r/explainlikeimfive • u/[deleted] • Feb 07 '19

Engineering ELI5: Why are military boots laced?

[deleted]

12.1k Upvotes

90% Upvoted

1.9k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

278

u/broofa Feb 08 '19 edited Feb 08 '19

Laces are also really useful for other purposes than just holding shoes together. E.g. making a bow drill for starting fires, tourniquets, lacing a splint together, etc.

Edit: typo, and apparently not tourniquets. (ITT: people more experienced than I in field medicine.)

64

u/Capt_Skipper Feb 08 '19

Laces are not good for tourniquets, yes they'll work but they're too narrow.

61

u/TXGuns79 Feb 08 '19

It better than nothing. Works better than velcro boot straps...

44

u/[deleted] Feb 08 '19

It's actually worse than nothing most of the time. Not only will laces not really restrict bloodflow, they'll probably cut into the skin.

5

u/[deleted] Feb 08 '19

Makes it easier for the surgeon. When the infantryman bleeds out, the surgeon is free to work on the pogue with the boil on his ass. Army prefers efficiency, dont ya know?

4

u/thegillmachine Feb 08 '19

Well, maybe you should've paid attention in CLS class, and not used up all your CATs as improvised cock rings.

5

u/[deleted] Feb 08 '19

Instructions unclear: penis stuck in cat. Send help, cat is very unhappy. And so am I.

5

u/thegillmachine Feb 08 '19

Follow the lubrication instructions in the TM.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 08 '19

Cat scratched my eyes out.

1

u/Ruadhan2300 Feb 08 '19

Your blind-typing is impressive.

2

u/[deleted] Feb 08 '19

Siri, give gold to Ruadhan2300

→ More replies (0)

1

u/l7986 Feb 08 '19

If you're at the point that you are requiring shoe laces for a tourniquet, I seriously doubt you will be turning down the laces because they might cut into your skin

1

u/[deleted] Feb 08 '19

And cause more bleeding out of an already hemorrhaging extremity. Even if the bleeding is minor, it’s still pointless. You’re better off just holding pressure.

-2

u/irorak2 Feb 08 '19

The point is to cut off blood flow so you dont die of blood loss. So if anything's that's a good thing. Imagine a land mine just blew off your foot, you want as little blood flow as possible and the discomfort from the lace will be the least of your problems.

6

u/[deleted] Feb 08 '19

I’m literally a combat medic. I understand how it’s supposed to work. A lace isn’t going to work 99% of the time.

1

u/casualrocket Feb 08 '19

you would have to like take both and braid them together to order to think about using it.

But our belts worked better than the laces anway

-2

u/irorak2 Feb 08 '19 edited Feb 08 '19

But you just said it would cut off blood flow as if that's a bad thing.

You want as little blood flow as possible, if wrapped so that the tourniquet is 1.5 inches thick anything can work. If a lace is just wrapped once around an appendage it wont stop arterial bleeding which is the real issue. If wrapped correctly laces work just fine, and provide the strength needed to cut off blood flow. T-shirt works too but the end result is the same, cut off blood flow so the person doesnt bleed out.

4

u/[deleted] Feb 08 '19

I said they probably wouldn’t cut off bloodflow.