2nd Bat
Master sergeant 
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Post by 2nd Bat on Nov 25, 2014 3:05:17 GMT -5
In looking at impression pictures And actual photos I see mostly German belt buckles in a silver/ grey finish while others are black or subdued. Under what circumstances would each be correct and what would be most common? Also I see mostly black leather German web gear but also what appear to be light colored Y straps and a wide assortment of colors of bread bags, pouches etc.
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Post by insterburger on Nov 25, 2014 6:47:32 GMT -5
My understanding is that the majority of original buckles were painted a grey-green color, but the finish would often wear away quickly to leave a subdued metallic finish with paint only in the valleys.
Light colored straps would probably be web/tropical versions, which did see use in Europe but were much in the minority.
Bread bags/pouches etc. were made by dozens of manufacturers over a long period of time, so for the most part differences come down to production variations. Luftwaffe units often had blue-grey bread bags and other cloth pouches or gear, but as the war progressed even that began to change.
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2nd Bat
Master sergeant
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Post by 2nd Bat on Nov 25, 2014 13:53:22 GMT -5
As always most helpful. With the focus on camo the bright buckle always seemed odd but wear of course is inevitable. Another thing I've noticed about the German set up is a lot of metal on metal clnking when you have even a partial field set up. (mess tin, canteen, gas mask canister and Y straps. This is bad joo joo for Infantrymen.
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Post by ssgjoe on Nov 25, 2014 14:43:48 GMT -5
Oh yes. The most annoying one is a gas mask canister clanking on the mess tin.
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2nd Bat
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Post by 2nd Bat on Nov 25, 2014 19:16:05 GMT -5
Metal on metal is one of the most distinguishable sounds in the forest as it is entirely non organic. On patrol when you heard it it was a terrifying sound. Is it me? is it one of my men? Is it the enemy? Whatever the source you know its human. We went to extreme lengths to pad and tape anything that could bring two pieces of metal together while not impairing function. I have to believe all front line belligerants did the same even back in WW2. i know soldiers on patrol did the jump up and down test to check on rattles and noises and applied burnt cork to shiney items on their gear and weapons as well as their face and hands. I wonder if electrical tape was also generously used as well?
given the noisy state of the Kraut set up they must have done something otherwise the woods would have sounded like a family of gypsy pot salesmen. Any mention of this is anyones research?
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Post by ssgjoe on Nov 25, 2014 19:26:06 GMT -5
I'm sure many Germans attached their gas cape bags to their gas mask canister in an effort to pad up the canister and to dull any noise of it hitting the mess kit
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stuka
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Post by stuka on Nov 25, 2014 21:45:38 GMT -5
I have heard of many ditching the canister all together
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Post by ssgjoe on Nov 26, 2014 0:15:07 GMT -5
Not many did. A few ditched the mask and kept the canister for extra storage.
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Post by luftwelle93 on Nov 26, 2014 9:05:51 GMT -5
I've wondered a bit on how the Germans dealt with this issue with the gas cans.I guess like what ssjoe said,many probably put the gas capes on to lessen the noise.In that case I might add a gas cape too  |
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Post by aldrich on Nov 26, 2014 10:52:04 GMT -5
The Luftwaffe also used brown leather items instead of black, which may explain the lighter colored gear. Early war the buckle was silver to go along with the silver buttons on the m36 uniform as well as the white insignia. As the war progressed, however, they were either chemically darkened or painted along with the buttons and insignia for camouflage. I believe the canteen was also covered with a wool cover to reduce shine and the noise of gear hitting it. Even at that its not a perfect system and can get annoying at times.
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Post by ssgjoe on Nov 26, 2014 12:16:14 GMT -5
The canteen cover was also used for insulation. When there was water in the canteen, they would dip the canteen in cool water, the wool cover would absorb it and keep the water in the flask cool.
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Dracul
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Post by Dracul on Nov 26, 2014 13:40:18 GMT -5
I'm pretty sure it was also was to keep it "warm" to prevent freezing.
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Post by ssgjoe on Nov 26, 2014 16:48:09 GMT -5
Insulation goes both ways.
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Post by insterburger on Nov 27, 2014 9:01:25 GMT -5
I've found that tightening the strap on my gas mask can so it rides a bit higher helps keep it from clanking on the mess kit and canteen cup quite so much.
Another thing is that having stuff in your bread bag tends to splay out the back a bit and at least minimize the clatter. I'm usually pretty lazy about doing that in games though.
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2nd Bat
Master sergeant
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Post by 2nd Bat on Nov 27, 2014 14:07:53 GMT -5
Given the extent to which Infantrymen in Vietnam obsessed with sound deadening I have to believe soldiers in WW2 did so as well. I suspect that whatever steps we take in airsoft (provided we use mateials readily available at the time) would be quite authentic and actually take impressions to that next level, It would be nice to know what steps were actually taken.
With surplus US WW2 web gear you could often see tape residue in all the metal connection areas where we taped our stuff. Like the WW2 guys we of course removed the tape and cleaned our gear before it would be accepted at supply (silly since the next guy would once again tape it all). The German Army was no doubt just as anal. Since the German set up is even worse tape or cloth wraps had to have been applied?
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Relish
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Post by Relish on Nov 29, 2014 14:28:12 GMT -5
I'm sure many Germans attached their gas cape bags to their gas mask canister in an effort to pad up the canister and to dull any noise of it hitting the mess kit ^Reasons for wanting an A-frame^ |
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Post by ssgjoe on Nov 29, 2014 16:47:00 GMT -5
Except A Frames weren't super common unfortunately  |
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Relish
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Post by Relish on Nov 30, 2014 10:30:56 GMT -5
They seem a lot moreso on the east front, but its my understanding they weren't that popular. I actually liked mine a lot before I sold my first WIP impression. I really regret selling it.
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Post by ssgjoe on Nov 30, 2014 12:13:11 GMT -5
Yeah. I like to keep things on my belt. More common but I haven't tried an A Frame.
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Post by buster126 on Aug 13, 2015 2:59:01 GMT -5
From what I've read/seen early belt buckles in WW2 era were silver colored, no hiding them with a subdued paint. Soon after they started painting them in the german grey, various shades. Also each branch has different default colors of buckles. As for the gear being black to tan is because of the age. If you were to go back in time to the actual 40's most of the leather gear you would see would be the tan or brownish color. Now fast forward 70 years and the originals have darkened to an almost black color. Natural leather aging.
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Post by LϟϟAH1944 on Aug 13, 2015 11:39:58 GMT -5
No, leather wont magically "darken" too much. They were blackened, as a preservative.
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Post by aldrich on Aug 13, 2015 15:48:42 GMT -5
Yep, very very early war the leather was brown I believe, but then troops were ordered to blacken everything and after that, all things were blackened at the factory. Not sure on the dates but the brown gear was barely used in WWII if at all. The luftwaffe did keep their leather items brown. From the originals I have seen they all have "blackened" over time. Heck, I have a pair of work boots that were originally light brown and now are almost black. But as a whole, the army and SS all had their leather gear dyed black.
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2nd Bat
Master sergeant
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Post by 2nd Bat on Aug 23, 2015 12:13:15 GMT -5
Great stuff guys! very helpful thread.
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Post by ssgjoe on Aug 23, 2015 15:27:03 GMT -5
Belt buckles (even army ones) were often painted feldblau late war. Also I must address that the blue pouches and breadbags are not luftwaffe variants, but just a less common variation in production used by every branch.
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