Some good finds this week

[Sean Dunnage]

One sad story from my trips this week is finding a M1 US Helmet with an early westinghouse liner in the Ontario store that a kid was buying just before I got to check it out. I learned this listening to the clerk who had researched it a bit. The lid was $70.00 and in amazing condition. I overheard the young lad saying he was going to strip it down, paint it and use it for paint ball.... I nearly cried right there. When I told him that he had a piece of history in his hands and should leave it be he simply said who cares about that shit.

Sad world when some youth just doesn't care about the past.

Sean

[Lang]

Sean,

Interesting photo of that gas mask carrier. I would not have believed it possible to see a more disgraceful standard of workmanship than a lot of Australian WW2 webbing equipment but looks like the Canadians take the cake.

The quality of not only the American workmanship but practically every other non British Commonwealth country of this period puts us to shame.

Lang

[peter simundson]

That bag is british made. That's not a C broad arrow on the lid.

Made before the invasion for Light respirator.

Ir was a togh time for the factories and they had to us what they had.

Although I admit it wouldn't win a beauty contest.

Peter S

[rob love]

Maybe it's two tone camouflage. I have to admit it's one of the worst made examples I have seen.

[Ed Storey]

This style and manufacture of this bag has always been somewhat of a mystery as a number of years ago they were quite common with all having the US style 'Lift the Dot' fastener and brass 'keeps' on the sides to hold the carrying strap. Have a look at the inside of the brass snaps, I believe they are stamped United Carr Australia. The cut of this type of bag is very different from the types used in Europe and may have been manufactured for the war against Japan.

When it comes to workmanship, Indian made WWII equipment is generally considered to be the worst of the Commonwealth nations. For the most part, the quality of Allied manufactured equipment is quite good and unlike some of the items manufactured today, was made to last.

[Ed Storey]

Canadian manufactured Lightweight (Assault) Respirator bags look like this example.

[Lang]

Ed,

The first bag and the one in your photo bear no resemblance. The terrible standard of workmanship on the first (I will allow a bit of leeway as the canvas is twice as heavy and stiff) compared to the excellent finish on the second would make you think they come from two different worlds.

The first, as you say may be Australian, and in that case suffers from the limited cloth available from local manufacturers and looks like tarpaulin material. The Canadians either had a wider range of cloth or had access to American supplies. It certainly looks like the quality American fine canvas found in most of their equipment.

The main criticism was the workmanship and finish not the material.

Those lift the dot fasteners were (and still are) by far the most common metal design in use in Australia and dominated the field until the advent of modern nylon, velcro and plastic systems. They have about 5 times the holding power of common press-studs. There was not a "ute" in Australia without those holding the tarp on until the elastic loops took over in the late 70's.

Still strange to see on British pattern equipment which suffered from the very poorly chosen square buckle system which could not be tensioned satisfactorily and was very fiddly to adjust.