How dirty is your kit?

[Peiper]

Just my one cent on support of Franz, I do think from my own experience and from what I've read an seen is that you do tend to take care of the things you are issued with. Especially the stuff that is really important to your survival. Shaving your face might not be the number one priority when you are fighting for weeks in a row but you would make sure you're belt andpouches were working. As well as shoes.

Yes agreed mate, if you re-read my posts i was refferring to dirty appearance of clothing not equipment,
of course equipment is number one priority, as for boots yes they were repaired etc or if another better pair
could be gotten hold of but they were still muddy until the opportunity arose to clean them.

Anyway just my two cents view on the majority of combat pics ive seen, obviously early War pics the appearence
was clean/smart, or pics from training camps/parade, but what people wont or dont understand is the average combat
soldier in pics from the frontline had a dirty appearence !!!!

Peiper.

[Franz repper]

We do understand but its not us who seems not to listen time and time again

[Peiper]

We do understand but its not us who seems not to listen time and time again

Lol iam listening Franz but nobody seems to believe or listen to anything i say on here, take a look at a pic of any group of
German soldiers and at least 2 out of 3 pics show dirty uniforms, i can only go by original pics ive seen, i dont want to keep
harping on about this but nearly every combat pic ive seen of the average Gernan Soldier his uniform is dirty to some degree
depending obviously how long he has been in the field,....... yes or no ??

Cheers Pipes

[Franz repper]

As soldier will be dirty in combat but at the first chance he will clean his self . That is a fact that I have been told by Veterans and I have done the same in the Field my self when we had 6 week FTX even if its clean socks you will feel like a king !.
Even on a long march he will clean mud off his boots not to look smart just to stop them being so fecking heavy .

[barryG]

Our group was told by a Veteran of the 12th SS that every night out in the field they had to clean their uniform the best they could, brushing it down and removing mud. Also de liceing their trousers and cleaning boots etc. Obviously youd get dirty out in the field, but youd clean up as soon as you could.

[Peiper]

Ok, cheers guys for your opinions, it just seems most WW2 German pics what are floating about
out there seem to show this sort of "dirty" appearance, i do understand the issues of maintained
boots clean socks etc from my own experiences but this is WW2 we are discussing not modern
Army situations, there were a lot of other factors to consider so you cant really compare
the two imho, anyway thanks for your opinions guys, good to have a "friendily discussion".

Ive tried to upload some pics i found randomly from Bundersarchiv to show you what i mean
but the site is playing up again ??

Regards Peiper .

[barryG]

Just so we are 100% clear on this, my input wasnt my opinion at all but a number of facts from a 12th SS veteran who was actually there in Normandy.... you cant argue with that

[Franz repper]

Ok guys cheers, it just seems most WW2 German pics what are floating about out there
seem to show this sort of "dirty" appearance, i do understand the issues of maintained boots
clean socks etc from my own experiences but this is WW2 we are discussing not modern
Army situations, there were a lot of other factors to consider so you cant really compare
the two imho, anyway thanks for your opinions guys, good to have a "friendily discussion"

Regards Peiper.

Did you read the post above yours ? Its below just in case you missed it , Veterans have said the same in the book Seven days it states that they changed their socks and it felt good .

Our group was told by a Veteran of the 12th SS that every night out in the field they had to clean their uniform the best they could, brushing it down and removing mud. Also de liceing their trousers and cleaning boots etc. Obviously youd get dirty out in the field, but youd clean up as soon as you could.

[Peiper]

Yes, cheers Franz

Pipes

[Botty]

Lol iam listening Franz but nobody seems to believe or listen to anything i say on here

Piper, after reading the entire thread (I'm bored) I think you are not answering the same question that everyone else is. I read the question as 'as of now, sitting in front of the fire, beer in hand, chewing the fat with like minded individuals how clean is your kit' and everyone else has replied 'as clean as it would be originally' e.g. cleaned, dried, maintained and put away. Just like a Wehrmacht soldier would have dealt with his kit after leaving action/the field.

Just like everyone else who has replied I accept that during an event I will get dirty, muddy, wet etc. BUT as soon as I can (even during the event) I will act, as well as I can, to rectify this. Just like the Wehrmacht soldiers in the field would have done/been made to do.

It seems that what is being said is that if you leave your kit dirty between events just so you can look 'good' at the next event then this is WRONG. I think that is where you are missing what is being said to you.

[feldman]

..cleaned, dried, maintained and put away. Just like a Wehrmacht soldier would have dealt with his kit after leaving action/the field.

Just like everyone else who has replied I accept that during an event I will get dirty, muddy, wet etc. BUT as soon as I can (even during the event) I will act, as well as I can, to rectify this. Just like the Wehrmacht soldiers in the field would have done/been made to do.

It seems that what is being said is that if you leave your kit dirty between events just so you can look 'good' at the next event then this is WRONG..

Well said..

[Sheikh Al Stranghi]

Thing is, most reenactors do not know what it is like to really live in the field under campaign conditions. The ones that do are often the ones with real military experience, or the hardcore campaigners/nutjobs who like to do nothing but tacticals or marches. Those people get their kit so filthy that they KNOW it NEEDS to be maintained, while the beer tent reenactors WANT theirs to get filthy but have no idea how good it feels to change socks, like Franz said. If one does nothing but field ex with just a few display events every now and then, one will learn and experience.

[Sean]

Ok, cheers guys for your opinions, it just seems most WW2 German pics what are floating about
out there seem to show this sort of "dirty" appearance, i do understand the issues of maintained
boots clean socks etc from my own experiences but this is WW2 we are discussing not modern
Army situations, there were a lot of other factors to consider so you cant really compare
the two imho, anyway thanks for your opinions guys, good to have a "friendily discussion".

Ive tried to upload some pics i found randomly from Bundersarchiv to show you what i mean
but the site is playing up again ??

Regards Peiper .

A photograph is a snap shot of time though, it shows that one specific moment in history, it does not show the whole story of that person.

WW2 or the modern military, the indoctrination of cleanliness and hygiene standards are very similar.

[Peiper]

Piper, after reading the entire thread (I'm bored) I think you are not answering the same question that everyone else is. I read the question as 'as of now, sitting in front of the fire, beer in hand, chewing the fat with like minded individuals how clean is your kit' and everyone else has replied 'as clean as it would be originally' e.g. cleaned, dried, maintained and put away. Just like a Wehrmacht soldier would have dealt with his kit after leaving action/the field.

Just like everyone else who has replied I accept that during an event I will get dirty, muddy, wet etc. BUT as soon as I can (even during the event) I will act, as well as I can, to rectify this. Just like the Wehrmacht soldiers in the field would have done/been made to do.

It seems that what is being said is that if you leave your kit dirty between events just so you can look 'good' at the next event then this is WRONG. I think that is where you are missing what is being said to you.

Lol, i was getting bored too thats why i ended the discussion on a friendily note i wasn't going to add anything else, i dont miss
anything whats being said, i understand perfectly.

I maintain my kit also, oil weapons, bayonets, wash shirts, trousers, just i like to leave one low pair of boots (repro) dirty, the
studs and soles are clean, the stitching is greased, just that imho going onto the field (to do a re-enactment battle) in polished/
clean boots feels wrong thats all.

Its a case of getting into characture in my opinion, after all we are supposed to represent/emulate combat troops who have
supposedly seen previous action elsewhere, just my opinion.

Cheers Peiper

[Jugend Repper]

Dont forget to polish your boots now that your in SBG