Posted on May 29, 2014
On the military dogtag chain, is it still 365 beads on the long and 52 on the short?
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I know its beaded to prevent the enemy from strangling you. What is the history behind that, Who came up with that design and how long ago did that start? also how long ago was the dogtag invented?
Posted in these groups: 
Trivia
History (Major)
Trivia History (Major)
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 4
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Unfortunately the 'bead count' is simply urban legend. The small chain has approximately 40 and the large approximately 200, give or take. The story has been around for years in various forms, but has never been factual.
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I'm pretty sure it's so you can count days and weeks if you find yourself captured...pretty smart I think.
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Suspended Profile
Very long history: dog tags date back to at least Chinese 1851 Taiping revolt
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dog_tags
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Dog-tags/ [login to see] 7838?sk=info
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dog_tags
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Dog-tags/ [login to see] 7838?sk=info
CPL Paul Burke
thank you 1LT - im trying to find out when they implemented the bead idea and how it was thought out for the number -which are a myth - I knew I counted wrong lol
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SPC Vic Pownall
According to the Wikipedia page you linked, the earliest known use of dogtags is from the Spartans
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