Johan Willaert Posted December 11, 2011 Share #1 Posted December 11, 2011 Can anyone post pictures of WW2 dated US Army ponchos? Were they all of the rubberised type ( similar to the EM's raincoats)? or were some already in a kind of nylon??? I understand WW2 ponchos came without a hood, but with a drawstring... Thanks Johan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LtRGFRANK Posted December 11, 2011 Share #2 Posted December 11, 2011 I know minw has just a drawstring with no hood. The material is different than raincoats. I can't find my pictures of it so will try and take new ones and post. Robert Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johan Willaert Posted December 11, 2011 Author Share #3 Posted December 11, 2011 Thanks! According to this there were two types http://olive-drab.com/od_soldiers_clothing...ats_ponchos.php I would especially like to see details of finish and markings... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LtRGFRANK Posted December 11, 2011 Share #4 Posted December 11, 2011 heres the best I can do wit the stamp. Robert Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johan Willaert Posted December 11, 2011 Author Share #5 Posted December 11, 2011 heres the best I can do wit the stamp. Robert Thanks Robert! From what I read it is the later Lightweight type, made out of some kind of nylon? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LtRGFRANK Posted December 11, 2011 Share #6 Posted December 11, 2011 Here's the poncho. It slicker/shineier than the raincoats. Robert my son whom has better eyes than me was able to read the stamping. It tells you how to use it as a shelterhalf also Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LtRGFRANK Posted December 11, 2011 Share #7 Posted December 11, 2011 dated June 7,1944 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johan Willaert Posted December 11, 2011 Author Share #8 Posted December 11, 2011 Thanks, that helps a lot Now for a picture of the early one... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craig_pickrall Posted December 12, 2011 Share #9 Posted December 12, 2011 Here are a few more pics of the same type that Robert has. The outside of these has a finish similar to oil cloth. It is a dull OD with just a little texture to it. The inside is smooth rubber finish. There is a high collar with a draw string. The USMC model is more complicated having a closure flap with snaps. The USMC issued a hat made of OD poncho material with their ponchos and this continued into the Vietnam era. As far as I know the Army never issued a similar hat.They did add a hood to the poncho fairly quickly so that eliminated the need for the hat. The label is dark blue on dull OD rubber and not very friendly to photograph. I tried a couple more shots and hope you can read them. I am pretty sure I have one of the other style ponchos too but I was unable to find it. Lord only knows what box I stuck it in. I may never see it again. First is the USMC rain hat and then the Army poncho. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johan Willaert Posted December 12, 2011 Author Share #10 Posted December 12, 2011 Thanks Craig! Yours seems to be marked Regular Weight while Robert's is Lightweight I'm currently looking at an early rubberised (resin coated?) example to ad to my collection. The only marking there is to be found on one of the corners on the inside and says US Manufacturer 1944 These resin coated ones are extremely rare over here... and since no-one came up with one on the board, I gather there they are too... Johan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johan Willaert Posted December 12, 2011 Author Share #11 Posted December 12, 2011 How about a poncho with the marking below.... It's a text in a box stamped in one of the corners and it describes three purposes of the poncho... Part of the text is: MULTIPURPOSE PONCHO RAIN GARMENT and GROUND SHEET BLANKET or SLEEPING BAG COVER TENT There is another box with text, Mfr info and Inspector stamped near the neck opening on the inside but I cannot read it anymore... The poncho has no hood either... Any ideas??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
norwegian blue Posted December 12, 2011 Share #12 Posted December 12, 2011 hello Johan the last one you've shown is definitely a WW2 pattern. I don't know if these were made after 1945, in the interval before the hooded Korean War type. I have both patterns (nylon and resin coated and I'll post pictures tomorrow). These are pretty rare in Europe, but I'd say the nylon one is even scarcer. I only found mine on EBay a few years ago. The QMC history says these were the original design because they were lighter but at the time Nylon was earmarked for the USAAF so manufacturers has to make do with resin coated materials as they did for raincoats. A very cool piece of equipment, not really appreciated by collectors here as it is construed as a late-war/Pacific item. I'd be interested in period photos of it worn in the ETO! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craig_pickrall Posted December 12, 2011 Share #13 Posted December 12, 2011 I think one reason the early resin coated poncho and raincoat is so rare is they got very stiff and brittle. I suspect those that survived the war then got thrown away after getting stiff and unusable. I can't recall ever seeing either garment that was flexible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
norwegian blue Posted December 13, 2011 Share #14 Posted December 13, 2011 hello here are the markings for my resin coated poncho made by the Gummed and coated paper Co Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
norwegian blue Posted December 13, 2011 Share #15 Posted December 13, 2011 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
norwegian blue Posted December 13, 2011 Share #16 Posted December 13, 2011 and those for the Nylon poncho Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
norwegian blue Posted December 13, 2011 Share #17 Posted December 13, 2011 and a comparison of materials, resin coated at top and nylon at bottom the nylon poncho has some silver finish hardware that corrodes, nylon poncho is assembled by seams, whereas resin coated poncho is of cemented contruction Hope this helps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
norwegian blue Posted December 13, 2011 Share #18 Posted December 13, 2011 and out of curiosity, I just weighed both, the resin coated poncho is a hefty 1.4 kilos, and the nylon poncho is actually lightweight, at 860 grams! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johan Willaert Posted December 13, 2011 Author Share #19 Posted December 13, 2011 and a comparison of materials, resin coated at top and nylon at bottomthe nylon poncho has some silver finish hardware that corrodes, nylon poncho is assembled by seams, whereas resin coated poncho is of cemented contruction Hope this helps Thanks! The one I already have is exactly like the lightweight model on your picture... It confirls mine is a WW2 model too... Mike De Trez book about BobPiper has pictures showing 82AB men wearing ponchos in the Belgian Ardennes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
norwegian blue Posted December 13, 2011 Share #20 Posted December 13, 2011 ga Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
norwegian blue Posted December 13, 2011 Share #21 Posted December 13, 2011 glad you liked the pictures, Johan I'll look at the para picture in that book, for sure Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SgtJim Posted September 9, 2012 Share #22 Posted September 9, 2012 I have one that is quite heavy no hood draw string and can not read date. It appears to be canvas and some type of plyable rubber. I have seen others stamped groundcloth and hallf tent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phantomfixer Posted July 22, 2016 Share #23 Posted July 22, 2016 So bringing up an old thread to get verification...Found a 2/45 dated maybe 12/45, but looks to be 2/45 dated poncho...has a nylon/rubber inside and the outer is not...so it is a resin coated poncho not a lightweight poncho? either way it is going in my mussette bag for the Jeep... the pic is of the inside corner...with lightly oxidized grommets..snaps are brass(?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronnie Posted July 22, 2016 Share #24 Posted July 22, 2016 I think 20 bucks for that is a steal! I can't remember for sure but it seems like I paid close to a bill for my war 2 poncho. It's in mint shape but I seem to think it was not cheap. You did very and picked up 2! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phantomfixer Posted July 22, 2016 Share #25 Posted July 22, 2016 Dig it...Thanks Ronnie...there is SOOOO much field gear in that old Army Navy.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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