Mystery tropical equipment straps! Please help identify!

[Celduin]

Hello all,

I chanced upon these mystery equipment straps yesterday at a local antique/militaria shop. In terms of cut and finish, they are identical to the Wehrmacht tropical equipment straps, though they lack the additional leather piece that was usually sewn onto it. Furthermore, their color seems very un-German and is nearly identical to US OD No. 7 in shade. They also appear to be unissued or, at the very least, lightly used.

I have several hypotheses about its identity.

I. It is genuine WWII German and an early-issue web item (hence the greenish color).
II. It is genuine WWII German and is a late-issue web item made of captured American material (the Germans made web items out of British webbing left behind at Dunkirk, AFAIK).
III. It is postwar Czech, though patterned off of WWII German straps.
IV. It is a modern fake.


Here they are in all of their cryptic glory.


The other side.


The metal hardware is completely unmarked, though many wartime examples of genuine tropical equipment straps seem to be marked "LUX."


The front of the metal tips showing the two "dimples" on each. The weave of the material does not seem to match the weave seen on many examples of German tropical webbing, though....


The rear of the metal tips showing the characteristic "dimple." Neither side of the metal tips seems to show much abrasion or other signs of wear.

[uscob]

West German Bundeswehr. They come with the Pointed Tip like your's for the earlier or with round, one Piece Tips for the later ones.

[Celduin]

Rest assured that the fun doesn't stop here!


The markings are perhaps the most un-German characteristic of the straps. Here is another strap that I did not purchase that came from the set that appears to be marked "G.&W. 3/62" or "G.B.W. 3/62". The manufacturer's markings seem very British in style, however.


Here are the ink stampings on the two straps that I did end up buying. The top appears to read "5/61" while the bottom seems to show "J.M. 3 - 41" or "S.M. 3 - 41". These are the only markings that I could find on both of them.


Here is one of the mystery straps next to a repro leather strap that wraps around my Zeltbahn. The repro strap is 49.50 cm (19.50 in) long -- just shy of the 53 cm standard -- while the mystery strap is 62.87 cm (24.75 in) long, a length that is around 5 cm shy of the A-frame straps.


I decided to pass a mystery strap through my ESB 37 mess kit and it wraps around completely, with plenty of spare length to boot.


I tried to force the metal tips through the frontal metal loops on the mess kit, though I did not prevail by the slightest margin. The mystery strap is definitely the correct width for the mess kit though.

Perhaps one of you can enlighten me with regards to its true identity! And even if it's fake, I won't be too upset. After all, they were $10 apiece, and I can use them on a 1984 Austrian mess kit that I use for hiking and camping.

Thanks for your responses!

[Celduin]

West German Bundeswehr. They come with the Pointed Tip like your's for the earlier or with round, one Piece Tips for the later ones.

Thanks for the speedy reply. I guess that it makes sense that the mystery straps are indeed Bundeswehr.

[Celduin]

By the way, do you know where I may acquire a genuine strap to attach my mess kit to a breadbag?

[Fritz84]

West German Bundeswehr. They come with the Pointed Tip like your's for the earlier or with round, one Piece Tips for the later ones.

[uscob]

By the way, do you know where I may acquire a genuine strap to attach my mess kit to a breadbag?

I have a Box left, but have to find them. Many Years ago I got 2 Garbage Bags full of Blanket & Mess Kit Straps from the BGS and about 1/3rd was originally stamped with readable WW2 dated Stamps. Bus as said. I have to find them in my 1200 Boxes I still have to sort.

[uscob]

Rest assured that the fun doesn't stop here!


The markings are perhaps the most un-German characteristic of the straps. Here is another strap that I did not purchase that came from the set that appears to be marked "G.&W. 3/62" or "G.B.W. 3/62". The manufacturer's markings seem very British in style, however.


Here are the ink stampings on the two straps that I did end up buying. The top appears to read "5/61" while the bottom seems to show "J.M. 3 - 41" or "S.M. 3 - 41". These are the only markings that I could find on both of them.


Here is one of the mystery straps next to a repro leather strap that wraps around my Zeltbahn. The repro strap is 49.50 cm (19.50 in) long -- just shy of the 53 cm standard -- while the mystery strap is 62.87 cm (24.75 in) long, a length that is around 5 cm shy of the A-frame straps.


I decided to pass a mystery strap through my ESB 37 mess kit and it wraps around completely, with plenty of spare length to boot.


I tried to force the metal tips through the frontal metal loops on the mess kit, though I did not prevail by the slightest margin. The mystery strap is definitely the correct width for the mess kit though.

Perhaps one of you can enlighten me with regards to its true identity! And even if it's fake, I won't be too upset. After all, they were $10 apiece, and I can use them on a 1984 Austrian mess kit that I use for hiking and camping.

Thanks for your responses!

Did you said 10 Bucks a Piece? I sell the ones with the simple Buckle for 1 Euro, the ones like yours for 2.
Here are the Leather ones: http://www.berlin-military.com/navi....3967&lang=eng&