Footlocker (luggage)

A footlocker is a rectangular cuboid container, secured by a padlock or combination lock, used by soldiers or other military personnel to store their belongings.

They generally follow similar size and designs, undergoing only minor cosmetic changes in color and materials (from 1⁄2-inch-thick (13 mm) plywood to 1+1⁄4-inch-thick (32 mm) plywood, depending on war material needs and/or desire to reduce weight and cost of manufacture and cost of shipping).

The corners are reinforced with straps of metal riveted to the locker, and had thick wooden handles on both sides for lifting by hand.

After World War II, the protruding wooden handles were replaced with collapsible metal ones, so that each footlocker occupied less space and could be packed together more tightly for transportation.

Depending on the nature of the troop movement, footlockers would be shipped when the military unit was deployed to a base.