robinb Posted February 24, 2009 Share #1 Posted February 24, 2009 I have several sets of these suspenders, but only recently noticed that there are 3 different buckles. Is one type any earlier than the other? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craig_pickrall Posted February 24, 2009 Share #2 Posted February 24, 2009 I believe you have them in correct order. The left is the earliest and the right is the latest buckle. This is a guess as to why the design changed. The first small flat buckle was probably weak so they changed to the larger flat buckle. Then they found they were hard to adjust when wet or with cold hands so the last curved design was developed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Robinson Posted February 26, 2009 Share #3 Posted February 26, 2009 The very first M1941 packs made at the USMC Phila Depot utilized those exact same adjustable "flat" cast bronze buckles. So it seems logical to me that they'd have used hardware on hand when they manufactured the suspenders. My best guess re the "small" "flat" buckles is these were something used around the same time period as a manufacturing expediency by a contractor or maybe by the Depot. So I see those two flat buckles as being used more or less concurrently. The "U" shaped buckles were adopted later as an improvement. And there are two versions of those, one being wider than the other. Greg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coolman Posted February 26, 2009 Share #4 Posted February 26, 2009 the Army M36s also followed the same root...prewar & early war ones with the early buckle-mid & late war ones with the later buckle... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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