks.
@@SurvivalRussia did you really use it on a hike, in the field? I don't think it's any better than good trekking socks. take care of your feet.
I can't wait to tell my wife that from now on we are going sans socks and wearing fusslappen instead.
Read a Day in the life of Ivan at age 10. Took me seconds to realise this was a good option for wellington boots. I also used old ( but good quality) bedsheets cut about 6 inch wide and bind the foot and used under sox in GP boots. Worked well.
I read that book too and always wondered what "foot cloths" were, I'm glad to see this at last. I may try this with my winter walking boots, new ones, which have been chafing my heels and giving me blisters for the first time ever. Thanks for the video, Survival Russia!
Very cool, I feel like as a US Vet that I could learn a lot from Russian Soldiers who had to do more with less resources.
I agree. There's so much more to soldiering than kicking in doors. Our younger counterparts don't seem to get that.
“More with less resources” ........sounds like the Marine Corps !
@@savagecub USA mittary more resources and still lose.
Pentu Plove
And yet everyone still wants to come here........
@ he had a good point just poor execution
Hello again. I bought several pairs both flannel and regular cotton. I also have The smaller German foot wraps. I was able to learn how to put on both watching CZcams. Your method is exactly the way that I learned. It works, as I have tried it and even wore pull-on boots all day with foot wraps. I like the high pull-on boots, and feel that even today in certain conditions and situations, they are the best for soldiers, especially in Northern temperate zones in Spring, Summer, Fall. In winter also with high pull-on winter boots. Great video.
If I am not mistaken there is a reference to Gen “Stonewall” Jackson’s troops using this method after putting axle grease on their feet before going on long marches. They had a reputation for quickly covering many, many miles.
Thanks for helping bring this practice back to life!
My folks taught me this ..as well as a thousand more life hacks..they were born in the 20s in CZ & HUNGARY..i thank them still daily for all they did for us..let alone the ability & skills to survive..i pass these n more on to my kid and grandkids..can only hope they never need but if so ..where I'm around or not..least they have it in Thier tool box..
Just made a pair, and tried them in my gumboots, love them. they actually fit better than socks as the material around the ankle helps prevent the ankle moving as much. Great video, love these
This is very practical. Did this as a kid growing up in poverty during the winter. Also plastic bread bags over the shoes while walking in snow. Didn't last long though and there were never enough bread bags. Thanks for the reminder and the proper way to apply.
Thank you for a good comment Yvonne and for watching too :)
Where were you growing up?
Great video! Thanks for the information. I can remember seeing a demonstration on TV in the 1960s, and the Soviet demonstrator said that socks wear out, but the wraps, by changing position of the cloth, would last far longer, and like you said, the cloths could be washed out and dried, just about anywhere - they are very versatile. I have read that they were used by the soldiers of Frederick the Great, so they have been around for a long time...but I bet every European army will claim to have invented them. Good work!
One of the most useful and important survival videos I've seen in a long time. Thank you, Lars.
Thank you very much for that comment! :)
Thank you so much. I think this helps explain why in WWII photographs dead Soviet soldiers had bandages on their feet instead of boots. Of course they did have boots, but boots are no longer of use to a dead man. Learn something new and useful every day.
Very impressive. Thanks for keeping some of the old ways alive. That common sense, and practical knowledge is being lost every day. Atb, John.
Thank you for the kind comment John.
This is what the neighbors were talking about. Neighborhood I grew up in had a lot of Slavic people. Thankyou.
I kinda rediscovered this yesterday after I got my feet soaked at my friend's house. He didn't have any spare socks so I took a clean dish towel and I came up with the first few steps shown in the vid. Surprised to find it more snug then my darn toughs. Glad to know how they did it properly
Brilliant! Thanks for sharing Lars
Personally I prefer food wraps but those foot wraps are great too!
Saved many a soldier's toes.
Indeed.
How? ....I mean do they protect toes from sliding and hitting the solid front part of the boots ?
A trash bag or old plastic grocery bag is what I use when it's cold and wet. Wear a pair of comfortable dress socks on your foot. Put a trash bag on top, put your boot socks on the outside and then your boots on.
