# What are these soldiers wearing on their faces? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 30, 2007, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-these-soldiers-wearing-on-their-faces/390058 "2007-01-30T02:24:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2007, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-these-soldiers-wearing-on-their-faces/390058/1 "2007-01-30T02:24:14Z")
I was browsing on Wikipedia and came across this photo of some [Gurkhas.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Gurkhas_NavyAndArmyIllustrated1896.jpg) But I don’t understand what is causing that line across their faces. It almost looks like they took the chin strap for their hats and stretched it right under their lower lips instead of under their chins. I couldn’t find any other pictures of Gurkhas that looked like this. What’s going on here? ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2007, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-these-soldiers-wearing-on-their-faces/390058/2 "2007-01-30T02:37:03Z")
Chin straps. They were originally designed to keep the hat on in the wind, but some military units changed them so instead of going under the chin, they went across it. I guess it managed to keep the hat on, while giving the soldiers a different look. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2007, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-these-soldiers-wearing-on-their-faces/390058/3 "2007-01-30T03:22:21Z")
[Some sad day soon, all we’ll do on this board is link to previous threads.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=260566&highlight=chinstrap)