Need help with this visor cap.

[ErWeSa]

Thanks for the info you guys. Much appreciated. Now just for future reference tho I do remember people talking about there were a lot of small time manufacturers and to not necessarily judge a hat just cause you cant reference the manufacturer. To go by more material and construction. Is that true?

Right you are - there were thousands of small cap makers (stonemint refers to them as "mom and pop shops") who made caps - many of them were furriers who made all sorts of caps also uniform caps. It is the combination of fabrics, stuffing materials, Mützenfournituren (i. e. visors/peaks, sweatbands, sweatshields, insignia - everything these small makers didn't make themselves but bought from the firms producing these) which can give you a hint whether a cap is a period piece or not. Just the name of a manufacturer says nothing - many of them continued to produce caps after the war (and there are people who try to alter these caps to WW II caps) and many of the names of the "big" firms are used by fakers/reproducers (particularly by Janke) for their repros (which are also sold by crooks as originals).

My advice: study the forum, almost everything is there. If you become a paying member you have access to the original caps section as well as to the copies. If you invest some 500 hrs of research you can even become an expert in this field.

Here, by the way, is the entry for Wolfsdorff-cigars in Breslau of 1943:

[stonemint]

Antlerslayer, I made plenty of mistakes when I was your age (and younger), and most times I did not get my hard-earned $$$ back.
Best advice I can give you is to post before you buy--there are plenty of people here willing to lend a helping hand.

We have a Gold Members Forum that will allow you to see 1000s of originals, and 1000s of fakes to compare them to.
The originals are broken down by both Makers and by Organisation (ie, SS, Teno, Heer, etc).
You can find it here:

Want to See & Learn More? Join the WRF Gold Club!

[SimonSorenKam]

Stonemint can correct me if I'm wrong. But I was taught one of the first ways to identify these caps, is if they have the braiding, watch which way the diagonal braiding loops. ///////// Vs. \\\\\\\\\\\. I believe originals all were /////.

[ErWeSa]

Stonemint can correct me if I'm wrong. But I was taught one of the first ways to identify these caps, is if they have the braiding, watch which way the diagonal braiding loops. ///////// Vs. \\\\\\\\\\\. I believe originals all were /////.

Unfortunately it is not as easy as that. Most of the GDR cap-cords are twisted Z-wise. Most of the original Nazi cap cords were twisted s-wise. There were exceptions to the rule, however, see here:

identifying these visor cap chin cords

Heer Infantry Officer Schirmmütze by Erel

[SimonSorenKam]

Unfortunately it is not as easy as that. Most of the GDR cap-cords are twisted Z-wise. Most of the original Nazi cap cords were twisted s-wise. There were exceptions to the rule, however, see here:

identifying these visor cap chin cords

Heer Infantry Officer Schirmmütze by Erel

I didn't realize that. Of course I always used that as the "first glance tactic". What I mean is when at (primarily the gun shows) someone is showing off a beautiful mint condition (or other condition) and I see the cap braids reversed I start my critiquing. I personally never found a good one as the ones I found all had dead giveaways, stitching, poor quality, fake sweat band, the peak ect.
I'm glad you shared that link with me. I'll start looking in visor books and educate myself a little more.
I know people use the DDR chords on fakes. I would assume the reverse chord wartime caps are rather rare?

[ErWeSa]

Indeed they are. There is an entire thread in the original visor cap section (for paying members only) if I recall correctly with period pictures of caps with reverse-twisted cords.

[SimonSorenKam]

Indeed they are. There is an entire thread in the original visor cap section (for paying members only) if I recall correctly with period pictures of caps with reverse-twisted cords.

So it's safe to still use the reverse twisted cord as a suspicion, pending further proof. Especially if the visor is at a price of a standard visor and not at that of a very rare one.

[BobS]

Who is the "very reputable dealer"?

BobS

[Neil Hever]

I am by no means an officer class cap expert but when I saw that date stamp in the sweat band alarms went off. I might expect to see a unit stamp, a year date and maybe a manufacturer name. This is the marking on a Heer Artillery cap. NH

[Docholl]

It is generally accepted that wartime officers cap cords twisted to the right. A left twist is almost certainly post-war. Also check the inside of the end sliders. The tube should not be plastic.