Your feet will stay completely dry because the outside sock will protect it from the boot ripping it, and it does a decent job of insulating your foot.
So simple, but so interesting. I love this guy.
They will work perfect here in the Canadian climate. I will most defiantly make myself some foot wraps for my next hunting trip. Thank you for sharing the info with us. I really enjoy watching your videos and the wilderness of Russia.
They work great but practice first how to make them work for you :) The standard Size is 90x35 cm and the fabric is cotton twill or flannel at 220-250 grams per square meter. Good luck and i hope you will find them useful!
Ken Hadley Fleece or polartec work as well
Always a thumbs up for your knowledge and experience,thanks for all the videos.
Cool shit. I'd always wondered about footwraps as a fallback option. It'd definitely be easier to get ahold of or even make a footwrap than a sock. It can't be too bad either, they were used for a couple thousand years.
In WW2 and later soldiers here in Finland wore footwraps to keep they feet dry. Forgotten skill though...
Great information. Thanks.
I am a retired U.S. Army Combat Medic, and spent most of 2004 in Iraq.
I am a student of history, and this kind of information is quite useful.
Thanks
Thank you! Good you made it back home.
I've known about these for years, but this is the first time I've seen how it is done. Thank you. I'm going to practice it a bit... it's one of those skills that come in handy when you least expect it.
I think it's great to know how to do this, even if for emergencies. One time I lost a sock and I wrapped my foot in a bandana to replace the sock. I was riding horses and it would have been pretty bad to not have something in my riding boot to protect my foot.
Good to know! Thanks!
This is perhaps a frostbite saving technique, I will watch again. Damn good info.
My grandpa use to ware the foot wrap whenever he wore rubber boots. That brought back sweet memory. Thank you.
My Dad did this when he was growing up in Vermont in the depression. He didn't have a pair of shoes until he was eight and he made them in the mill he was working in. The only thing he didn't do is cut the leather.
heard about these but never seen the proper technique, used to use something like this in rubber boots when irrigating crops, would exchange socks for these and then dry my feet after & put my dry socks on in my leather workboots for dry ground work, didn't know where it came from for years until I saw them in a magazine but there were a lot of Poles/Germans around here from 1920's and 1940's so I guess they showed the guys who I worked with when I was a teenager.
There is a winter version of the foot wrap used with mukluks by the Inuit tribes in Alaska and Canada. I tried them on a winter camping trip once in Northern Minnesota. The wraps were much, much warmer than the heavy wool socks I had packed in… no idea why they are so much warmer but I’m a convert.
i love the lawn ornaments no little gnomes here those wraps better come in black lol
My father was a Russian Army officer in WW2. He always wrapped his feet when wearing boots, even as an old man. If done properly, the fabric doesn’t shift and move as one is walking so it prevents chafing and blisters.
Yes, it is quite comfortable for wearing rubber boots and forth, if you know how to wrap them )))
out freaking standing! (that's a complement) Thank you for this lesson
Thank you very much :)
Lars is like a farmer, outstanding in his field☺️
Absolute brilliant share!!! Thanks so much.
you are a champion! wealth of knowledge on this channel, please never stop surviving and/or teaching!
Thank you a very much. That's a great compliment :)
Friend,
Many years ago, they showed us a brief movie contrasting the Soviet Military with our own, when I was in the US Army.They mentioned using rags instead of socks, and I've often wondered how that worked, since the movie didn't show that part. Being able to make do with a rag, when there are no socks to be had, in A SURVIVAL situation could be very handy.
Thank you so much!
…..RVM45
I was getting blisters every time I walked more than a mile. Thank you for this nifty trick. I hope it will do better than the wool socks I have.
Would love to see more "Lost Art of Soldiering" type videos. This was very neat! I also had a quick question: Have you ever done any metal detecting in or around Napoleonic era battle fields in your country?
I actually have :) Those areas are littered with remains from WW1 and WW2. You can get lucky though.
Socks existed since the early middle ages, but they were difficult to make (without rubber, they need to be form-fitting and yet possible to put on and off). Footwraps and gaiters were in use up to the 20th c. In Europe. Similarly, some wrapped their underwear, or didn't even bother wearing them at all...
