Hello
Pleased yours opinion on this nice Tropical NCO field cap . Thank you
Mathieu
Pleased yours opinion on this nice Tropical NCO field cap . Thank you
Mathieu
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picsComment
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PicsComment
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Original insignia, can't say the same for the cap...Comment
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Hello
Yes i agree ; insigns are original .
But i don't know for the cap ??
MathieuComment
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The cap is fake.Comment
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Besides the absence of any line of stitching that should be visible on the visor's underside, the gentle "apex/ point" of the false scalloped side panel that is more akin to a Luft &/or KM style tropical billed cap, the presence of only one ventilation grommet on each side, and the unlikely (albeit, not absolute) absence of a RB# on a '43 dated M40 tropical hat:
What exactly are the other factors present that suggest this hat is a reproduction?
(feel free to 'PM' me if such info is guarded in order to thwart any future efforts by con-artists.)
Admittedly, I am unaware of the particular maker mark (or perhaps it is just my poor eyesight made worse by my small I-Phone screen). Also, I don't recall EVER seeing an original Heer M40 in this configuration, much less a reproduction that also features original insignia & seemingly wartime grommets (though curiously incorrect in number).
Still, I remained hesitant to personally condemn this piece without consideration of the possibility that the aforementioned 'peculiarities' found on this particular hat (with special emphasis placed upon the number of ventilation grommets present) could have &/or have been seen on other mid/ late war M40s from this &/or other obscure makers. For example, a M43 field cap typically should not have any air grommets, yet many M42 field caps were altered so well that the 'end result' would suggest a M43 style field cap, which was not intended as a Bergmuetze, had indeed left the factory with an air grommet on each side. Of course a Bergmuetze can have one OR two grommets on each side, and I've seen photos of DAK Panzer soldiers apparently wearing tropical M34 overseas hats with TWO air grommets on each side (only to later learn these were actually factory-made M40s that had the visors removed by their owners).
In conclusion, rest assured I would not be inclined to buy this hat "as an original" for my personal collection, nor am I even suggesting there IS a chance the hat featured is original. Instead, I just want to see if I may have missed anything in my assessment/ review of this particular specimen, AND, if any of the above-mentioned 'peculiarities' as found on this hat have EVER been observed on Original M40s?Comment
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Agree with the other opinions, its a Repo cap
Paris Gun does makes a good point about the ventilation grommets , certainly close to what an original should look like
Mark SComment
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The number of air vents/grommets is not an indicator in itself. Original Tropical sidecaps have been found in the beehive cache with one, two or no grommets at all. Same for M40's, it the type used that is the tell.....these are close with one distinct difference.Comment
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TIM:Originally posted by Tim OK View Post
I agree completely that the number of grommets on a M40 (rather than a side cap, even though I realize I had mentioned such in my 1st post) isn't necessarily THE determining factor for the reasons you stated, since I once had an EARLY M40 that was a '40 dated piece without any grommets. Yet, every M40 dated '43 (as well as every other date besides "1940") that I've ever seen/ handled/ owned did have two grommets initially installed on each side; it is that 'fact' that has prompted my curiousity & this inquiry.
Although I believe I now notice what 'error' is noted with the grommets on the current piece, would you kindly shoot me a PM nonetheless so that I'm certain?
Lastly, if the present hat had each of the characteristics I initially mentioned in my first post, including the presence of just one 'Correct Style' grommet (and found on a larger-sized hat instead of a tiny head size where the application of just one grommet could be justifiable), would your opinion be different? Have you even seen a M40, in a 'larger size', that had just one factory-applied grommet; if so, what was the date of the hat's manufacturer?
Again, I ask merely because it's an issue that I never gave any consideration to before today; also, for the record: I DO NOT OWN THIS HAT.
Thanks My Friend!Comment
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Always a pleasure, the M40's with only one grommet or none at all were rbn# with sweatbands & dated '43. They are here on the Forum somewhere. NZMark owns one without any grommets if I remember. The side caps found with two grommets per side do not have a makers mark but am certain that they are Clemens Wagner made. Same with some of the sidecaps that have no grommets which were both found in the beehives. Take a good look at the washers
Cheers
TimComment
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Perhaps the most obvious deficiency is that one should expect to find a sweatband in a '43 dated cap.Comment
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