Wool Allgemeine SS Armband

[DrCMH]

The textiles used look correct. Similar examples have been posted before and accepted as SS and original. To add a clarification, armbands on greatcoats did include the black borders.




Regards,

CMH

[Wagriff]

This type of armband was discussed here a couple of years ago. Bob Coleman stated that all those that he had seen were unissued-as this one here seems to be. As I said above, I see nothing bad with this piece and would buy it myself.
https://www.warrelics.eu/forum/non-c...mband-15638-2/

[Woolgar]

Thanks for your responses guys

Nick

[tempelhof]

construction and materials all spot on. an original piece with no issues IMO.

i should add that i'm not often bothered by small differences in apparent age of paper tags and wool as the materials differ chemically and how they survive the passage of time can be affected. many paper items for example, and these tags may be no different, contain trace amounts of acid.

[BOB COLEMAN]

RZM SS tagged armbands without black borders can be found with the early cloth tag and the later paper tag as found on this example. both forms are original to the period. For years, they have been incorrectly referred to as an overcoat armband. It is likely that these were political armbands distributed to auxillaries who were not members of the SS. They certainly are not overcoat related. Here is an earlier example with the cloth tag.

[CARL]

A beautiful example. Simply put, it is a nice opportunity to buy a wool Kampfbinde in such fine condition. Worry not when paper tags appear too fine in appearance, as age alone does not control paper's image, more so the quality of the original material used. I posted a thread, which is somewhere within the paper items forum, that explains why paper turns that distinctive yellowish brown with age in one example, whilst others remain almost new in appearance. For me, this is a classic three piece construction piece. However, I believe that this fine example is an NSDAP kampbinde, rather than an SS piece. Firstly, most SS wool examples do not have a circular roundal, they are slightly wider than they are high if memory serves me correctly. The piece shown above appears to be exact in its matching measurements. I also doubt that it could be an unfinished piece, because why would an RZM label (used for quality control) be put onto an unfinished item? In my opinion, this is a party armband, albeit a very nice one. The label does not belong on her, and I believe that somebody may well be trying to change a medium priced item into something higher, simply by the addition of a small paper tag.

Regards,

Carl

[BOB COLEMAN]

I must disagree with my colleague regarding the paper label found on the piece that began this thread. I have encountered these numerous times in the past and all appeared to be unissued. I recall one veteran who had 12 of these paper RZM tag verions that had never been worn. There is a definite connection between these kampfbinde and the SS. To date, no definitive evidence hs been uncovered as to what the purpose of these were. As they were produced over a long period of time with the existance of both cloth and later paper RZM tags. They are not a dealer's fantasy but genuine period items as shown. There use at this point is still conjecture.

[CARL]

Bob, you've likely forgotten more about SS cloth items than most of us will ever know, so I feel I am asking the right person when I wonder, is this piece a finished kampfbinde? Also, I thought that the perfect circular roundal was a sign of an NSDAP example, not seen on woolen SS variants.

Regards,

Carl

[Wagriff]

It's difficult to tell just how round or slightly not round the white patch is in the photos. But, if you look at the back-side of it in the 4th photo and look at the white stitching, you can see that it is more horizontally oval in appearance. The tips of the swastika's arms are not exactly uniform in distance to the edges of the white patch either.

[BOB COLEMAN]

Bob, you've likely forgotten more about SS cloth items than most of us will ever know, so I feel I am asking the right person when I wonder, is this piece a finished kampfbinde? Also, I thought that the perfect circular roundal was a sign of an NSDAP example, not seen on woolen SS variants.

Regards,

Carl

Hi Carl-
I think that we need to stop considering this an SS armband but an armband that was under control off the SS. I do not feel that these were ever worn by SS men. That is why I theorize that these were issued by the SS to auxillaries who worked at an SS function. All of th ones I have seen are finished. My early piece with the cloth tag has been used as it has the ends connected. Please note that my concept is a theory only based on what would be a logiical explanation. At one time, I had a standard party form cotton armband that had A SS property stamp on it. It was a very early kampfbinde and was one of the reasons I came to the auxillary conclusion. Attached are images of that piece.