Thanks Lars for demo of the foot wraps! Very interesting! Time tested and no BS approved! 👍
Thank you too :)
I am from that part of the world. This really works great, used for many years. Thank you
This channel is awesome
Thank you! :)
What a cool idea, thanks!
Thanks! :)
Cool video! Thanks for sharing!
Thank you for watching Keith :)
Outstanding video my friend!
This answers some questions ive had regarding stovepipe/jackboots for years.
This is a concern that is extremely practical and functional, as the modern.." outdoorsman's" real skills these days are buying crap they do not need.
Here in Maine in the US, it might not be AS cold as Russia...but still gets pretty cold, and this method will come in mighty handy. Thank you!
I subscribed to your channel, as you and I seem to have the same appreciation for simple, durable surplus gear, particularly the Swedish wool gear- I love their rubberized wool gaiters.
Keep up the great work!
This helped me fix a big proboem i had. The only shoes i have at the moment are a pair of boots but i bought them on the wrong size and don't have the situation to buy new ones. This size problem leads to them sanding my socks on the heel, just like he showed, after a day or two of wear and then sanding my foot. I have already went through multiple pairs of socks until i hear about portyanki in a video about kirza boots. I then bought a cloth i found in my local supermarket and wore them using this method. It's imediately 200% better than it was with socks, i can not recoment this method if you have a problem eith the heels of your boots
Thank You Survival Russia. I've wanted to see more about the Russian foot wraps since I saw them in the films, "October, Ten Days That Shook The World", and "Come And See".
My Dear Mother, she taught me to darn socks, but, your Norwegian Army wool socks are a very bad case.
You sure do your research and give plenty of facts, I like that. Homestead in the background looks pretty cool and I'm sure is keeping you quite busy. Thanks very much for the history lesson, that was awesome. Take care brother : )
Very interesting technique, I don't know if I'll be trying it though. I wear pretty heavy wool socks year round, even here in Oklahoma where it stays hot. I got used to the wool socks after my tour in the Infantry and just stuck with them. Thanks for the information, it's always good to have options.
I use wool socks all the time as well :)
Using a lost art of soldiering?
Now that's what I call soldiering.
I grew up in south east PA. Bucks county. It was still country and very beautiful. Lot's of farms. Mostly the farmers and family were of eastern European decent. There were a few horse farms. My big brother had a fondness for hunting and trapping. He would sell the furs and we would eat what was left if eatable. No Skunk thank you. My brother would ask me to help him so I learned how to be in the woods hunt. We always had many guns. Guns are fun. There were rules that we had to follow. My father said this only once. Don't shoot anything that you don't intend to eat. Never point a gun at anything living. Most importantly, a gun is always loaded even when you think it's empty and hanging on the wall for years. In those days we had many guns. I liked guns better then dolls. My dolls were usually made from corn husk. I only hunted for food or picked up deer road killed. My favorite rifle was a Winchester 32-40. No longer have it. Lost to time. I would like to get a Mosin nagent. I also like the 30-06. I am old now so that be a kicker. How did you grow up and where in Russia did you grow up.
I've heard about this but have not seen it done. Thanks.
Thank you too friend.
My grandfather would not wear socks but would wrap his feet like this and insisted that we do the same. My grandfather said that stockings were for women. I still wrap my feet before putting on my boots in the winter, my feet stay warm and I have not experienced problems with blisters. (However I can also kick sparks from flint rocks.)
Use to wear it for almost 3 years during my service :) Awesome stuff :)
Well, after learning it would take about 40 man hours to knit a pair of socks this is a very practical item before the advent of mass produced socks. I see this could be of use again should one bust their bunions through their last pair of socks should another great depression ever occur. (More like when another great depression occurs.)
40 MAN hours maybe, but probably 3 to 8 experienced grandma hours depending on the yarn. :-D
It's actually much easier to transform raw sheep fleece to knitted socks (it only requires carding, spinning and knitting), than to turn it into woven fabric (which requires finer carding, much finer spinning, loom setup -which takes a looong time- and actual weaving). But mass produced fabric appeared relatively early, at the beginning of the modern period. It would take a few more centuries to develop tubular knitting machines, which are much more complicated than a "semi-automatic" loom.
