STABO Rig Purchase - CIDG Veteran Owned

[BigDawgDoesMilitaria]

I'm looking for some insight on a recent purchase I made, this is a STABO rig that was purchased from a veteran CIDG Montagnard living near Kontum in Vietnam. I have a very good feeling this is real but you never know when it comes from in-country. Just looking for confirmation from others who may know more! Thanks for any help and your time!

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[Justin]

The web material and thread looks much newer than the hardware

[RWW]

Here is a link to a thread on the Forum that may be of interest to you.

 

 

 

[BigDawgDoesMilitaria]

9 hours ago, RWW said:

Here is a link to a thread on the Forum that may be of interest to you.

 

 

 

I read through the thread however it didn’t really offer much insight to me unfortunately.

[BigDawgDoesMilitaria]

12 hours ago, Justin said:

The web material and thread looks much newer than the hardware

I’m not sure, maybe someone who knows stitching could offer insight on what period it’s from. I’ll have to check around. The web material looks appropriately aged to me, it appears to have sweat stains…

[AustinO]

I'm not a fan of the webbing material, does not look USGI.  60-70 years later, I would not expect anything coming out of VN to be original. Just my 2 cents.  

[RWW]

I have done a bit of sewing and the Box-X stitch has been around forever and hasn't changed. I don't think there is anything to be learned from that. The point of the thread and another couple on the Forum is there have been reproductions made using '68 dated hardware which yours has. As Justin said, when you compare the oxidation and wear on the hardware to the webbing, there is no fraying around the rub points where the buckles and snaps are attached and no rust discoloration where the buckles have been in contact with the webbing. Usually when I have seen hardware that looked like that, the item had been wet as some point and left to dry folded up and the webbing was stained.

 

I know you want the item to be a real 1968 made STABO rig. So do I! I am NOT saying your rig is one of the reproductions mentioned in the thread. I just wanted you to know that there were repro's made with '68 dated hardware.

 

If you can find a known original harness, or very good pictures of one, compare several things like the snap hooks. I know very little about STABO harnesses. Most of the pictures I have seen have plain snap hooks on them. Yours has ejector snaps. They may have used both. I don't know. I have also seen pictures with a couple of different stitch patterns used rather than all Box-X stitches. Should the ends of the webbing be turned under rather than just folded and stitched? Look at the wear to the webbing around the hardware attachment points. Look for little "cables" hanging out where the stitching was started and ended. Look at the stitching itself. Is there a noticeable difference in the appearance.  After you compare your rig to a known original, if YOU are satisfied, that is all that matters.