Non combatant EK2

[Das Reich]

hi guys

i am looking in completing an ek2 display and i have been keeping an eye on this one. i have seen a lot of discussion in regards to these but basically the marrying the ribbon to the medal. so what do you guys think of this one.

[Das Reich]

what is the deal with the attachment ring? it looks so straight on the reverse picture and completely out of line in the reverse one.

[Biro]

... I have seen a lot of discussion in regards to these but basically the marrying the ribbon to the medal....

That's it in a nutshell really - the problem with any non-com in this single format (as you've obviously read) is obvious.

You can buy 'Nichtkaempferband' by the meter on any number of online auction sites and you have absolutely no guarantee any cross and ribbon started life together, or if the ribbon is even real non-com stock.

I you want any sort of peace of mind, wait for a medalbar with mounted non-com. It's still not absolute, but it's a damn site more reassuring than what you illustrate above.

[Das Reich]

i do realize that. a couple of questions arise from your post biro. is the ribbon good? if i compare it to tr items, which is what im familiar with, it looks good. the marriage of the ribbon with the medal im not too concern. i would like to get it as a display item if i could get it for a good price.

[Steve Campbell]

I'm in the same boat. I have a display of Imperial and TR EK's and want a non combatant ribbon for display purposes. It must be genuine of course. Where can I find one? One on a medal bar would be very nice also. I think it would look great next to a standard Imperial ribbon.

[PaulR]

Hi Das Reich,

Based upon what I can see, the componets look great(period) to me. If the price is good(price of a simular Combattant EK2), grab it. It does make for a good display piece

I know that there is a lot of debate on just how valid black lights are in authenticating cloth. I have learned that ribbon(both from ribbon bars and medals) was made of silk up to and through WW2. With this being the case, it should NEVER glow under a black light.

If I am wrong, please do chime in here.

[Das Reich]

as i said, im more familiar with tr items. the debate is more inclined towards the fact that at the end of ww2 some components were already been added to cloth items that might reflect under black light. i for one do the black light test, and for double wammy confirmation, i do the burn test. so far i have not heard anyone challenge the latter.

[PaulR]

Cloth items... there is a chance it could glow.

Ribbons should never glow(unless they have been messed with....for example, cleaned or scrubbed with modern detergent), as they are made of silk. BTW, they did make this ribbon in the WW2 time era for ribbon and medal bars.

I do not do the burn test, as I am afraid of damaging the item(trying to cut a piece off).

I do like the look of your ribbon, from the photos you posted.

[gregM]

Other than the obvious things already mentioned what about the simple test of how it looks. For example, in the example posted-------
The first thing that strikes me is how clean and white it is. Very clean
for bing 90 plus years old. The other thing that I notice is that there are no folds or rinkles in the ribbon. The cross was never atcully suspended
in the riboon.

Of coarse that does not mean that the ribbon and cross have not been stored seperately. I know a lot of cased examples have the cross stored
on top of a length of ribbon but never actually assembled.

Just something to think about.

Greg