I didn't buy much at first because the reproduction Mills ammunition pouches always seemed to be made from folded and pleated canvas rather than as pockets woven with integrated tapering puckers and internal separators. For me this was a huge matter of authenticity. I guess we all have our lines of what we will accept and what we won't. Here are the left hand ammo pouches of my grandfather's set.
Then one day it all changed. What Price Glory put out a set made, I presume, on an old loom.
Here's the link to their site. This equipment can be yours too, and after reading this blog you will know how to put it on!
Schipperfabrik has also produced such a set, though it may not be currently available. Military History Workshops also seems to be doing puckered sets, apparently out of reworked P'37 equipment.
Similarly I'm taken by What Price Glory's attention to the detail of the finer lining in the entrenching tool carrier. This had intrigued me in my grandfather's example because it was such a caring act, like a well made bed, for something so utilitarian as a digging implement.
There's nothing worse, though, than a brand new set of Mills webbing. I've given mine good soaks but don't dry the gear in the sun! The webbing goes a strange orange colour. I had to correct that by dipping it in a slimy mud puddle and leaving the webbing in a plastic bag in the hot sun for a few hours. A good rinse and a shaded dry later and they were fine.
Another small detail, easy if you have an entrenching tool head, is to force a depression in the canvas at the hole on the tool. This look is a standard result of usage over time.
For the water canteen WPG is making a passable reproduction but the top is flat, not crowned, and the enamel is not real. It seems not too hard to find original blue canteens made, I think, into the 30s. My WPG canteen has been lined with hot bee's wax so water is drinkable, but that might be bad advice, so take it with caution. An old green bottle in a new or old cover is easily painted around the neck with blue paint for the right look. WPG makes great reproduction corks.
Belts and braces can be bought for bigger sizes, though at 5’6” I'm about normal for 100 years ago. I've had to cut back my braces to 50" to be right for me. That means re-riveting one end. Belts in the Great War came at small, medium and large.
As for the frog I've done a bit of creative re-stitching to fit my tool handle which seemed too tight.
The haversack makes a great small bag and can fit an iPad. Who would have thought? Is the original a tighter weave? Or is that extra stiffness just the effect of time and grime?
I have not yet bought a large pack reproduction because I seem to find WWII ones easily enough and they're a great substitute unless they have steel tab ends. They need to be brass.
The Israeli army was using near identical packs in the 70s but their canvas colour was loathsome. Nonethless I used an Israeli pack to make a mock-up of the 1916 pack with leather strapping fastened on with hot glue. I covered the surface with measurement details and instructions. From this Ashok has made perfect reproductions as seen below.
No comments:
Post a Comment