You know the drill. Post fresh purchases, discuss the aesthetics and practical applications of camouflage etc.
CAMO/MILITARIA THREAD
Justin Hill
Jaxon Campbell
post a picture of the butterdish, I'd love to see the stamps
Jack Taylor
I need to locate the sample first. Got a good amount of actual Wehrmacht gear for you to check numbers on. It's just that digging into the Narnia closet goes a bit slow.
Jacob Watson
They're M1 liners for sure. Wartime Stahlhelm liners came in fixed sizes and had straight metal bands with attached chinstrap loops.
These postwar concoctions are adjustable, feature a curved metal band with no chinstrap loops and were originally mounted to a plastic harness thingy (which has been cut off from the ones you have, though some bits still remain).
Alexander Adams
These are German but postwar. I think they may have been used by DDR police forces.
Owen Cruz
Oh well. I may just as well go buy some proper repros then. Or maybe I'll give it a shot anyway if it means I can wear one of those helmets.
Anthony Carter
These are also postwar German. And they are weird. It is as if some backwater police station decided to prolong them with some extra bits and pieces.
Adam Barnes
those are west german border patrol
Metal hardware probably marked with 'OLC' ?
Robert Cook
Replica ammo pouches for the MP40. Not half bad quality actually. Probably best suited for an Afrikakorps getup.
Justin Ward
Austrian. German Y-straps are sewn in the back, never with pressed eyelets. At least the leather ones.
Jacob Jackson
Oh fuck they've gone cancerous again with yet another former user/new namefag posting his worthless shit tier ebay garbage.
Ryan Davis
Those are made by Sturm aka Miltec from Rottenburg am Neckar.
Wyatt Brooks
You are right; OLC in a diamond.
The other set has no markings on the metal but there's an M.D.I. stamp. The straps are extensively reworked, but they look more like an older pair was rebuilt for some other purpose. There are sewed-on parts removed and other things seemed to have been hammered in place. Weird.
Jose King
Really MDI? That's some weird shit you got there. I've never seen pressed eyelets even on super early DDR stuff. They seemed to me like austrian backpack y-straps.
OLC is Overhoff & Cie Lüdenscheid
Christian Moore
How can you possibly tell? Are they the only ones making them? You could well be right. I didn't immediately see any markings though.
Zachary Johnson
The sum of markings are M.d.I (in a square), I/58 (in a square), and underneath "Lieferungs-Beg 1828" but the ink of that line is blurry.
Levi Martinez
MdI = East German ministry of the interior, so they're police stuff.
When leather Y-straps were replaced with canvas ones in the mid-1960s, existing ones were given to fire departments who'd then modify them for their own specific uses.
Thomas Price
Sturm is the most common maker of these in europe. I've had a pair of those too at some point. They're marked MP40 u MP38 on the back strap most of the time, sometimes with TSR as well. It's a very particular look.
Yeah, super early Ministerium des Innern.
Alexander Hughes
also iirc I/58 would be produced in january 1958
Carson Ortiz
Final picture is a bunch of minor items; they are in the collection mainly to represent what a brotbeutel might contain.
Top left is a nice little German sewing kit; probably postwar and probably civilian. Below is a handful of genuine enough 1, 5 and 10 pfennigs. They are some cheapass zink type, but complete with eagle and swastika. In the middle is a Scho-ka-kola can, sadly empty, and postwar as the center indicates. Top right is an egg container for that relaxed breakfast in the field, and below a very small tin containing the collapsible drinking cup beside it to down your breakfast egg with a shot of vodka. The latter items were afaik never issued, but sold to the officer market probably before, during and after the war. I have a German ad for that stuff somewhere.
Brayden Reed
January to March 1958. DDR stuff is typically dated by quarter rather than individual month.
John Cox
Interesting. Thanks for clearing that up.
Levi Jenkins
Those are the ones. What kind of gear were they worn with? Some kind of backpack?
Nathan Flores
Mostly basic Wehrmacht-style gear.
Cooper Thompson
Nicholas James
Alexander Davis
Eli Cooper
Afternoon batch is ready. It's all floatsam and jetsam but hey.
