One of the first things I learned as a new soldier was how to lace my boots. I remember sitting there with a boot tucked between my legs and holding the ends of a long black boot lace in each hand and asking the guy next to me if there was a “right” way to lace my boots.
“Yeah, left over right, the whole way up.”
Left over right, the whole way up.
Why?
Because “we always start with our left” or something like that.
For over a decade I have always laced my boots this way, left over right until complete. When I ask others what the “right” way to lace my boots is, they confirm that it is left over right.
It turns out this is another myth. DA PAM 670-1 says nothing about how the laces are to be crossed, only that:
According to the regulation, there is nothing wrong with going right over left, or going back and forth between the two, or – unfathomable – some kind of random design.
All this said, I’ve always done it left over right and I like the way it looks.
Enjoy the posts? Subscribe to the monthly newsletter.
Carrying the Gun 