#footwrap

Day 083 | A New Footwrap

The Portyanki

Until the beginning of this year the Russian Federation's armed forces did not wear socks.  Instead the average Russian soldier wore something which would have been instantly recognisable to his ancestors from the time of Peter the Great and before, the Portyanki or footwrap.  

The Portyanki are rectangular pieces of cloth or flannel about 30 inches square which are wrapped about the foot instead of wearing socks. The footwrap was a popular piece of clothing in the Europe for over 300 years, it was officially adopted by the Russian Imperial Army in the 17th century.  Footwraps could be found in use by numerous countries including the Prussian, Swedish, Finnish and Dutch armies.  They remain prominent into the 20th Century with the Wehrmacht and the Red Army issuing them.  Even after stockings and later socks had become the norm for many civilians.

While the footwrap may seem an antiquated piece of kit for a modern soldier they did have their merits.  They are easy to make, mend and wash and they dry faster than a pair of socks would. Before the invention of Nylon and industrial scale manufacturing the footwrap was an extremely economical alternative, costing much less to make than a pair of socks. While practical if the wrapping of the Portyanki is not mastered and it wrapped too loosely then it can cause painful blisters.  Even so the Russian army and many of the armies of the Warsaw Pact nations also used footwraps, as did the Finnish army who continued to use them well into the 20th century only adopting socks in the late 1990s. 

It can be said that very major war that Russia has fought since the 17th century has been fought by Russian soldiers with their feet wrapped in Portyanki. It was only in the late 2000s that the first moves were made to replace the Portyanki with socks, in line with the more modern uniforms that were being issued.  Finally in January of this year the Portyanki were finally phased out.

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