Starting off with a heap of insignia from eastern Europe. The shoulder straps on the left are from Hungary. The elephant one is a drawing I got from a collector buddy a long time ago who liked making these as place fillers. Cheers, wherever you are. There's an eagle which I think is Polish, a tricolor cap badge from Hungary, two cavalry badges and a shoulder shield that probably are western German, two Austrian cap badges, and the rest is all DDR.
Mason Thomas
These were sold me as ground finds from Germany. Some safety razors, some whistles, and a clip for Mauser. No markings have survived. I like relics; they have lost their functionality but it is as if they tell stories from a distant time, in a way that stuff that looks newly manufactured and unused cannot.
Leo Ortiz
Two connector straps vital to the use of English P37 equipment. These have been painted, before or after they were acquired by the Norwegian army for MP use. Markings are too blurred to be read.
Nathaniel Powell
More English P37 gear. A canteen carrier made by MECO in 1942. There are at least four versions of these known from WW2; this later model was a lot easier to access because you could slide the canteen right out for a drink.
Nicholas Murphy
Also this is very faintly blue, even if the picture looks more like khaki, so the users would be RAF ground crews.
Camden Cox
A German postwar fuse box. I don't know for what equipment. It's just one big room inside so I suspect there was some kind of cushion with rooms for each type of fuse.
Jaxon Ortiz
Pretty, but a bit crude. Hungarian box for I assume medals and such. The lid has hinges but no lock so it is not for keeping in a pocket.
Benjamin Lewis
Mystery ammo pouches made from rubberized fabric. Sturdy and I think Russian, but unmarked. But for what ammo? I see these sold for SKS but they seem really small for that purpose. Lose rounds maybe? I would like to know more.
Matthew Williams
This is so crude, it's possibly orc made. Even a resistance fighter should be ashamed of having this on his belt. The holster is rougly cut, vaguely in German style, and the 'belt strap' in the back is just two vertical slits cut into the leather with maybe a sharp rock.
Ryan Reyes
I bought these hoping they would be English Army ww2 issue, but neither has any stampings. The one to the left is equally shiny on the inside while the other is strangely rough and might well be closer to ww1.
Jonathan Barnes
This is a Norwegian bread bag, from back when the soldier still got half a load delivered into his hand from the field kitchen. White cord so I assume this is postwar.
Gavin Gomez
The Norwegian army is the only one on the planet, afaik, that got the idea to paint leather green. It is not a pretty sight. Even less so in this not too matching pair of postwar-made leather mag pouches for Sten and MP40 use.
Eli Young
Half his load
Evan Foster
Rounding off with a Swedish canteen of WW2 vintage. Such canteens were given to the Norwegian police troops trained in 'secret' in Sweden during the war and this could be one of them.
Carter Rivera
Spelling mistake for loaf, but I like the way you think.
Joseph Walker
Haven't posted in a while, got some police shit in recently, nothing special but you guys might appreciate it
I got 3 SAP camouflage shirts dated 1989. First two are standard but the third has an interesting palette
Kayden Anderson
Other standard one. These are all for office use AFAIK so they have very thin material
Connor Watson
This sample has a weird marking though. Normal Swedish army issue usually had the triple crown mark and the secret army got issued lots of old stock, but some items like another canteen I have has the Norwegian State Equipment marking that was only ever used for that secret army. Here there's a third variation and I don't know what it means. M for Mordor?
Leo Jenkins
This one shows just how much the quality differed back in the day. The picture doesn't really do it justice, it's very blatantly a Grey or light blue background and the brown bits have a lot of red in them
Jaxon Lewis
Logan Martin
The eagle is West German. They were used on BGS (Bundesgrenzschutz, or Federal Border Guard) caps until the mid-1970s.
Supposedly, operators of the GSG-9, Germany's elite counter-terrorist unit still wear them, albeit on berets.
Camden Lopez
That's cool! I was not aware the eagle was still in use on German caps after ww2.
I'm probably going to trade away my postwar German stuff eventually. My collection scope is now Norwegian gear of all periods + foreign forces that fought in Norway 1940-45 + at least one set of newer US gear and one set of commie gear. There's actually a US Marines unit training in Norway right now, which pisses the far lefties off to no end and put a smile on my face every time I think about that.
Juan King
>you can copy me, just change it a little bit
Alexander Hernandez
I finally got in my german splinter field smock yesterday
Luke Clark
I am sorry, I don't understand.
