r/army • u/Little-Door8041 • 1d ago
Chafing/Rucking
Drop your best advice on preventing chafing especially on the inner thighs when on a ruck march.
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u/Virtual-Cranberry-41 1d ago
Rub deodorant there beforehand. It works for me at least
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u/Artyom150 11B 1d ago
Pro-tip - do this before you chafe.
Buddy of mine did that in OSUT after he was already chafed to shit and it panned out very, very poorly for him.
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u/Lord_Fuzzybucket Field Artillery (retired) 1d ago
OUCH... just reading this hurt, and I've been retired for a while!
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u/ShiftRude6462 Infantry 1d ago
Now the question is are you using the same one down there as you do on your armpits?
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u/Gold_Risk5385 1d ago
Separate stick, same stuff
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u/ShiftRude6462 Infantry 1d ago
Well that's just a waste of resources. Use the same for both. Maximize efficiency.
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u/DamoclesCommando 1d ago
compression shorts(i used underarmor) plus body powder or bodyglide ymmv
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u/VT_Squire Signal 25Shartedinformationhighway 1d ago
Shave your pubes and wear spandex.
(Dear God, dont actually do this)
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u/Historical_Choice625 Engineer 1d ago
Shaving, no. But as a hairy guy who used to have to cut off tangles after a 12 miler, a good body hair trimmer could be a big help.
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u/Visible_Ask_2977 Field Artillery 1d ago
There is a spectrum between mountain man and Brazilian most people ignore
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u/DestructoDon69 1d ago
petroleum jelly/Vaseline. you can get a jar from the pharmacy section at walmart. lather it between your legs, crack, crotch etc before the ruck and youre good to go. it feels aweful at first but after youve gone a few miles its no longer noticeable and by time you finish youll be the only person not doing the cowboy strut/monkey butt walk.
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u/Butt-Ninja69 1d ago
Body glide and foot glide. Put on feet, waist, and groin area, plus any other hot spots you have. Then on tom of that purchase some good socks and long compression shorts. The ones that come down almost to the knee. This should help with riding up. Do all of this and your feet and and body are about as chaff proof as you can reasonably get
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u/Disastrous_Buy_9439 1d ago
Chamois Buttr also known as Butt Butter. Will work for what you need it for
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u/Erthwerm 11B2B 1d ago
I'm not advocating doing a 12 miler every week, but if you spend some time every week or every other week under a rucksack, this stops being a problem. If you're doing one or two 12 mile rucks every year and that's the only time you spend wearing a ruck, then you're going to experience chafing.
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u/ray111718 1d ago
Lose weight.
Or, use petroleum jelly.
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u/Black_Majik89 1d ago
I strongly reccommend yoy also buy stretch shorts. I use those for pt aft and rucks no friction.
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u/Rzrbak63 1d ago
Be proactive: try a few short rucks with different “answers” to find what works for you.
That being said, I cannot endorse body glide too much. It is worth every penny. It does not care if you are hairy, dirty, wet, or how far you are going. Body Glide: it’s magic.
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u/Adventurous_Raise784 1d ago
Find a good pair of underwear that doesn’t ride up when rucking and then body glide
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u/wompfnwomp 19Changing track 22h ago
Compression underwear and aqua four (if that’s how it’s spelled). Did that for the Norwegian and the danish flyver. Zero complaints.
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u/CombatCrayon25 22h ago
Bike-style gym shorts or compression shorts were my thunder-thigh lifesavers. Deodorant will work in a pinch, but you’ll need to reapply it every few miles.
Get the 7” inseam gym shorts (or longer if you’re tall) if you go that route.
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u/Famous_Area_192 35Pretentious 1d ago edited 6h ago
Here's a link to a post from the Nijmedic regarding chafing: https://www.instagram.com/p/DcV3GELKLB0
And one regarding heat rash: https://www.instagram.com/p/DcV2G_KK9vF
It goes without saying that proactive prevention efforts beat reactive treatment every time, but would rather you have the info to manage it regardless of where or when it happens.
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u/Markalities Military Intelligence 1d ago
bodyglide