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WWII C-1 Sustenance/Survival Vest


Guest lightninghawk
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I do agree with Survival. In my opinion the reason we see a mix of unfinished vests is the contractors/manufacturers had excess pieces in which they assembled and sold on the open commercial market. Excess materials held by the contractors/manufacturers were not US property because the material was not purchased by the Government nor supplied by them but by the contractor there fore making it their property. Once a contract obligation has been completed any excess would be the propriety of the contractor its considered scarp and exempt from DD250. Once this material or anything related to it is released as surplus the contractors can sell the excess materials as they see fit and is no longer considered war materials.

Survival is correct in that Sears was a contractor and not manufacturer there is a major difference between the two descriptions.

Bottom line there were hundreds of thousands of vests made...some hit the surplus market and others stayed in inventory.

If lets say 1/3 (100,000) stayed in service......why would there be a need to order more 5-7 years later considering the size of the USAF.

Any vest made after 1947 would have a MIL SPEC and most certainly would not have reused a contract or purchase order that has already been completed.

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My edit time ended so to continue.....

The last contract/purchase order during WWII was made in January 1945.

Any vest with a label or alike as posted on page one will automatically derail it as manufactured post WWII. Again I can account for any contractor of the C-1 vest manufactured in WWII.

Anther point that, you Mash, might not be seeing is the data on those labels tell a story. For it to be a post WWII contract we would need to see a 5 digit number following the 33038-AC- . Up into 1946 the sequential numbering system breeched 4 digits. Any newly fabricated vests would have a whole new label and data especially after 1947

So goal one...show me a 5 digit C-1 vest contract/purchase order label. This would prove at least a purchase was made in the first quarter of 1946 or later.

So the case presented is about Sears & Roebuck with contracts 33038-AC-5411 and 6640 for 3rd pattern vests. These contracts were completed in 1945....These vests are not valid candidates for post war manufacture and accounted for.

I already provided proof vests were available as surplus and once in the commercial market anything can happen as we see with all surplus equipment they get modified by either the surplus dealer or John Q Outdoorsmen. I will say that it is very likely vests were modified in service during the Korean era.

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For an example and mentioned before about the lack of AAF screened logo

Here is one of the two fcontracted first pattern vests under spec. 3206. Principle feature is it lacks the pocket for insect repellent. This vest could be considered sporterized ...note the HOOKS on left chest pocket.

This vest was placed under a purchase order in the fiscal year 1945.

post-56-0-50674700-1376858997.jpg

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Dustin,

 

All of your responses are an education! I sincerely appreciate them.

 

I can not argue with your responses or your statements.

 

I joined this forum to learn. I knew very little about WWII Survival gear until I got Beuninger's book.

 

On my Google searches (for fun) over the past few years, this forum kept popping up - so I joined.

 

I am glad I did!

 

Mashsig

 

PS: Can you tell me if the PEO you mentioned sells on eBay? I may have bought from him in the past.

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OK - so about AF contracts - except for those AF programs that I was personally involved in during my 22 year DOD career - I can not find any information on them.

 

And frankly I have not taken the time to fill out the Freedom of Information Act paper work to track them down.

 

Was the radio carrier vest developed before or after WWII?

 

I will dig mine out - to see what contract number is embroidered on the label - which like my AF flightsuits - looks exactly like the C-1 vest labels except for the "DSA" numbers...

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As I understand your post you are stating that the U. S. A. F. resumed new production of the C 1 Survival Vest after 1947?

 

Yes - this was based on what Dustin told me on the other post yesterday. He told me that everything was delivered. And I did not know that the Navy Department handled things so differently in terms of contractor control in the 40s.

 

This now makes sense to me - since so many of the FARs (Federal Acquisition Regulation) seemed to be out of left field when I started 20 years ago.

 

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This is a response in another topic but thought it might be relevant here too

 

That's a nice drawing!!

Ultimately what your going to find is a lot of variation and no rules. for example you will find a contract for Breslee under which they manufactured the slant pocket and vertical pocket model under one contract 5413. On some contracts you will find some vests say "cooking container" and some not under the same contract. Even to go a step further you can compare three vests with same contract one having Cooking Container, the next having Cooking Container, the last omitting it almost like an internal peak in progression. On when the Cooking container was cancelled.

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OK - so about AF contracts - except for those AF programs that I was personally involved in during my 22 year DOD career - I can not find any information on them.

 

 

 

See you can't use rules and regulations of current DOD systems to WWII , its a whole other animal,It was revamped in 1947...then again...then again!! You have to reprogram your train of thought. You were quoting early fifties materials which often do not cross reference to WWII.

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See you can't use rules and regulations of current DOD systems to WWII , its a whole other animal,It was revamped in 1947...then again...then again!! You have to reprogram your train of thought. You were quoting early fifties materials which often do not cross reference to WWII.

 

Roger That!

 

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This is a response in another topic but thought it might be relevant here too

 

That's a nice drawing!!

Ultimately what your going to find is a lot of variation and no rules. for example you will find a contract for Breslee under which they manufactured the slant pocket and vertical pocket model under one contract 5413. On some contracts you will find some vests say "cooking container" and some not under the same contract. Even to go a step further you can compare three vests with same contract one having Cooking Container, the next having Cooking Container, the last omitting it almost like an internal peak in progression. On when the Cooking container was cancelled.

 

Thanks!

 

Would you happen to have a photo of the cooking container?

 

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Was the radio carrier vest developed before or after WWII?

 

I will dig mine out - to see what contract number is embroidered on the label - which like my AF flightsuits - looks exactly like the C-1 vest labels except for the "DSA" numbers...

 

Post WWII though these portable transmitters were being developed during the war. The first compact to come out I believe was the AN/CRN-16 in 1946. The predecessor being the the AN/CRC-7 which looks like a Handie Talkie but cylinder shaped.

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I checked Breuninger (to avoid having to go digging in the closet) the contract number for the radio carrier vest is AF36(600)577, MIL V-5876A

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I checked Breuninger (to avoid having to go digging in the closet) the contract number for the radio carrier vest is AF36(600)577, MIL V-5876A

 

Post 1947 for sure but couldn't tell you when exactly as my knowledge is really thin post 1946

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