Post your minty Field Gear!

['Flage Guy]

Here is one of those weird W.W.II pink Sleeping Bags, which came with its box, in pristine condition.

['Flage Guy]

Mummy style, with the early tunnels for tightening the hood to achieve greater warmth.

['Flage Guy]

The spec tag:

['Flage Guy]

The box...

[sigo]

The only thing better than seeing this pristine gear is hearing about where it has been hiding for 72+ years and the circumstances of its rediscovery. Im sure a lot of it is fairly mundane, but I love the stories of forgotten warehouses and stashes of long obsolete military gear still in govt storage.

[iron bender]

The only thing better than seeing this pristine gear is hearing about where it has been hiding for 72+ years and the circumstances of its rediscovery. Im sure a lot of it is fairly mundane, but I love the stories of forgotten warehouses and stashes of long obsolete military gear still in govt storage.

I find this entire statement valid and interesting, almost as if it could be another thread. Piles of gear still in string bundles or boxes from the 80's. I recall pick-mattock bundles of all dates from 18 to 51, t-handle cover bundles, almost always 43 date with od binding, piles of 44 date gp bags with od binding and webbing dated 44. Those little compass pouches in all shades of od with MRT tags from the 50's. Rifle barrel covers in all shades of od strung together with 10 cent wax pencil written on them. All boring gear, but it used to be everywhere! When I lived in the panhandle of Texas I used to go see Jake Glickman and spend some money with him down in Big Spring. Finally went to the local surplus store in Big Spring after years and found bundles of original mint Tommy Gun slings for $2 each, not Kerr slings, WW2 made slings. Mixed in with "straps box". Even found an original foot crank electric generator for the bc-1000 (not that those are rare now). I'm not (in my opinion) that old, 42, and it seems even 20+ years ago it was everywhere with diligent hunting. Lawton, Cash, and Ft. Sill area were prime hunting grounds. Harker Heights, Killeen, Coperas Cove, Hood have been tapped since my dad was there in 66. I found one place, in a defunct co-op, with several silos, outside of Roswell that had Gaylord boxes FULL of mint ta-50 gear from the early to late 60's. Hundreds of NOS web and nylon 20 rd m16 pouches, belts, suspenders, bandage pouches, rucks, ponchos/liners, etc. Driving to a dairy one day and saw a bunch of woodland camo and od grenade vests with price tags on hangers so I stopped. Luck. I passed it on to a dealer to buy before the bugs and rats got into it. He bought it all. History saved! This is one awesome topic! Sad but I never got into anything post web for collecting. I'd bet the LC-1/LC-2 gear is still ripe for the pickin'! Sorry, just started dreaming about the good old days going on deer hunting trips in west Texas and all the stops I'd make in between. Man I wish I was 20 again

[Keystone]

I find this entire statement valid and interesting, almost as if it could be another thread. Piles of gear still in string bundles or boxes from the 80's. I recall pick-mattock bundles of all dates from 18 to 51, t-handle cover bundles, almost always 43 date with od binding, piles of 44 date gp bags with od binding and webbing dated 44. Those little compass pouches in all shades of od with MRT tags from the 50's. Rifle barrel covers in all shades of od strung together with 10 cent wax pencil written on them. All boring gear, but it used to be everywhere! When I lived in the panhandle of Texas I used to go see Jake Glickman and spend some money with him down in Big Spring. Finally went to the local surplus store in Big Spring after years and found bundles of original mint Tommy Gun slings for $2 each, not Kerr slings, WW2 made slings. Mixed in with "straps box". Even found an original foot crank electric generator for the bc-1000 (not that those are rare now). I'm not (in my opinion) that old, 42, and it seems even 20+ years ago it was everywhere with diligent hunting. Lawton, Cash, and Ft. Sill area were prime hunting grounds. Harker Heights, Killeen, Coperas Cove, Hood have been tapped since my dad was there in 66. I found one place, in a defunct co-op, with several silos, outside of Roswell that had Gaylord boxes FULL of mint ta-50 gear from the early to late 60's. Hundreds of NOS web and nylon 20 rd m16 pouches, belts, suspenders, bandage pouches, rucks, ponchos/liners, etc. Driving to a dairy one day and saw a bunch of woodland camo and od grenade vests with price tags on hangers so I stopped. Luck. I passed it on to a dealer to buy before the bugs and rats got into it. He bought it all. History saved! This is one awesome topic! Sad but I never got into anything post web for collecting. I'd bet the LC-1/LC-2 gear is still ripe for the pickin'! Sorry, just started dreaming about the good old days going on deer hunting trips in west Texas and all the stops I'd make in between. Man I wish I was 20 again

This brings up something else I've always wondered about. You brought up pick covers dated '18 to '51, why on earth did they contract for MORE pick covers in 1951??? You can still find 1918 dated covers in mint condition today but they made more during WW2 and THEN made more during the Korean War. I've worked as a government contractor and have seen the inefficiencies but this seems ridiculous. You would think someone in the QM would have noticed all the unissued WW1 stuff in the warehouse!

