Waffen-SS HBT Dot Camo Uniform in Detail

[brooksbz]

The numbers 117 and 627 are found in wraps.

[Remy Spezzano]

Close up shots showing the front left bottom pocket.

[Remy Spezzano]

Close up showing the pocket flap and the reverse side.
Note the type of material used for the lining underneath.

[Scott A. Hess]

Lovely..the cloth and condition would be quite difficult if not impossible to upgrade...there are a lot of very fine unissued dot tunic sets out there..but seeing them is always a treat..more please!

[Remy Spezzano]

This area of the tunic clearly shows the five primary colors used to make up this unique camouflage pattern.
This is a very important thing to look for when trying to determine if a uniform is real or not.

Since the 1970s there have been various attempts to reproduce this pattern. Mainly used to make reproduction uniforms for the WWII re-enactor market in the USA.

Almost all of the reproduction material produced during that time period had only 4 colors present and not 5. But most people never factor this into play when examining the item.

A simple rule to use is "Five fingers on the hand equals five colors in the pattern."
The key thing to remember is to always count the colors! If you don't see 5 colors, then the camo is not good.

Of course there are other key factors to tell the difference between an original SS dot camo uniform from the reproductions. I may cover this later on in the thread. Right now the focus is on showing details of an original.

[Remy Spezzano]

Close up shot of the tunic hanger loop. Note that the material used to make the loop is the same used to line the pocket flaps seen in the previous photos.

[R.H.J]

Hi Remy,

I have an brother like yours, only have an question.

Is the eagle machine applied with 2 green/black back & inside?

You also can add 910 towards the list btw.

Reg,
Ron

[Remy Spezzano]

Hi Remy,

I have an brother like yours, only have an question.

Is the eagle machine applied with 2 green/black back & inside?

You also can add 910 towards the list btw.

Reg,
Ron

Ron,

Thanks for mentioning another manufacturer code number. Please take a photo of the ink stamp and either post it here or email it to me so we can back it up with proof. This would really be great to see.

Regarding your question about the type of thread used for the sewing of the sleeve eagle. I have this to say. From my experience in both owning and examining over the years quite a few unissued SS HBT dot camo tunics, almost all of them came without the eagle sewn on the sleeve. Since the eagle was sewn on later there is no one set way that it was done when comparing the type of thread used.

My reason for stating this is based on the fact that I have seen several times on unissued tunics where you could see a red or pinkish color line marked on the sleeve with a grease pencil in the area where the eagle should be stitched on. This marking was definitely done at the factory because you could often see other areas on the tunic where the same color grease pencil was used to make the tunic. It was a guide for the unit taylor or to know exactly where to position and sew the eagle onto the sleeve.

In the case of the tunic you see here from my collection, there was no eagle on the sleeve when I purchased it. And there was no evidence of one having ever been there before. I added an original unissued eagle to the uniform myself using 100% black cotton thread.

Sometimes you will find tunics that show evidence of where the eagle was present but someone had removed it or denazified it after the war. Once I even had one tunic where there was still some black thread remaining in place from where the eagle was on the sleeve. You could see the zig zag stitch pattern.

I will try to find and post some photos showing the grease pencil mark on the sleeve.

[Remy Spezzano]

Here is a close up photo showing underneath the collar of the tunic.
What is interesting here and which needs to be noted is the HBT material used to reinforce the collar is not the same type of HBT material used to make the tunic.

This HBT (Herring Bone Twill) material has a different weave to it. When you examine it with your hands you can feel how it is much thicker and more robust then the thinner HBT material to make the other parts of the tunic.

I have seen over and over again this heavier HBT material used to reinforce the collars underneath. And I have also seen where the whole tunic has been made from the heavier material as well.

If I can find them I will post photos showing one example where the sleeves and pocket flaps where made with the heavier material and the rest of the tunic was made with the lighter weight HBT material.

[Remy Spezzano]

HBT material comparison.

[MM1985]

910

[R.H.J]

And the link to my M43 tunic that has only 2 numbers : 65

http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...d.php?t=270518

Reg,
Ron

[salt*creek]

This stamp is in a SS M-44 2 pocket tunic.

[Remy Spezzano]

Updated List as of Dec. 19, 2015

Waffen-SS Uniform Manufacturer Codes
_65 tunic Model 42, field grey wool
117 panzer wrap, field grey wool
349 tunic Model 42, field grey wool
393 tunic HBT dot camo
525 tunic Model 42, field grey wool
627 panzer wrap, field grey wool
910 panzer pants, black wool

[Remy Spezzano]

SS EM/NCO machine embroidered sleeve eagle positioned on the left sleeve.