Poll:Does anyone wear original militaria?

[PHILBROWN]

i bought a polizei cap from a guy on a stall in london who was actually wearing it as ken livingstone and boris were vieing for mayor they didnt speak to either of us

[John Brandon]

I used a ww2 brit waterbottle when I went somewhere nasty and sandy with HM forces....it was quite convenient with just a web strap, but it was a little frowned upon my some of the striped numpteys who didd'nt appreciate the historical significance! LOL

Reg

not all stripies were numpteys Reg

[PHILBROWN]

not all stripies were numpteys reg

stab rank dont count jabes:d

[SteveR]

I wear a US Civil War belt buckle that a great great grandfather on my Mom's side of the family wore during the Civil War. I have a confederate one from my Father's side but they are worth so much I am afraid to wear it.

[Nige H]

Ditto Ade on this one

Back in the 1990's there was not much faked or repro stuff about unless German of course you did get the odd fake of British and American items but most were sold as genuine. So my battle and living history kit was all real, I did start using some 1950's British items of the same pattern just to cut down of the wear on my WWII gear.
These days however due to the cost of genuine items I would go down the route of repro uniforms and field gear or web kit in British terminology. One because I make repro items for a living, and two if you are going to wreck your battling kit every weekend "shooting at Germans" why run the risk of destroying a nice original piece of militria form your collection, a mutual friend of mine and Ade's another Adrian (yes folks there everywhere ) did this very thing with a brand new pair of wartime HBT trousers, at the first time of wearing them for a public battle, he knelt down and the fabric front panel of the trouser leg split right across his knee cap.


Nige.

[Reg]

Its the nugets with the pips that you have to watch out for!



Reg

In fairness they did have a point, there was alot of stuff in the press at the time about inadequate kit, all they needed was a photo of some pongo with an antiquated waterbottle! but they did only issue 2 plastic ones!

[Polpara]

Just to echo what others have mentioned, back about 10+ years or so ago, I used to wear some original gear and uniform, but now with the advent of various makers creating reproduction uniforms there's no need to potentially ruin originals. I still have a few original pieces but now display them rather than wear them. The quality of reproductions has grown over the years to the point where, there's honestly no need to wear originals at all...

[HJ-Collector]

i have a 70's fake AH party badge on my cammo jacket at all times i got burned with it early on and its there just to remind me how the snide enamel and poor badge looks! it wont ever happpen again

[colonelrexford]

I wear original and reproduction militaria almost every day - belts, hats, whatever. That's what it's for, enjoy!

[klinger]

i wear every day a dutch ss buckel and in winter times an kradmelder leather coat, or often some us army jackets and so on