Jeremiah Martinez
Germany using eagles after ww2
Wyatt Brown
BGS had the most "fascist" look of all West German agencies. Their uniform was basically a copy of pre-WW2 Wehrmacht garb, just with an open collar and different insignia.
Angel Gomez
Oh okay, gotcha.
Must have been really weird to sign up for those first postwar German units. Some of them must have come straight from Hitlerjugend - and where did they find officers without Wehrmacht experience? "What do you mean we can't practice with live ammunition?"
Oliver Price
Amazing photo. What weapon are those ammo pouches for?
Brandon Anderson
G1 (FN FAL)
Asher Williams
Random bumping with a picture from the Norwegian Home Guard. Not a lot of Norwegian military gear can be said to be specific to the Home Guard as they have existed mostly on hand-me-downs from the regular army.
Right after WW2 we got two new, almost separate armies. The regular army was based somewhat on the pre-1940 army, somewhat on the police troops that came from Sweden in 1945 but were immediately disbanded on account of an epidemic of peace, and somewhat on the English army who had been crucial in ponying up the new Norwegian occupation force headed to Germany. The Home Guard was literally rooted in the resistance forces active inside Norway itself during the war, and was in every way a guerilla forces. Its mission was to piss in the eye of the Soviet invasion that could come any day, then run as fuck and piss again from a different angle. The HG had in practice a different political stance from the regular army and competed with the army for the scarce new gear and weapons that had to be gotten from somewhere. It was a very district organized system and it was important that one area was going to fight on even if many other districts fell. It attracted every last redneck in the country and at one point the HG was five times as large as the regular army, even if they were still armed with k98s and MP40s when the regular army was hauling G3s.
So the Home
Ayden Robinson
And I forgot the damn picture.
Jacob Lopez
A picture that definitely shows the classic Home Guard spirit. It is a much smaller force these days and much better organized, trained and equipped. It's getting so similar to the regular army that I am not convinced the system will last very much longer, but it's probably political suicide for a while yet to make that happen.
Noah Moore
I just can't get into pics can I. This is what I had in mind.
Elijah Russell
They fit 3 or 4 10-round SKS strippers clips, these were issued with early post-war Soviet webgear and the fact that these are black might indicate they were for Soviet naval infantry.
Black was the color given to a lot of Soviet naval infantry webgear and backpacks, most notable being the 3-mag AK belt pouches and veshmeshok.
Logan Brooks
>still armed with k98s and MP40s when the regular army was hauling G3
I'd take a 98 over a G3 any day. The bolt handle is in a sensible place and there's zero doubt whether or not you have to work it after every shot. With a G3, there's a 50% chance that it won't cycle, forcing you to tug on that awkwardly-placed charging handle.
Oliver Peterson
Evan Sanchez
We had G3s when I was in the service. We used them in -30 and I don't recall us having any particular issues with real ammo. Memory is a fickle bitch, mind you. They wouldn't cycle with the practice ammo of the day unless someone fucked with the barrel end and that truly was a court martial level offence. But as a workhorse it fulfilled its expectations for 40 years. We of course only had H&K rifles.
Xavier Gray
I have something similar, probably canadian. Picked it up in an antique shop. Found it in a bag full of calvary shit so I figured it might be related to that.
Jayden Bailey
That is a BEAUTIFUL English Webley holster. WW1 vintage or earlier.
Jose Myers
Well, could be Canadian made to UK spec of course. The one I have is made in the fairly unique German style of an open, unsewed side flap. You see that on P38 holsters in particular.
Isaiah Brooks
You're shitting me. for real? I got the thing for like, 10$.
William Powell
The flashlight is authentic from the US army. Same goes for the radio earphones. They fit well with the helmet.
Noah Wilson
Isaiah Flores
I got curious and went through the entire Bender's "Military holsters of ww2" which also includes a lot of ww1 holsters. Not one of these holsters match your sample. Which likely means it predates ww1. It reminds me both of US and English early revolver holsters but the flap is different and the US used to be quite eager to show the "US" caption loud and clear. Whatever it actually is, it's worth more than you paid for it.
Brandon Sanchez
Looks like a nice even dying job. Why did you do it?
Henry Walker
Suddenly my find became alot more interesting. Thanks, I only just started looking into militaria. Could you kindly share the link though?
Easton Long
I only have the book in paper. If it is online I do not know where to find it. Sorry.
