E-tool carrier

[Willj]

Hello all,
Does anyone know why original e-tool carriers are impossible to find? I am looking to buy an original e-tool and carrier, the e-tools (both folding and straight) seem easy enough to find, but the original carriers , not so much. Any help is appreciated.

[JPhilip]

Hello,
100 viewers and no answer so far...well i do have to dive in the unknown i guess...lol
A lot of shovel carriers were lost during WWII, a lot more were lost or destroyed after the war as carriers were not as valuable as shovels. Many simply roted somewhere and they're now dust, especially pressed cardboard ones. Nowadays, most of the remaining carriers are in collections.
I have once seen hundreds of shovels from several origins, of which german (of course) but also imperial russian, taken from german soldiers at the end of WWII, repainted in green and stored in boxes for years...hundreds of shovels, but no carrier whatsoever....
They're still some nice carriers out there....I have recently seen five yellow pressed cardboards examples for sale, the latest being last week...
Shovel carriers are not cheap of course but they can be found...
Thanks

[Neil Hever]

Shovel carriers were made of leather and other materials such as Presstoff. I assume they were subject to great wear and tear and were often wet and dirty. No doubt they disintegrated pretty quickly. Perhaps some were chopped up and used for other purposes as well. Whatever the reason, they are hard to locate. I was able to locate a few at dealers but not cheap. The range seems to be $250 to $450 US!! If you want a good one then you must have a budget. NH

[Willj]

Jphilip and Neil,
Thank you for the responses. I was thinking (apparently incorrectly) that if leather Y straps and belts had survived, why not leather e-tool carriers? Next question, I have seen several "open back" carriers, usually in brown leather. Would these have been WW2 German used or were the German ones strictly the "closed back" style? Thanks again for sharing some knowledge.

[JPhilip]

Hello,
Straight shovel carriers produced between 1935 and 1945 for the german army are strictly closed back style. Prewar some of them are produced in brown leather but always with a closed back. German carriers with open back were made during WWI. Some of these imperial carriers may have been reused during WWII along with captured stocks from foreign armies. Nowadays, when it comes to Brown leather carriers with an open back, the letters "SA" indicating the property of the finnish army are not far away...(usually stamped on the front of the carrier between belt loops).
Thanks

[Willj]

Thanks for all of the help.