The blast-proof boxers: They sound hilarious, but these Kevlar underpants could soon be saving British troops from the most feared injury of all

Well-protected: A model in the blast pants that could soon be saving troops in Afghanistan

They are certain to prompt sniggers back at barracks, but their purpose is deadly serious. British troops in Afghanistan may soon be using a new item of protective gear – blast-resistant underpants.

With more powerful roadside bombs causing a rise in the number of groin injuries and other lower body damage, protective pants could soon be an essential part of the soldier’s kit.

BCB International, a military accessories provider based in Cardiff, will soon be selling ‘blast boxers’ to the public for less than £60 a pair in knitted Kevlar.

The MoD is looking at a version of the pants which has a panel made of tightly-woven silk to protect the most vulnerable areas. Used in this way, silk is very strong yet more flexible than Kevlar.

RAF medics say they have witnessed an increase in injuries to this most sensitive area of the male anatomy. ‘We are seeing a lot of perineum [groin] injuries,’ said Sergeant Sonia Darbyshire.

Her colleague Corporal Tony Pugsley added: ‘Ninety per cent of the powerful improvised explosive device (IED) injuries now are ­double amputees, and the scrotum area is usually badly affected.’

The Kevlar underpants would not protect a soldier standing directly on a powerful IED but they could stop small fragments of a blast, according to bosses at BCB International.

‘I tested them by firing an air rifle against them,’ said BCB scientist Matthew Searle. ‘It matches the ballistic standards we needed.’

Soldiers welcomed the development. ‘You go out on patrol and you’ve got a helmet for your head and body armour for your torso but you’ve got nothing for your groin,’ said Corporal Simon Mercer, who recently returned from Afghanistan with the 1st Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment.

‘It’s forever in your mind. This would have a huge impact.’

The Kevlar underpants come in single or double layers, enough to stop a small piece of shrapnel from causing damage or severing the femoral artery, which carries blood from the legs to the heart.

Soldiers at the Defence Vehicle Dynamics Show in Millbrook, ­Bedfordshire, where the blast boxers were unveiled last week, said they would be willing to wear them. But once on operations back in Afghanistan, several said they might ‘forget’.

‘It’s hot and you don’t want to wear anything that’s going to impede your movement,’ said one soldier.

‘You would if your missus told you to put ’em on,’ retorted another.

Others are not so sure. ‘If I were to ask my husband, “Are you wearing your blast shorts today?” he’d probably say, “Of course” whether he was or not,’ said Julie McCarthy, chief executive of the Army Families Federation. ‘But we encourage anything to protect our soldiers.’

The Army has been reluctant to introduce the groin-protection flaps that hang from the waist of US Marines’ body armour, because they restrict movement.

Questions were raised about this policy last year following reports of a higher groin injury rate among British troops compared with the Americans in Helmand Province.

Veterans’ charity Combat Stress has relatively little experience of psychological damage to those with genital injuries because the average time lapse before combat stress is reported is 14 years and the use of IEDs against British troops has increased dramatically in the past four years.



But an American study of war wounds concluded that although groin injuries amounted to only two to three per cent of all US casualties in Vietnam, they had a long-lasting psychological impact.

‘They are the most feared of combat injuries,’ said the study. ‘For some, disfigurement of sexual organs is equivalent to the loss of all manly qualities.’

An MoD spokesman said: ‘We continually seek new ways to improve protection for our personnel on the front line. We are currently researching groin-protection options and striving to achieve the right balance between protection and manoeuvrability.’