There's a couple of clues as to why this is a quite old holster. The first is the leather, which is thick and brittle. The second is the brass button; the tarnish doesn't guarantee age but it means real brass was used and it's a long time since that was out of fashion. I'd be going over that holster with a magnifying glass and check for any stampings on leather or metal.
Jace Wright
I had some green dye left over from from another project, and a Swedish tunic that I got for a few EUR. Figured I'd give it a go just to see what happens.
Tyler Rodriguez
No problem, I just like reading.
I took a closer look, but couldn't find any markings at all. Its very worn though, the silhouette of the pistol that used to be inside is noticible, it looks to be about 15cm ~ long.
If it's important I found it in a big bag of calvary related gear.
Nicholas Ortiz
I was playing with the idea once of making a cosplay-level Imperial German set. M1910 feldrock or M1915 bluse. That tunic you colored could in theory work for that. Not enough to fool a collector or historian but among costume freaks it'd be close enough. With a gas mask and spike helmet on they'd get the idea.
Brandon Morales
Currently looking for east german uniforms, but i am a big boi and cant find the ÜG-56 one. Besides that my soviet ww2 machine gunner kit and a soviet sniper kit are almost ready.
Justin Rogers
I wouldn't mind seeing the backside. But I'm pretty sure that's the silhouette of a revolver, not a pistol
Julian Russell
I could get my hands on a parade uniform for a lieutenant of the air force. Also comes with a Strichtarn uniform, pants and boots. Plus various documents and medals of the same person.
Samuel James
Er, yeah thats what i meant. Im very green
Here you go
Juan Hernandez
I've also considered that, but reworking the cuffs and adding extra buttonholes would be a ginormous pain in the ol' backside. Turning a Swedish tunic into an M15 (or a WW2 era Fliegerbluse) is far more feasible.
James Gomez
Bwahaha. Suddenly struck me. Cavalry holster. Brown. Cananda. Maybe this isn't an army holster.
Adrian Powell
Heh, good ol' mounties. I would guess this is NorthWest Mounted Police issue, maybe 1890 of 1900~
Jack Anderson
Is a Best Korean uniform (jacket, pants, cap) worth spending 210 bucks plus shipping on?
Brandon Brooks
Evening batch is ready. Mostly Russian headgear this time.
Starting out with something different though. These three are excercise explosives. Left one is a cast iron Mills grenade. The middle one came from a seller in Hungary. The right one is Norwegian-made, but I am not convinced it is supposed to be a grenade. Perhaps a mine fuse insert?
Josiah Hernandez
I got these in a batch of stuff and they are supposedly DDR ones for officers? Color matched but no reference book of mine goes into this level of detail.
Juan Reyes
All hats from here, and the only non-Russian one. A nice Australian patrol hat (I think that's the word) in a size any pygmy would appreciate.
Jason Reyes
Russian Budenovka cap, of a type last seen in action during the Winter War. I wish I could remember why I bought this replica.
Henry Mitchell
Lots of dirty round eyes in here....
Christian Hernandez
Classic Russian army "pilotka" side cap as seen in every ww2 movie with Russians. This sample is from the less austere 1950s but you wouldn't believe it from the quality of the fabric.
Lucas Mitchell
More like a dildo.
John Ortiz
The Russian had their own pilotka. This sample has the white NCO piping.
Ayden Morgan
Russian army officers had visor caps to differentiate them from their equal comrades, the subordinate scum known as the other ranks. I think this cap is for an NCO in a motorized infantry, but I have not looked it up recently.
Zachary Harris
I can match the paratrooper jumping cap at least. But whose cap badge is the correct one? Both?
Jackson Martinez
Since Russian navy NCOs are superior to their army colleagues, no visor is necessary. Actually I think this cap is sourced to a Naval Academy.
Anthony Ross
This one is tricky. It's definitely a Russian beret, and that looks like a wing, but it isn't a paratrooper one iirc.
Chase Gomez
Ossis used traditional button-on suspenders (and later a version with proprietary connecting bits) rather than the clip-on style.
That one's for a conscript in a tank or artillery unit. Infantry caps had red bands to match the piping.
Jaxon Morales
The good old ushanka winter cap was (is?) made in two black versions for the navy; a faux fur version for the underlings and a real ful one for the officerocracy. This is the first type.