M40 Tropical 'DAK' cap for review - Mutzen-Fabrik Dressen, Rheydt (F 42)

[barry1954]

Nice cap Paul. To add to the thread here are some pictures of my cap which is well worn and had its insignia removed but still has all of the zig zag stitching present.

Barry

[Tim O'Keefe]

Nice cap. This is another maker that inverted the washers on the grommets. Is there a trend or pattern here

[dakcollector]

Congratulations, Paul. I agree with previous comments. It's 100% original with a unique heavy zigzag application of the insignia... still a one looker with nice character.

[90th Light]

This heavy-handed zig-zag stitching going in the wrong places and the eagle not being straight is often the result of a new machinist being trained or the wrong setting/ gauge of thread to the sewing machine, again often because of untrained or training factory workers.

Here is another example of a poorly applied, heavy-handed zig-zag from an untrained/ training machinist on a LAGO made cap,

Chris

[kammo man]

Where are you getting the training information from ?



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[B. N. Singer]

Where are you getting the training information from ?

Proven as fact, likely not, however, I could accept that as a reasonable working hypothesis.

B. N. Singer

[BenVK]

Or could have been sewn by some kid in a ghetto workshop, poor sod.

[PaulW]

Nice cap Paul. To add to the thread here are some pictures of my cap which is well worn and had its insignia removed but still has all of the zig zag stitching present.

Barry

Very nice Barry! One of the reasons I was seeking a Dressen is because their stamps seem to be very clear, stronger and perhaps more resistant to fade - even when well worn. I'm 'a sucker' for manufacturing stamps as I think it adds another layer of interest to the item.

Chris - nice to see another example of a tight zig-zag on a cap eagle, thanks for posting that.

Thanks to all for taking a look.

(Ben, thanks for reminding us of the context in which such caps were made, hard times indeed.)

Best regards, Paul

[BenVK]

No problem Paul,
I think it's important to remember that huge quantities of what we collect were made in the ghettos, including tropical kit.

[kammo man]

If you have ever worked in a sewing factory you will see sloppy sewing coming from the machine of even the most experienced worker.
Last hat before lunchtime-last hat on a workday.
To broadly state child -slave labor is an easy way out.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[BenVK]

I was going to say friday afternoon job but the cap in question is more like a saturday morning with a massive hangover job!

[kammo man]

That’s right Ben


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Mike Davis]

Another Dressen made example with typical application

[PaulW]

Another Dressen made example with typical application

Now that looks like a nice cap!

Note also it has the same eagle type as the subject cap of this thread.

Regards, Paul

[PaulW]

I have now taken some of my own pictures after receiving the cap recently.

My initial thoughts are that the cap is not as 'Tan' in hue as I had been expecting. The sweatband is what I'd call a true Tan, if you note pictures where the sweatband is in view you can see that the rest of the cap has a relatively more green hue - although it is noticeably not as green as the my other M40 tropical cap made by F. Weissbach (Glauchau).

(More pictures of this cap here:- http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru....php?t=1016832 )

Note that as well as the sweatband sewing crossing the cockade, the peak sewing line also (marginally) crosses the bottom of the cockade. The sewing style is the same as that of the eagle, as is the finish, like the eagle the end of the cockade sewing does not line up very neatly!

Regarding wear I would say it's been worn, although not that much. There is some dirt and wear particularly at the front of the sweatband and some abrasion to the exterior of the cap, e.g the back of the cap where there is also some dirt.

Overall it has the feel of a well made cap made with a thick cloth. The cloth type is of the type normally seen with Dressen caps according to a recent study of these caps by WAF member Lodsworth, using his collector nomenclature - "Cloth type G3" (i.e Herringbone twill). Dressen was based in Rheydt, a 'Textile town' - perhaps it was a locally manufactured cloth?

I have also added some closer pictures of the ventilation grommets showing the 'inverted' application of the internal washer, typical of this maker.

Note in the following sequence, the last three pictures are taken in daylight without a flash, the colour is less tan when seen in this natural light.

Regards, Paul