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1989 6 Color Desert 2qt Canteen Cover, Any One See One Before?


Ben@HI
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so this is a new one for me, I have seen tons of 2qt covers in my life and in a number of colors and with a number of different fasteners but this one has me stumped. it is 6 color desert so my first thought was non-US or after market however it has a DLA contract number and looks to be an 1989 contract at that, it has a US property stamp on the flap and the normal instruction sheet on the inside flap. it is made from the same material as helmet covers of the time and not the normal nylon condura that most other 2qt covers are. its odd and I was not able to get any info on it, does anyone know anything about it?

 

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There was a old thread somewhere with someone else who had a cover like this. It did not have an answer to what it was though, same concept of all the people that have the woodland 1 quart covers like myself.

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Well, at one point they were buying anything they could get. Maybe they were made in the rush to find as much non woodland material as possible. Pretty cool though. At first I thought it was for the Iraqi security/guard, as they got a lot of choc chip stuff (and then it was pulled and burned). But with a US stamp it would not have been made for them.

 

I bet if you search through period photos some will show up. But they probably all went overseas, and being cloth wore out and were dumped. This is just conjecture though.

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There was a old thread somewhere with someone else who had a cover like this. It did not have an answer to what it was though, same concept of all the people that have the woodland 1 quart covers like myself.

you mean the 1979 contract ones? I have a set of them and a butt pack as well. always thought it was odd as BDU was not adopted till 1981. I always assumed they were experimental. this may be a rush item as stated, I have had a number of the rushed 6 color desert helmet covers. the only problem I had with this ideal was that most of that stuff that I have seen that they cranked out during the sortage was unmarked. but than again this was not well marked so it may be that.

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No, my woodland cover looks to be dated 88 (http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/39928-tan-and-woodland-camo-alice/page-2). But thats beside the point, your cover makes sense that it could be rush, but there was a large amount of 83 (I think) dated covers I have found (at the store I at least 80) so why make a less durable cover?

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not a clue, most of the rushed helmet covers had corners cut however they were corners that were not vital. black Velcro straps instead of tan (should not be visible anyway), no foliage slits (you could always cut your own if you even needed them in the first place) no MFR or contract info (did not effect the function on the cover)

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Can you read the NSN Code? Codes 00 and 01 (digits 5 and 6 of the 13 digit NSN) are used to identify manufacture in United States. A different number would indicated manufacture outside the US, possibly by a NATO ally or Saudi Arabia.

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its pretty washed out, I will give it another try once I can get it into sunlight in the morning.

 

You might be able to see the number better under a blacklight if you have one.

 

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I will try to find mine. I bought it in January of 1991 when I was recalled for ODS. I can't recall if it was at Fort Hood's clothing sales or at a surplus store that I bought it. IIRC there is a desert color nylon shoulder strap that came with it.

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During the run up to the 1991 Gulf war I was working at an old school Army Navy store in Allentown PA. The gear manufacturers all came out with "chocolate Chip" camo everything both for the soldiers preparing to go over and for the rest of the public who were camo crazy at that time. Everything from T-shirts to canteen covers was available. So this is one of those covers that was made for the "direct to Surplus" Army Navy store market. Many of them were well made and really just a copy of the issue item, some were cheaper. All this kind of gear was available after the Gulf War as well since this camo stayed popular. So Not issue or experimental but private purchase from the local Army Navy store.

Tom Bowers

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I am pretty sure they wouldn't, as I remember and correct me if I am wrong but I a pretty sure it's against the law to put real contract numbers on items.

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Items that are not USGI

The thing is that they just used a made up stamp to make things look GI. Take a look at the local surplus store and look at the new uniforms and equipment they have and see how many of them are marked with a "contract" number. This is absolutely commercial, and again I was there and I can assure you that this was made for sale to the Army Navy store industry and was not an issue piece. Now, the secondary question of "did any of these show up in service at that time?" is a good one because during the run up to the gulf war there was a huge run on gear for guys heading over to the sandbox. The US military was stretched by a surprise war and some items were in short supply. We sold a ton of boonie hats in day desert and also a bunch of 1 and 2 quart canteens to guys who were not getting them through their command. Most every guard and reserve unit had guys getting called up and the system was under strain. That's why the surplus store industry started supplying that demand. Believe it or not, it's your choice, but that's not an issue item.

Tom Bowers

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I hear what you are saying and yes they made commercial covers and if you read my first post that was actually my first thought however they do not use real contract numbers and unless they make the same thing for the government they do not use real NSN's that I am aware of, they use obviously fake contract numbers and NSN numbers and they do this for a good reason. If I just decided as a manufacturer to crank out a bunch of canteen covers with real or even real looking contract and NSN numbers there is a chance that some could be turned in to CIF and then the non issue covers could be issued out. That is why when you see fake contract and NSN numbers they are usually very obviously fame, way to short or with incorrect structure. I can't read the cover however it is likely they same as the one that was already talked about. If the NSN or contract are wrong on that cover then it's probably built for the surplus market at the time however if the numbers are good then it's probably not for the surplus market and is probably issue.

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