M31 Canteen - CG&L 1942 Original?
Hello All!
I am looking to get a mid-period M31 Canteen and recently came across this nice example. It appears original to me based on a few refence books I have as well as several of the forums on this site as well. However, I would like a few other opinions. Any and all help would be appreciated.
Spartan
Last edited by SpartanX9; 10-20-2023 at 11:37 PM.
Apologies no one has got back to you, this example is a strange one, the lack of markings on the cap is not something I like the look of but it absolutely could still be original just a shortcut taken. In my opinion if you want a nice mid war canteen I would wait for a more textbook example to come along.
Hello.
If this canteen is supposed to be rather well preserved then the leather tabs sewn on the cover really look like rubbish, with extra ugly stitches to keep them in place.
The strap system would seem correct, but as stated before the absence of marking on the top of the lid is unsettling.
If it wasn't for the Third Reich light grey paint used on the snap hook it could very well be a BGS canteen strap system on which an unmarked lid is common.
thank you for the response! I agree that the stitching is not the best, but some originals I have seen in reference books and on this forum do not have great stitching either. What is a BGS canteen strap system?
The BGS is the former West Germany Border Police.
It was set up in the early 50's and at first equipped with some Wehrmacht style gear including canteens that were dangerously close to the WW2 early models.
Sometimes they are marked in the WW2 fashion like HRE, VDNS, FWBN and a short version date, let's say 52, sometimes they are not.
The snap hooks were either a chromed version in the WW1 style, or the exact WW2 model but painted differently, yet as WW2 painted and assembled snap hooks were used on modern gear in East Germany it may also have occured elsewhere.
Similar Threads
Posting Permissions
.
Bookmarks