Luftwaffe Shoulder straps 1-0 one more time

[Jan B]

Hello to John and others,

Here is a selection of mine, although I'm not a strap/board collector I do need them for tunics, all are from pairs.

I have to agree with Dave on this matter, as far as non tailored slip-on straps, they were made in different lenghts/wides, but I don't think that we can have a guideline in them...they are indeed like "snow flakes"

from left to the right : a early-war one, a mid/late war one, and another early-war inf. strap... the middle one came from a M40 (!) and the shorter left one from a geatcoat!

[Jan B]

here are some pre/early ones...all from pairs too. The Inf NCO strap is the largest. The pre-war Sani Feldwebel strap is the widest

Cheers
Jan

[John Hodgin]

as far as non tailored slip-on straps, they were made in different lenghts/wides, but I don't think that we can have a guideline in them...they are indeed like "snow flakes"

Hi Jan,
I think we do have a basic guideline. I have a rikker mount full of Luftwaffe straps. In it I have two pairs of long ones, and only one pair of short ones, all the rest are medium. The mediums are all the same length. I have a similar mount of tropical straps with the same situation. I think these are like jump helmet shells, three sizes, and like jump helmet shells one sees far more mediums than small or large.....I also think it is significant that the three I posted differ by exactly one cm each.
Very best,
John

[Jan B]

Hi John, correct, I should have been more clear, what I wanted to say is that IMO there are no real guidelines to the fact that smaller soldiers had shorter straps and visa versa ( for non-tailored ones), like Jos stated.

Offcourse I agree with you that there are different sizes in non-tailored slip-on's.
That was the reason I posted mine. Back then , especially for O.R., this was rather of no importance. The short inf one ( first pic, on the right) was found on a Greatcoat ( attic-find) of a large size... The straps are really short!

It was just an observation I made, not an expert at all at straps and boards, thanks for the information!

Cheers
Jan

[John Hodgin]

Right Jan,

Interesting history on the great coat. I don't know, but suspect that great coat straps were the same as tunic straps......
Best,
John

[John Hodgin]

Would like us to keep discussing straps. I really like collecting them, just as cut insignia, they offer insight into materials and construction of uniforms.

Here is a worn set of Feldwebel of flight. I like the subdued tresse, less common (in my collection) than the metallic silver tresse.

[Willi Z.]

Here are a few more, all from matched sets.

[Willi Z.]

A very late, and uncommon, set of straps.

[Willi Z.]

Subdued tress alongside the standard type.

[John Hodgin]

Unusual late war straps Willi, hard to find.

Here is another unusal feature, note the color of the backing of this one. Has anyone else seen Luft. straps backed with brown before?

[John Hodgin]

Picked these up last week from a dealer's site. Was pleasantly surprised with them as the color and detail on the site's photos were not all that clear.

[Luft 76]

John
Never seen brown color on reverse side !
Here is one of mine : a pionier Fw, found in the field of Normandy

[John Hodgin]

Very nice strap 76.

Here is an interesting feature of the straps from post 26. The green lining of the strap's tongue signifies nothing, but looks great on the tunic.

[Willi Z.]

Great straps John! Very cool! They do look nice on your new find...

[matmil]

Hi guys:
here is a small P/u from the Pomona show, a near match, but especially like the blue linen type fabric on the one tongue ...sorry bout the flash!
maty