Slashdot Mirror
British Soldiers Get Germ-Fighting Undies
Ant writes "Yahoo! News reports that British soldiers will be getting germ-fighting underwear. The antimicrobial underpants have been introduced by the Ministry of Defense as part of a new desert uniform for soldiers. They are the first undergarments issued to British troops, who traditionally have had to supply their own.
Military officials said Thursday the unisex trunks were made from artificial fibers for comfort, with silver particles woven into the material to prevent sweating.
"It is coated to prevent bacterial infection, and we have tried to arrange the seams so that they don't chafe," Col. Silas Suchanek, who led the team that procured the new equipment, said Thursday."
... how long til they get the rest of their equipment?
The British army is woefully underequipped... but hey, as long as they've got pants and tea, they'll be fine!
Just another harmless drunk
*ducks*
Use 'slashdot stuff' in the subject line in any email you send me if you want to get past the spam filter.
The underpants gnomes finally figured out the missing part of the plan.
Step 1. Steal underpants.
Step 2. Sell to the military (ta-daaa).
Step 3. Profit!
Really, we should defer to the UK's right to name its own institutions and call it the "Ministry of Defence", just like Pearl Harbor should not be "Pearl Harbour" or "Perl Harbor" (as I've been admittedly prone to think).
Well, it's another development in our war to eradicate biological agents in our war on terror.
If you locate a hazardous bacterial sample, simply find a British soldier and drop it down his pants.
My postings are informational and does not constitute legal advice. Act on it at your risk.
Then the germs evolve and become resistant to silver and we're in REAL trouble.
No? Well... now comes with complimentary free underwear!
If the number of British army enlistees suddenly skyrockets in the next month, we'll all know why.
Considering testicles don't like high temperatures, (it's one of the reasons we have them in a sack outside our body, and why everyone should use boxers) what are the chances that these new undies will cause damage to the soldiers testicles since they are stoping them from properly regulating their temperature by sweating, in a desert no less?
WTF? I can understand unisex "outer" uniforms, but the idea of unisex underwear is plain stupid. Is the British Army trying to pretend that men and women are exactly the same, even "down there"?
From the picture, the underwear look like standard men's boxers, except without the front flap. Why leave out the front flap in men's underwear? Probably because they had to make a concession to these being "unisex", and a flap is clearly a male-only feature. Also, what about guys who prefer briefs?
The end result is that men will have a harder time freeing willie to irrigate the desert, and women will be forced to wear what are essentially men's underwear (and, I would imagine, are less comfortable for women--correct me if I'm wrong).
The site I have the pictures on is down, but hopefully I can give a detailed enough explanation of what happened to me last year to make folks realize the importance of anti bacterial undies.
:) http://www.scvi.net/activex/tv19.htm
I was sittin on the toilet one day and noticed a swollen ingrown hair to the right of my right testicle. I tried to pluck the hair out, followed by squeezing the little bastard. Nothing was coming out, so I said, "fuck it" and just left it at that.
During the week, it developed from an ingrown hair to a very painful boil. It got to the point where I could hardly walk anymore and had to see the doctor.
Soon as the doctor saw it, he said "We're going to have to lance it". Kaiser usually doesn't give out painkillers if they can avoid it (once had a broken toe and they refused me pain meds) Luckily I had a male doctor, and I think that fact made him more sympathetic to my pain.
He numbed the spot up, then poked the spot with a scalpel, probably going in about 2-3 centimeteres, followed by some very painful squeezing to get all the crap out of the bacterial playground that had formed next to my nutsack.
I thought that was it, but nope. The doctor said "We have to leave a wick in there so it heals right" A wick? WTF? Basically a wick is a peice of cotton gauze stuck in the hole where the boil used to be. This prevents the opening of the wound from sealing up, and allows the hole to heal from the bottom up.
For the next month, I had to make daily trips to kaiser to have the wick removed, and replaced. The first wick was over a foot in length! Every week the wicks got shorter and shorter until they finally told me it no longer needed a wicking.
I can totally see these types of bacterial infections knocking out a soldier for a month. For me, I could not walk without popping 2 or 3 vicodin after they inserted the wick. At least I had the luxery of my house, high speed internet, and cable TV (not much interneting during this ordeal, as it was very hard to sit)
--toq
OH Ps, im typing this live while i'm at work at the karaoke bar, watch the live stream here and say hi
Sweet Jesus, man! That's the worst story I've heard in months! I'd recommend keeping that to yourself.
Don't anyone dare modding this man up. Think of the children!
I've come for the woman, and your head.
I hate to comment on my own comment to bitch about moderation, but I noticed a few comments below mine stating that it should be downmodded.
Look, this is what happened to me. Like it or not. The comment came from my heart, formed by my own personal experience. Sure, it's gory, sure it's detailed, but this is exactly what happens to folks when bacterial infections happen. Boils form on the skin, and in the crotch area, this makes for a very debilitating condition. Like I said, I had the luxery of my house, soldiers in Iraq don't have the same immenities that I have.
Just a follow up, after this happened my wife and I started buying anti bacterial soap. Since then, I haven't had so much as a zit on my legs. Before the boil, I showered every day but with regular old soap. Regular soap just isn't enough to prevent this from happening. Just one juicy bit of info I read on antibacterial soaps, you have to leave them on the skin for at least 2 minutes for the active ingredient to work.
So please mods, don't downmod my parent post. It was completely on topic and showed the dangers of bacterial infections of the crotch. Thank you.
--toq
I got my silver underwear from REI several years ago for mountaineering. What sold me was mostly the reduction of odors, since when you're on a mountain, you're wearing that sweaty underwear for two days of solid work! Highly recommended.
How long before the US Army follows suit?
I enlisted four and a half years ago in the Army National Guard, and in two weeks time I'm actually leaving for Iraq. As per the regulation, we are supposed to wear the Army issue briefs. That's what we did during Basic Training - but God knows those things aren't made for comfort. They chafe, and once you've been in the field for a few weeks - well, let's just say that the risk of infection increases. Which is why it pays to carry a lot of baby wipes and Gold Bond.
I actually wear boxers instead of the standar-issue briefs now and it is definitely more comfortable. But anyway, now that I'm headed for the desert, I wouldn't mind having this nifty new underwear - I hope the US Army takes up this good idea. You don't realize how much you take the little things for granted until you're out in the field and out of clean pairs of underwear.
Vivin Suresh Paliath
http://vivin.net
I like
Victoria's Secret announced the imminent launch of their new "Patriot" line.
Stay sentient. Don't drink bad milk.
Why leave out the front flap in men's underwear?
Not trolling, but seriously, does anybody actually use that thing? When I go to a public urinal, I want speed and stealth i.e., a commando raid. The last thing on earth I'm looking for is to get caught playing fabric origami just to access the plumbing. Or is the purpose actually to act as a squeegee during retraction to minimize the chances of..er..having to shake your leg afterward?
Conversely you'd be amazed how miserable chafing underwear and sweaty socks can make you, and how quickly.
interesting that they are black... Why is that I wonder?
stealth.
There's a picture on Wikipedia. It stops a lot of germs. Impressive.
Karma: Positive (probably because of superiour intellect)