My new M42 Feldmutze

[Aldo]

My latest cap ! I believe to be a textbook example in fine condition.

[LondonJay]

Hi Aldo,
The feldmutze looks very nice bud
I'm surprised it's had no comments but this part of the forum doesn't seem very friendly lately, the award and decoration part is definitely the most friendly
Jay

[Aldo]

Hi Jay, thanks. I've been getting the same vibe for awhile now. Unless you post something so rare that you need to take out a second mortgage or something slightly questionable that can be ripped apart as a fake there seems to be very little interest in the more common items. I look forward to seeing new posts for the images mostly. The more real items I see the better I can distinguish the fakes. Cheers, Al.

[Jerry B]

Looks good, though I'm not an expert. Any chance you can post a pic of the inside of the grommets?

Thanks,

Jerry

[Adrian Stevenson]

Hi Al, looks like a nice clean example.

Cheers, Ade.

[curio bill]

I don't know enough to say anything about it except looks good & wish it was mine.......

[Aldo]

Thanks Jerry, I forgot that the inside part of the grommets is an important aspect of identification on one of these caps. I'll post one shortly. Al.

[Aldo]

I included some excerpts from Gary Wilkin's book 'The Collector's Guide to Cloth Third Reich Military Headgear" to help those of us who are still learning identify some of the basic features on these caps. The following applies to the M42 as well as the M34.
"The M34 cap was ventilated , there should be air hole grommets on the cap. One grommet per side, located just above the point of the side skirt turn up. The exterior portion of the grommet was normally coated with field gray baked-on-enamel. The grommet shafts passed through a rimmed washer; the protruding shafts were then split and crimped back as small tongues over the washer rim. Lack of grommets / vent holes is a sign that the cap is in correct - likewise with two to many holes."

[BenVK]

Hi Jay, thanks. I've been getting the same vibe for awhile now. Unless you post something so rare that you need to take out a second mortgage or something slightly questionable that can be ripped apart as a fake there seems to be very little interest in the more common items. I look forward to seeing new posts for the images mostly. The more real items I see the better I can distinguish the fakes. Cheers, Al.

I'm really disappointed to hear this Aldo.

I've not seen any posts on this forum that rip apart "something slightly questionable" as you suggest. That's definitely not what we want here. If you see anything of that sort going on, please let me know.

As far as no one being interested in the more common caps, I don't think that's true at all. Traffic is much slower and more selective here than the madhouse forum so responses are fewer and slower. Also, and I don't mean to be rude but what real benefit are 20 posts just saying "lovely cap" or "nice example" anyway?

Much better would be to engage in a conversation about the design of the M42 and although it's represented as being unpopular with the troops, you can still find plenty of pics as late as 45 with them being worn, why is that?. How about how the company tailors who added peaks to these caps so they resembled M43's? What about the maker of your cap? Have you done any research on that?

[ErichK]

I have yet to add an M42 to my collection and honestly haven't had the opportunity to examine one or more in detail. Also, the hand applied insignia on M42's throws me off - from a photo I can't tell if it is period applied or not , I don't have that eye yet.
Your hat looks good to me, but I don't like to give opinions on areas that I'm unfamiliar with.