Salty Shoulder Boards

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I pulled these out of deep storage, where they have been since long before anyone dreamed of faking anything but truly rare shoulder boards. They are an inteesting study in that they feature classic waringin signs of repro boards. The stitching on the Tresse is so sloppy that there is a full 1/2" spot where the stitiching has missed it entirely. The Tresse at the base of each board looks a little newer than the rest, and this Tresse has some black threads poking out. There is also some extra black stsitching on the back of one board along the piping. And both boards have the zigzag stitched salvaged material look that virtually every repro board these days has.

These dogs have been through hell - pips have been removed, and a section of Tresse has been roughly tacked down with a zigzag stitch after getting caught on something. Lots of moth nibbles, too.

If these were SS boards, I think they would be declared repros with unrealistically overdone distressing visited on them. Anyway, I thought I would pt these out for comment.

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[Glenn McInnes]

I think that they are original Heer Panzer straps. Are the tops black or dark green?




Glenn

[Jens Thune]

I like them, and I dont see any classic warning signs.. they look like an honest pair to me.

Jens

[checkit]

They are artillery piped with a green body. I just never really gave them a good look before, and was surprised at how roughly they were made.

[Glenn McInnes]

Ah,I was a bit unsure about the piping colour....Looked Artillery when I first viewed them but then thought they were just a darker pink.






Glenn

[John Huff]

I pulled these out of deep storage, where they have been since long before anyone dreamed of faking anything but truly rare shoulder boards. .

I like these boards a lot but I also have aquired the "healthy" attittude that EVERYTHING has been faked since May 6th, 1945.

[gijoe002us]

Those are actually really nice straps. You are correct on the scrap stitching though, alot of the repros have it, but still alot of originals as well. There are usually a few small differences between the two. The stitching on the repros tends to be overexagerated, either too loose or too tight. There are also a few other characteristics that some originals and repros can share in common as you know.

Nice straps!!

Joe

[checkit]

Looking more closely, what I thought was sloppy stitiching in applying the Trese is more likely the Tresse being torn loose from the stitching. And then there is a spot where the Tresse was torn and crudely darned, and then the darning stitches got worn down. This guy obviously wore these straps in combat and there was a lot of wear and abuse of the shoulder boards - would be interesting to know exactly what he carried around that did that.

I've always been fascinated by wear patterns to combat uniforms and gear. I had a splinter smock that had a lot of wear to the shoulders, and I liked to imagine the guy shouldering a machine gun month after month.