indie
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Post by indie on Feb 4, 2008 20:31:54 GMT -5
was this used by all of the infantry troops during d-day? i want to put together a d-day impression, but i can't seem to find this piece anywhere, and want to know if its something that i wouldn't necessarily need to have.
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azeeze
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Post by azeeze on Feb 4, 2008 21:11:37 GMT -5
From what I see almost all of the troops landing ashore in the american sector had them on. -Nick
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YankeeDiv26
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Post by YankeeDiv26 on Feb 4, 2008 21:13:28 GMT -5
I believe most (if not all) of the American Infantry units in the first few waves used them. I don't think of it as a necessary item unless you're in said unit in said wave. Everyone ditched theirs as soon as they could, a lifebelt on the beachhead doesn't do you any good beachhead impression. Unless you want to make it part of a good. They can sell for a good price, so unless you don't have anything else to spend your dough on I say it's not necessary.
Short answer: no, not necessary imo.
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Post by p51 on Feb 4, 2008 21:16:16 GMT -5
They were totally useless for someone with a top heavy load. They were designed for sailors who were just wearing their clothes, NOT for someone with a huge pack. Soldiers often flipped upside down when inflating them with heavy loads. Most soldiers in an amphibious landing would have had them, though, and ditched them right after they cleared the water...
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YankeeDiv26
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Post by YankeeDiv26 on Feb 4, 2008 21:33:52 GMT -5
Thank you p51, I forgot to mention that. The belts were obviously insuffeciently designed for the job at hand, and did more harm than good in some cases. Many of the soldiers wore them just above their equiptment belts, and their top heaviness combined with a low belt made them flip right over. It also made it more difficult to get out of your equiptment (if need be).
We had a guy who used to work for us before he passed away a few years ago named Less that drove a Higgins boat on/off Utah Beach. One of the few times he talked about the war was about how on D-Day he saw a few guys go topside from their equiptment and the life belts. His 2nd trip in he advised all the troops in his boat to take them off when a LT questioned his judgement. Less replied "Sir, I had 10 men in this boat. 2 made it on the beach, 4 are topside in the pond from their Damn belts, 3 got hit before getting out, and what's left of 1 is spread around this damn boat." The LT was silenced and he and his men all took off their lifebelts.
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jmhpa
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Post by jmhpa on Feb 4, 2008 22:16:05 GMT -5
The thing is that they were supposed to be used(or put) around the armpits, not above the pistol/cartridge belt.
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2nd Bat
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Post by 2nd Bat on Feb 4, 2008 22:31:35 GMT -5
They were intended to be a waist belt. They are great for an impression as together with a rubber asasult gas mask do a great job of destinguishing a D-Day (amphibious impression) Practical? absolutely not. Well liked by the troops? absolutely not. Worn for very long? absolutely not. A cool item for an impression or display? absolutely!
Because they were impractical and didn't work well for the purpose they were designed inspite of being produced in huge numbers they are currently an increasingly rare item to find. They are also an item that continues to go up in value so not a bad item to acquire and take care of.
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indie
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Post by indie on Feb 5, 2008 17:42:32 GMT -5
okay, thanks guys. if i find one, i shall buy it, but not really need one. just a quick question though: has anybody ever thought of making repro's of them? i mean, from the looks, if somebody with good military expertise and the means to reproduce military items decided to go for it, i don't think it would be all that hard to make one. plus, i'm sure they would get some great offers. all you would need is some canvas, some CO2 cannisters, and an intertube, and voila!
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2nd Bat
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Post by 2nd Bat on Feb 5, 2008 17:46:52 GMT -5
It would cost you far more to set up production and manufacturer them then what they currently bring unless you had confidence you'd have a viable market run of several hundred of them which I don't think is out there. This certainly true if you intended to do them accurately. I imagine some repros have probably been done for film work but I bet they were a very expensive prop item for the film company.