I'm 52 and have been collecting since I was a teenager and I can remember the big surplus stores in and around Philly. Like you said, giant boxes of WW1 and WW2 surplus. Mint condition WW1 M1910 haversacks for $4.95. Good times!

[robinb]

Just 2 weeks ago I saw a bail of WW2 muzzle covers. 3000 in one bail!

[rambob]

Being up in Ohio my entire life, I never had the opportunity to find any military surplus honey holes, because they were few and far between up here. But as a collector I had easy access to mint militaria at a fair price from Tom Gordon via mail order from the Military Marketplace. Tom did all of the honey hole prospecting for his customers and had a tremendous selection of pristine items, at reasonable prices. When he closed his store it was the end of an era and a very sad time for me. I have a pile of pink receipts from his store an inch thick and a major percentage of my collection came via Tom and Sharon Gordon. I hope they are enjoying their retirement!!

 

Bob

[Keystone]

Being up in Ohio my entire life, I never had the opportunity to find any military surplus honey holes, because they were few and far between up here. But as a collector I had easy access to mint militaria at a fair price from Tom Gordon via mail order from the Military Marketplace. Tom did all of the honey hole prospecting for his customers and had a tremendous selection of pristine items, at reasonable prices. When he closed his store it was the end of an era and a very sad time for me. I have a pile of pink receipts from his store an inch thick and a major percentage of my collection came via Tom and Sharon Gordon. I hope they are enjoying their retirement!!

 

Bob

Wow Bob, now there's a name that brings back memories! I got my "square flap" eagle snap canteen cover off of Tom and Sharon! The good old days of "Shotgun News" surplus adds. It doesn't seem like that long ago. I remember getting the surplus catalogs in the mail when I was a kid, I think it was Ruvell in Chicago? I purchased a bunch of stuff off of them as well.

Tim

[FortJohn]

Two tone grenade pouch. Picked it up at the MVPA conv. this summer for $15. Leg ties are still tucked in the bottom pouch. Greg

[FortJohn]

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[FortJohn]

Here is a bandoleer for smoke grenades. Surplus price wrote on it. Greg

[FortJohn]

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[FortJohn]

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[FortJohn]

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[rambob]

Here is a Model 1941 personal stove made by American and dated 1944. It is unused, complete with manual and box. One image shows the stove with the mountain cookset, also mint still with paper label on lid.

[rambob]

Here is a mint unissued M1950 model personal stove made by Rogers-Akron,Ohio in 1964. Again mint with box, manual/paperwork and all parts. Hard to improve on this one.

[rambob]

Here is a mint Model 523 double burner stove made by Coleman in 1943 with half the original box and all spare parts. The lower part of the box was damaged by insects, but the upper half with the markings was intactThere are also images of the aluminum carry case which also doubles as a sterilizing pan for medical instruments. The case was bought separately and has the medical emblem stamped on it.

 

[rambob]

Here is my mint M1938 map case with a bunch of mint goodies that I carry inside it. It is ink stamped on the back with the maker GENERAL SHOE CORP. and dated 1943. One of the gems inside is the Army fountain pen and mechanical pencil set in the leather case and with the box. The leather case is embossed in gold with an eagle and U.S. ARMY. Unfortunately I have not encountered a grease pencil for marking the map overlay with, but still looking.

[rambob]

Nice, mint and working Type A-9 Hand Energized Flashlight in original box.

[rambob]

Here is one of my favorite groupings. The medic harness, first aid bags and inserts and both types of straps. All of this gear is pristine mint and consists of medic suspenders, two first aid bags, both types of bag inserts, with contents, two cantle straps and two litter carrying straps. The bags still have their laces tied on that have never been laced in place. Interesting, I hit paydirt a long while back at the Show of Shows when a vendor had complete bundles of both types of straps, still tied together with cloth ties. I sure wish I had bought more bundles back then. Another nice item is the glass ammonia flask with plastic cup. BTW. If you need some of these, a vendor on EPay still has them at a great price and in quantity.

[rambob]

Here is a pair of packs that you don't normally see mint and unmodified anymore!! The M1944 backpack and cargo pack had a quick disconnect strap system to quickly remove the cargo pack when necessary. Unfortunately the webbing would swell when wet which caused the packs to be virtually impossible to separate in actual combat conditions. So the majority of the M1944 packs were modified to the M1945 system a short time later and unmodified packs are quite scarce. I was lucky to get a mint unissued backpack and cargo pack for both M1944 and M1945 systems in a box of mint/unissued gear that a WWII supply sargeant "liberated" and sent home. I put an ad in the local community newspaper and he called me with this motherload. See image. And oh yes that is a mint M1917 Dismounted cartridge belt in the lower left hand corner of the image!!

 

The first ink stamp image is the backpack and the second is the cargo pack.

[rambob]

Here are the mint unissed M1945 pack system mentioned in previous post. First maker marking image is backpack and second is cargo pack. Interestingly the backpack maker ink stamp was located under the shovel attachment tab. Until I located it I was really sweating whether this was a correct pack. The date on the cargo pack is hard to read as the last two digits are very weakly stamped.

[rambob]

Here is the pack instruction sheet I found inside the side pocket of the M1945 backpack.