In the post yesterday... An early Manschaften belt with the hook and eye arrangement that was common in the WH and in the BW.
-
-
Of note is the fact that the leather is pebbled and not smooth as in later belts. In general the leather is much thicker and VERY stiff. It took copious amounts of leather oil and polish to make it supple enough to buckle it again. The stitching for the adjustable slip on to which the buckle hooks had come completely undone, so I had to redo it by hand stitch by stitch...
At some stage it must have been nailed flat 
perhaps for display purposes in a shop...
This must really be a very early belt because of that half moon shaped stitching that holds the hook end. I have noticed in photographs that there also is a similar belt where the hook end is held by rivets as in later belts which normally have the "eye" at that end. Here are the two belts: early (above) and late (below)
-
Matteo,
Nice display of an early and late belt. Really good reference.
Cheers,
GordonComment
-
In a few days from now I'll get a package with an old and new belt buckle
(no belt it self though), but I'll post some pictures when they arrive.Comment
-
Matteo -
I agree that the WWII style stitching on the catch is only found on very early belts.
From what I've seen, that technique was not used beyond 1961, and was perhaps discontinued as early as 1959. Interestingly, that same technique was also used on the very early web belts.
The topic of early vs late leather is worthy of its own thread.Comment
-
@ Rev Do you have such an early web belt or a picture of it?
fauliComment
-
Fauli -
Yes, I have 1 web belt with that kind of stitching. I'll post a photo when I have a chance.Comment
-
I am not 100% clear: do you refer to the half moon stitching or to the hook end being on the left hand side of the belt when you buckle it? Is it just the half moon stitching that is discontinued after 1961 after that, rivets fixing the metal to the leather? That would be my understanding.Originally posted by Rev462 View Post
Yes I have seen a grey webbing belt with this hook on the left side. Trouble with these things is that there is a be-nighted period in the later 1960s when soldiers would have been issued ONLY with the grey webbing belt, which was then to be used for parade too... Then someone must have seen the light, and reversed the policy...
Comment
-
Interesting to note the different arrangement to adjust the length...
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/DDR-NVA-Webbin...QQcmdZViewItemComment
-
Originally posted by iannima View Post
Matteo -
Yes, I am referring to the folded over, stitched down flap of leather that holds the hook in place. This was eliminated early on and replaced with the hook that is riveted onto the end of the belt.
This practice continued until about 1965, when the leather belt was apparently eliminated altogether and the web belt was used for service & parade.
Then around 1970, they brought the leather belt back - this time with the hook in back of the buckle and the catch on the other end of the belt.Comment
-
Some Years ago I had some EM & Off. Belts with WH and KVP Stamping together. They came from the Babelsberg Movieprops Depot.
Some also had the DEFA Stamp on it. I also have some converted NVA, VP and KVP ones, made up as HJ ones for the "Der kleine Trompeter" Movie from the same source.
For shame, they drilled 3 holes put a negative on and filled it with liquid plastic so I have about 20 KVP, 45 VP and about 250 NVA for the Scrap.
NicoComment
-
hi all!
today i got a package with fine nva, kampfgruppen and other stuff and in there, was something i did not expect
when i'm back home with my camera, i'll show you some pictures of this type of web belt i've never seen before!
so stay tuned for the pictures!
fauliComment
-
hi!
now i'm back home and i did some pictures of this very early, must be 1st type, web belt. i did a photo with all three types of web belts, that did exist. the first one is the one i got today. the hook is wraped around with the web and sewn, just like the first type EM belt in post #1. i have never seen this before on a web belt.
i hope the pictures are not too big and you like them?!
Comment
-
You must be joking!Originally posted by Fauli_NVA View Posti hope the pictures are not too big and you like them?!
They are lovely!! Congratulations on such a nice collection and thank you for sharing. A very useful photographic reference.
Comment
-
Yesterday I went to an exhibition held annually here in Milan, and found this leather belt. I noticed that the hook and catch were reversed, but I didn't pay attention to the stitching, it was just back home, thanks to a couple of mails exchanged with iannima, that I found out what it really is, a VERY early NVA belt. I assume the stamps are fakes... if this is the case, do you have any idea how could I possibly remove them?
DrugoComment
Comment