Regarding belt hooks...

[Fiore]

Hello all,

I have a quick question regarding the belt hook/suspension system of my M36 feldwebel's tunic, which is the core of a field display I'm putting together.

So the tunic came with four rather small belt-hooks, all four of which are sewn into the main body of the tunic, as the four suspension straps are cut off. However, as can be seen in the first photo below, the front two hooks are stitched in upside down - I suppose it will forever remain a mystery, but would there be any esoteric reason I'm not aware of for this type of modification to be made period time, in-field?

As mentioned, the hooks are rather small - in the second photo you can see another belt-hook next to the one sewn into this tunic, and the difference is stark. However, the larger hooks won't fit through the reinforced holes in the fabric - so are the smaller hooks the proper ones? What might each type have been used for?

Thanks in advance for any light anyone can shed.

Note: top of tunic is ^up^ in both photos.

[Nick Komiya]

The upside down small hooks were to hold down the end of the loop support straps to prevent them from flopping around. The larger aluminum hooks are always a tight fit, but the thinner steel ones are easier to fit. I show you how the 2 hooks relate to each other in the photo below.

[Fiore]

Thanks Nick - mystery solved!