Leg Wraps?

[Daerir]

I was reading online about leg wraps. My boots are only ankle boots and I'm deathly afraid of messing anything up with them so I figured the next best thing would be to get some form of leg wrap.

Maybe something like this.

[Peter Remling]

For the NY State Renn Fair, Mike C. and a few others are going to dress as part of the 'Night's Watch from Game of Thrones. The Watch dresses all in black. My high mocs are green and brown, so I dyed some ace bandages black and intend to use them as leg wraps to cover the mocs.

[Straelbora]

I've got some interesting wrap hooks that are reproductions of some found in Poland. My biggest concern with wraps is them coming undone every five steps.

I'm also toying with the idea of taking the goat hides I have and making them into wraps. I've seen it depicted in different interpretations of Viking costume. Hair in, leather out should be pretty warm and relatively waterproof.

[Alderic]

I've got a pair with my main kit, using hooks rather than ties. They stay up fine if you do a good job wrapping them. I usually wrap them from the foot up but I imagine they'd stay up easier if you go from the top. I've not used any other pairs but my understanding is it's best if they're wool.

[Greg]

There are a number of online suppliers that sell Winningas, but in the spirit of up-cycling and/or repurposing, I'll point out that Odigan used athletic Horse leg wraps on his own legs with success on our last trek.

[E.MacKermak]

Those are generally called winingas and you can get them from several distributors that cater to Viking and Anglo-Saxon outfits. I got mine from Historic Enterprises (http://historicenterprises.com/mens-c-9 ... p-865.html). Hooks are easy to find; HE sells them as does Raymond's Quiet Press and several others or you can make your own out of a little brass or copper. As an alternative to woven wool winingas, which can get expensive, you can get horse leg wraps from local saddlery shops like Tractor Supply. They are usually canvas and have velcro fasteners which can be dressed up with hooks or the cord in your picture.

[Kiriana]

You can also go to Thrift Stores and Goodwill or Salvation Army stores and sometimes find wool cloth or wool suits that you can then cut into strips and make your own winingas.

[Ringulf]

I have used the waningas, or putties, and to wrap them properly one starts at the bottom (sometimes with a turn under the foot to keep them in short boots, but this may let in deep snow if you don't make an effort to cover the top of the boot)
They end up being about 9 foot long and can sometimes be a bit difficult to get in those lengths.

The ace bandage thing works, but be careful not to stretch them too much or they will constrict your circulation and your feet will be colder than if you had walked barefoot through the snow!

The horse wrap is a great way, as long as the canvas thing works for you. You can get them in lots of colors or natural and dye them like Pete. The great part about the woolen ones is that being on your legs and getting any snow or water on them they will stay warm even when wet, as aposed to the canvas which will not. (canvas can be waterproofed pretty well or turned into oilskin wraps wich I could see a ranger using styleistically)

You may also want to consider using a sleeve of heavy wool cloth or fur and using straps or belts to tie them on with. I have in the past, obtained some fur coats and cut the sleaves off to use the upper ends to go on my legs. then tied them on with leather cord or belt them with leather straps. There are some fancy ones out there that are fairly easy to make or buy, I have made several pair like these.





The nice thing with these are the fact that if they are tied just above the large part of the calf muscle they stay up well, even better if you have a bit more go up past the knee and turn the "cuff" down over the top strap or tie.
Then tie or belt one at the ankle to keep them from riding up over your boot or shoe and one in the middle to compress it a bit (but that is not always needed.)
The end result is warmth and protection for the lower leg and you use less material.

[Daerir]

Hmmm been a while since I've looked at this but I dolike how the fur looks. Now where can I find a similar material and what to do with it lol

[Udwin]

Honestly, I would stick with wool or canvas leg-wraps proper. The fur-on-the-outside (especially when combined with studded leather straps) fairly screams Fantasy as opposed to authentic history.
On a note of practicality, normal winningas are just one piece wrapped continuously--as a Ranger in the wild, wouldn't it be much easier to have to keep track of just two lengths of fabric, versus pieces of fur and several straps? And if you're worried about having chilly legs, I've used thin wool wraps for years and they keep my calves plenty warm just by themselves.

[Ringulf]

The fur with leather thonging was used in period, I use it a bit for Norse re-enactment but try to get used fur from the thrift shops to be green and to get that "used look", though I will give you the road on the studded straps!
In Dwarven re-enactment I have no qualms using something that has a little bit more of a fantasy edge, (Having not been able to find many real examples outside of Fantasy that is) though I love the realism that comes from simpler, historical, utilitarian garb.
My Dwarven decorating propensities lean toward embelishment (understated as a ranger, but embellished none the less), as it is percieved among Dwarves that if an item is worth making it should be well made well and if it is well made it should be honored with whatever decoration it's maker has the skill to produce.
I find it a challenge to take that theory and create peices that look like they could have been fashioned by a very conservitive, utilitarian Dwarf. (An anomoly to be sure!)

I am currently working on a pair of tooled leather boot toppers for the cool Uggs my son found for me (not standard Uggs at all, they have a very Native American or even Norther Scandinavian flair) as the instep is a bit small, I have a hard time getting my heal past that piont. I had to open the seam along the rear from above the heal piece to just below the rim at the calf. I am using the topper to wrap around and fasten on the outside with some antler toggles very much like scandinavian boots. you could make a pair like this in just about any hieght and if done properly, they can look almost like they are part of the boot.
Looking at most of the Dwarve's boots from Weta they have done very much the same.

As far as ease of use and number of peices and such, I sometimes sew the straps to the tube of fur or the "c" like cuff and put them on and tie or buckle them, they become one peice on each leg, but the 9 foot long wanninga wraps can also double in a pinch for Sam's Elven rope if you get in a bind and tie them together!

[Greg]

Canvas or Linen are going to hold up immensely longer than fur, if you're traipsing through the woods and they're getting damp. Mildew can attack fabrics, but that can be washed out at home, while keeping furs intact is a much more laborious process, once they're removed from the nutrient source of the live animal they were once attached to. I've never really felt that my calves needed that much warmth...if you're going to go with fur for anything, my experience would recommend lining gloves, a hood, or possibly a mantle for your upper torso. It's just too expensive to splash mud all over and then fight every step of the way to keep all of the hairs from falling out.

2 cents.

[RikJohnson]

I've got some interesting wrap hooks that are reproductions of some found in Poland. My biggest concern with wraps is them coming undone every five steps.

One of my High School teachers was in the Army just prior to WW-II and told me about the leg-wraps that he was required to wear.
He said that the only way he kept them up was to wrap them so tight, his feet fell asleep.