@@MadNumForce 20 yards linen is one coat. No exceptions.
I was always curious how those were done. Thank you for sharing !
Just found your channel this morning, the foot wrap is brilliant! new Washington State subscriber.
just fascinating, thank you for the demo and history lesson.
I think I remember seeing this kinda wrap in a survival manual or such like.
Thank you so much for explaining them to us properly!
All the best
Thom
My pleasure. Thank you too :)
An old Swede showed me this. He said his grandfather, a old cavalry man taught him this. Very cool indeed. He called them almost the same "footlappen".
when the sock heel wares out I darn them with a sack needle and wool thread. Thanks for the portyanki demo.
Your homestead is beautiful. Your so blessed
wow cool seeing funky prepper here !!
Brilliant video
Thank you very much :)
Amazing. That was an incredibly useful tutorial.Thanks for sharing this.
Thanks! I'm glad you found it interesting :)
My father told me they would often use these in winter. Bulgaria, artillery, 1982.
During the night they would stretch the fabric and let them dry as far away as possible in the tent. The new guys would sleep around the stinky wraps and the old "wolves" would have the prime spots next to the firestove :D
Man, I was looking for a channel like this, and some sort of footwrap technique, this will definitely save my socks, thanks chuvak!
Thank you too :)
I can't believe I didn't know about this. I'll definitely will be trying this next time. awesome!
Practice is needed :)
You know what may work 'better'? wool socks and lose fitting plastic bag. The friction between the wool and bag, when walking, generates heat. I have used this for decades.
Greetings from Canada, eh ;)
Cool. I never need Socks again. Ok, it may look a little bit strange when i wear my Sandals over it in the Summer :-)
Awesome. Thank you
Thanks,great video.
I watched a Russian tv series yesterday and a sergeant got his soldiers to take off their boots so that he could check their foot wrapping.
Very useful! Thank you Lars for sharing this!
Thank you :)
I use swedish surplus footwraps made of wool when it's cold, works great 👍
People underestimate how important dry, warm and comfortable feet are. I used this with tall leather boods, these footwraps are called "onuce" (read onootse) in Polish :D Funny enough, what is just as good in my opinion is using loose crude leather shoes and lining them with dry grass. Even better insulation, even better air circulation and less restricting. not sure how well that would do with rubber boots though (which I use as rarely as possible, if my foot is to get wet from my own sweat anyway I might as well go barefoot).
Interesting. It seems like many countries use these. The grass also sounds like an interesting idea. Yes rubber boots can be unpleasant for sure, but if i go to the forest often they are useful compared to leather boots. It's irritating to clean and maintain them everyday :)
Survival Russia
The terrains you hike through in the videos seem much more muddy/swampy than what I'm used to anyway, so rubber boots are probably a must over there ;)
That is a beautiful place he is at
Thanks you very much for showing us this survival skill!
That, in my eyes ,that is valuable information that I will download for training purposes. Extra insulation and protection on top of a wool sock during the winter is always good option. Good for over sized boots etc, etc, etc,....
At the moment, I am making ballistics charts for a AR-50. Gotta sight in a new scope. Hope to get this done today.
It's a very good concept once you get a hang of it. AR-50, that sounds interesting indeed.
Thank you for demonstrating pchanki. Read about them in Solzhenitsyn's A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich aged 14 and wondered about them for over forty years since. Will try them.
Thanks for teaching me something I've never seen before. I'll be giving this a try.
i would like to see more russian gear if you can i like this channels very much
I will do that of course. Thank you very much :)
That's different I've not seen that done before but cheers for the demo Lars and the little history lesson, your homestead is looking very nice in summer time, cheers, atb, Paul.
Thank you Paul. I tried and tested method :)
+Survival Russia I think I'm gona have to raid the wife's linen cupboard for material and give this a try
I seem to remember a documentary series on British TV over 25 years ago showing Russian army recruits using these, they were astonished that they were not being provided socks instead. I have not seen it repeated either unfortunately which is a shame.
Thanks for sharing, Simple but effective footwear. Keep up the great work. Atb
Thank you :)