Waffen-SS HBT Dot Camo Uniform in Detail

[Ludwig]

Very interesting and informative thread! Thanks for your work!

[Remy Spezzano]

Very interesting and informative thread! Thanks for your work!

You're welcome!
I still have a lot more to share and post.
Next up will be the SS HBT dot camo trousers or keilhose.

[kammo man]

Great picture.
Looks like jacket was shortened also.
Nice helmet added as extra prop item !
owen

[Remy Spezzano]

Waffen-SS Model 1944 Dot pattern HBT Keilhose (pants or trousers)

[Remy Spezzano]

This mint unissued pair of pants was produced by the private firm Walter Klemm, Hornberg Schw. in Germany. The quality of the manufacturing for this particular item is pretty high and I will show all the little details which go into the making of these pants. Pictured here is the left side of the pant leg.

[Remy Spezzano]

Closeup showing a section of the front waist area of the fly. Notice the use of the larger size metal dishpan buttons used to secure the top of the fly and the smaller sized ones used for the lower fly area.

The larger metal buttons are also used to fasten down the outer belt loops seen on the left.

[Remy Spezzano]

Close up of the metal dishpan buttons.
The larger one has been painted in a metal grayish color. There is a slight chip in the paint revealing the true color of the metal underneath. The smaller button is painted in a darker shade of green.

[Remy Spezzano]

Seen here is the watch pocket which is located slightly centered between the front right pocket
and the fly area of the pants.

Note the use of the smooth cotton/rayon blend dot camo material used to make the pocket.
Normally this material would be used to make a whole tunic or pair of pants.
In this case a scrap piece of material was used to make this part of the uniform.

[Remy Spezzano]

Closeup showing the weave of the smooth cotton/rayon blend material.
This material was produced in the dot pattern camouflage and used to make the M44 pattern tunic and pants.
It is often referred to by collectors as SS dot camo in smooth cotton and should never be called an HBT dot
camo uniform since there is no evidence of the herring bone weave or HBT to this type of material.

Note how the registration is slightly off on the tip of the olive colored dot revealing the white cotton pre dyed material.

[Remy Spezzano]

Lining inside the waist area showing the ink stamps for the manufacturer and size numbers.

[Remy Spezzano]

What's interesting to see here in this closeup photo, is how during the numerous stages of manufacturing a pair of pants, the ink stamps were applied first to the area where the metal dishpan button will be sewn on. This button is used to secure the suspenders.

[ironcross13]

Nice pants shows how mint stuff can be kept if looked after.
look like they just come out of the factory

[Scott A. Hess]

Nice pants shows how mint stuff can be kept if looked after.
look like they just come out of the factory

Exactly why mint does not scare me

[Robert H]

Superb pants!
Would drive to Italy for them....

[wisches]

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.

very interesting thread!
would like to see more of the 'red' grease mark on these tunics! i've never come across this myself..
I always assumed the arm eagle was sewn on construction of tunic!
regards
wisches