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azeeze
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Post by azeeze on Feb 5, 2008 18:04:32 GMT -5
I bought mine for 30$ they are out there just look. -Nick
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Post by collisi0n on Feb 5, 2008 19:44:24 GMT -5
I saw some pics of lifebelts used in SPR for the extras and they looked cheap. Like a long band of khaki with a brass belt.
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Post by Tough Ombre on Feb 5, 2008 21:00:48 GMT -5
I actually found an interesting picture of some 82nd airborne troopers and the one medic is wearing a life belt, they are in Holland actually. I believe they are 508th, as you see alot of weird stuff done in the picture and i know the 508th was notorious for that. -Cary
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YankeeDiv26
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Post by YankeeDiv26 on Feb 5, 2008 21:10:53 GMT -5
Yep, I know the exact picture you're talking about. I think for Overlord though, the sweeping majority of airborne troops used the mae west's.
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indie
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Post by indie on Feb 7, 2008 18:39:16 GMT -5
well, i'm not talking about me doing it. i mean, it's possible that if we got enough people interested in repro's, then maybe WW2AA as a whole could work some deal out with atthefront, or some other supplier of ww2 repro's. they have pretty much everything else made, i don't see why this would be hard to do, especially if its a company with experience in creating repros.
and it would be more than just ww2 airsofting that would be wanting them. i know there are probably some guys out there who reenact that are having a hard time finding them as well. and besides, they are getting harder to find, and why would you want to risk the condition of the belt for use in an airsoft battle? these could actually work, (obviously they would be a little dangerous with the stories of men who died from going under head first) but for sake of authenticity, i'm sure there would be a decent sized market. if anybody else thinks this way, why don't we try to get a company to make some? i mean, they could get an original, and take patterns off that, and for a good price, you could get a brand new, fully working replica of the m1928 floatation belt.
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2nd Bat
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Post by 2nd Bat on Feb 7, 2008 20:13:58 GMT -5
Again even with a large group order the production costs would greatly exceed what you could sell them for. Do just a tiny bit of research and you'll discover set up costs and the hassle of arranging things will gobble up money very very rapidly. Sourcing something that would replicate the valves and tubing alone would take some real effort and creativity. I have an oriinal and I looked closely at it upon reading your post and doing a reasonably authentic replica would require a great deal of expense. I'm guessing a run of 200 would probably cost about $2500.00 or more. With 1500 to 2000.00 being set up cost. Hence making 50 would cost about the same! Simply not going to pencil out. I'll bet if someone has a source involved in the production of Saving Private Ryan you'd be shocked to learn what they spent making a 200 unit production run of replicas for that movie. Undoubtedly in the Thousands.
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Post by ivymp4 on Feb 8, 2008 1:33:09 GMT -5
WPG is making them as we speak. I got to see the prototype up at Odessa this year they look OK way to flimsy with pot metal buckles but was told the production model will have this fixed. So we will see WPG is not know for quality. I was told the price is going to be around $100
Cody
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indie
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Post by indie on Feb 8, 2008 16:53:30 GMT -5
uhh, i'm running a blank. i feel like an idiot, but what is WPG? i simply don't know what that is. could you please tell me? if they are good enough, i might just have to save up some money for one.
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click
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Post by click on Feb 8, 2008 17:11:23 GMT -5
uhh, i'm running a blank. i feel like an idiot, but what is WPG? i simply don't know what that is. could you please tell me? if they are good enough, i might just have to save up some money for one. What Price Glory. They sell Brit and US WW2 stuff and have recently started doing french indochina stuff. www.whatpriceglory.comClick
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indie
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Post by indie on Feb 8, 2008 17:15:12 GMT -5
oh, okay! that's actually in my favorites, and i just forgot what the initials were for! duh, thanks!
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jmhpa
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Post by jmhpa on Feb 9, 2008 23:37:10 GMT -5
www.sproe.com/l/lifebelt.htmlYou see...If it was worn correctly, it wasn't worn around the waist, if it was it would have been really easy to flip over.
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