Canteens

[Gary Wood]

detail of the stamp
cheers,
gary

[Michael Kuligowski]

Great Gary !! Thank You a lot !!
this is first time for me to see SS marked cantee.... actually.. I never believe they existed !!
I have lot to learn

Same for me, Gary, in fact I was told ( and I believed) that the waffen-SS used normal Heer canteens with no special markings, well I learned something new too.
cheers

Jan

[Colorado]

Jan - It is my understanding that Waffen SS used the same canteens as the Wehrmacht. Those shown are early "asphalt soldier" SS canteens, not Waffen SS.

Hello Colorado

Could you give some more information about the term ' asphalt soldier'.

Do you mean that these were not issued in combat? How does it comes that the above's are grounddugs?
cheers

Jan

[Gary Wood]

colorado is correct in a way, the ss marked equipment is pre war manufacture, the canteens with the cups would have been used by the SS-VT and SS-TV, these items though did find there way into waffen-ss use although there construction is pre war
cheers,
gary

Okay, cleared out, thanks Gary!
So items are indeed pre-war but some made their way to the waffen-ss...and so the majority of ss-soldiers during the conflict had Heer issued canteens.

Like certain pre-war SS-marked messtins ( especially those ww1 style messtins) which could also be found on battlefields?

cheers

Jan

[cicero]

guys
my bottle has the following stampings: c&c.w.36
and the cap : zpstz 39

can someone tell me more about it,especially the markings on the cap?

thanks,glenn

[Colorado]

Hi Jan:

Right, "asphalt soldiers" was a term used by the Wehrmacht as an insult to the earlier SS soldiers that dressed like they were military, but actually did no military training. They were city soldiers "asphalt". When many of these earlier SS soldiers joined Waffen SS units, many took their old equipment with them. Most SS though came in after 1939 and would have used standard military issue.

Great finds as these are very rare!

Cicero: Hopefully, you mean "cup" not "cap". If the cup and bottle are different, then they got switched somewhere in life. Those are the initials for the maker and the year is all. I don't know the makers codes very well. It happened all the time with canteens and messkits as these soldiers were eating in groups and cleaned in groups.

[cicero]

hi colorado
no i mean the cap (the screw cap for closing the bottle) not the cup.
my cup doesn't have markings,only the 1/4 L stamping.

thanks,glenn

[Infanteer]

Enamel canteens

It seems that it is common for the enamel canteens to have bakelite caps. I have a red enamel canteen with leather straps and a red enamel cap as well. Does anyone else have this configuration or is this an uncommon variation?

Steve

[Jan B]

more canteens...

Here's another one that I got in a few weeks ago. A standard .8 bottle, webbing LUX strap and black bakelite cup dated 1941...

Cheers

Jan

frontview

[Jan B]

backside...

Now, I know that tropical canteens were normally the 'bakelite' types without felt covers and webbing straps, right?
But what about this one?

For Willi : On the first page, replie # 5, you've posted a similar waterbottle as this one ( your cover looks more tan ), saying its a tropical one. Is that a bakelite one with a cover or just an aluminium one? Where is the line between non-tropical and tropical canteens; the straps? the cover? the bottle itself?

Thanks in advance for clearing this out

Cheers

Jan

[Mike Steves]

sku45 canteen

I also collect canteens, and this is my favorite one. The cup is brown enameled and doesn't have any handles. Everything is unmarked except the bottle, which is sku 1945 marked. Anyone else have one like this?

www.houston.quik.com/msteves/pics/sku.jpg
www.houston.quik.com/msteves/pics/sku45.jpg

Mike Steves

[J Melvin]

Hey Mike, nice one. Show that MN45 that I sold you awhile back that the cover doesn't fit on it right. Here are some oddballs of mine. First a sackcloth like Ade posted earlier.