NFS/AFS Leather Belt,Axe Pouch & Axe

[AndyD]

Hello,

I thought some of you may like to see this which I picked up yesterday.

It's a huge leather firemans belt,with the axe pouch and the axe!
Although it's undated,these were used during WW2,replacements were made from webbing,which was cheaper to produce during the war.

All comments appreciated!
Kind regards,
Andy
PS If anyone has a pic of a war time fireman in uniform wearing the leather belt,please let me know!

[AndyD]

2.You can see just how thick the belt is in this pic!

[AndyD]

3.The buckle.

[AndyD]

4.The pouch looks to have been on the belt for years,as there is a build up of crud,and scuff marks on the belt,hopefully,you can see this on the pic.

I left this as it was but as the rest of the belt was dry I applied a thin coat of lanolin.The buckle was also covered in verdigris which took a lot of cleaning off!

[AndyD]

no comments?

[DJT]

Andy,

This photo may be of interest to you?

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI....505063361&rd=1

[AndyD]

Thanks for the link Des

Well,I've learned something today,I think the axe pouch is post war

I burned a loose thread off,and guess what,yep,it melted!
If it melts it's modern thread I believe?

So,I tried it on my other axe pouch,this burned very slowly and produced a grey coloured ash,so I presume that this one is correct.

I know for definate that these pouches were in use before and during the war,as I mentioned before,examples issued during the war were made of webbing.

What i'm wondering is this,did the leather ones come back into use after world war 2,being manufactured with modern thread?

I suppose i'll never know,but if anyone out there has any theories on this,or can explain a little more about the burn test,i'd love to hear from you!

Kind regards,
Andy

[Adrian Stevenson]

Hi Andy, I think you have drawn the correct conclusions from your burn test.
I don't really know much at all about this kind of stuff but the Fire Service was/is a fairly traditional organisation and I suspect that the leather made items were reintroduced post war for maybe parade type wear?

Cheers, Ade.