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How to spot a good
Bread Bag (Brotbeutel)
By Pat Oehler, edited by Jonathan Bocek
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The army
model bread bag M1931 was utilized by all German
military & non-military organizations. The focus of this article is
to point out the basic characteristics of the
standard wartime Heer model with the addition of the
late war M44 example.
Please
note this article, in no way covers all variations or
aspects of the German bread bag. It does however
point out major details that one should focus on when
looking for a good bread bag. There are many bad repros & post war bread bags
available out there, hopefully the following
information will help those to find a good one to
finish off their kit.
Several
Key Features:
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1. |
The tabs that button on your belt must be
pointed. I have only heard of one war time
produced bread bag with squared off tabs. This
probably accounts for 2% of wartime production
(blatant estimate based on my 5 years of
collecting). |
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2. |
Canvas should range from grey-green to brown or
almost tan in color. |
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3. |
D rings should simply be that, They may be of
either aluminum or steel, pre-early or mid-late
war respectively. Typically the D rings match
the belt hook in material. |
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4. |
Belt hooks should have a distinct round
impression on the clip. The tab to which they
are secured (riveted) should also have a clean
finish, and not be frayed. |
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5. |
Rear D rings should be present on the back for
use with a bread bag strap. |
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6. |
War time bread bags didn't have an internal
divider. This feature was reintroduced for post
war bread bags. Note: The bread bag on the
far right is a Late war M44 bread bag with a
rifle cleaning kit pouch. |
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7. |
For pre war or early war bread bags there were
leather reinforcements on the belt tabs. They
did not use a leather reinforcement around the
button hole. This was done on post war bread
bags. |
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8. |
There were tropical variants that used webbing
instead of leather. |
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9. |
I have also included a picture of a WWI/pre war
political bread bag. These were made from a
variety of colors, but their big difference from
the war time M 31 breadbag is a single d ring
and leather tab to accommodate only the canteen.
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Identification
of Bread Bags in Photo:
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Top Row |
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1. |
Pre/Early war brown canvas, brown leather with
Aluminum hardware. Note the reinforcing leather
on the belt tabs. This may have been used for
political groups or another organization such as
RAD. |
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2. |
Mid
war production olive canvas with black leather
and steel hardware, and many repairs. Note the
method in which they repaired holes with a lot
of stitching and a reinforcing patch.
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3. |
Mid
to late war production Olive linen canvas with
steel hardware. This bag also has a pressed
paper button on the inside, and a belt secured
to the D rings for some post war application.
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Bottom Row |
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4. |
Early war production grey green canvas with
aluminum hardware, black leather tabs and
leather reinforcements on belt tabs. |
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5. |
Early war production olive canvas with steel
hardware, black leather reinforcements on the
belt tabs and fittings. |
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6. |
Late
war M44 bread bag. This variant came about
by order (HM 44, No. 688) dated 20 November
1944. It was made of mismatched olive green
linen cotton fabric with steel d rings and sewn
belt support loops. It also has a
pouch under the flap for holding the rifle
cleaning kit. (If you have one of these they are
worth a lot of money, so don't use it!). |
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