Feldfernsprecher 33 Field Telephone strap

[Hauser]

Hi all... i picked up a strap for my Feldfernsprecher 33 Field Telephone, and i think i got a right bargin ! the strap was ordered from James at rzmilitaria.com and what service ! ordered Sunday, he posted Monday and im stroking it on Wednesday, he also sent it recorded and signed for, all for just over £20,
http://www.rzmilitaria.com/viewitem.php?id=10290 link to item on site

Now to the strap the strap is a light blue in colour and it looks brand new, and with both metal connectors dated 1944.
I have decided to dye it to the corect colour and have ordered some leather Veg dye to the correct tan, (not the modern stuff!) the photos show the strap very lightly wire wool rubbed, which has removed a lot of the blue and its now ready for the dye.






Found One here to give an indication of price and colour
http://www.germanmilitaria.com/heer/photos/H080461.html

Thanks RZMilitaria !

[Hauser]

I found it near impossible to stain correctly, so i have had to go with a leather paint... so if i can find a product to re-finish it, i can always blast it off with the bead blaster, and stain it again.

[Gebirgsziege]

This could have saved you some time and expense: http://www.atthefrontshop.com/ProductDe ... de=GGMSFPS

David

[Hauser]

Good Price David ! and they look the part, not sure on the total price to the door ? postage ... Vat....import duty...... and any other charge our beloved David Camaron can stick on us ??? LOL !
Mine has turned out ok ...i think ? and i suppose its a fair price considering its genuine WW2.

[Enigma]

Piles of these were sold a few years ago in Norway. Some genuine but most were post WW2 with grey leather straps. They soon after ended up on the market, some even with Waa stamps. They are post WW2 Norwegian manufacture. The leather is typical for the chrome treated leather used post WW2 in Norway. Why there is a 1944 stamp I do not know. It might even be original but it is not the year of manufacture. Sorry for the bad news….

[m1steelpot]

Piles of these were sold a few years ago in Norway. Some genuine but most were post WW2 with grey leather straps. They soon after ended up on the market, some even with Waa stamps. They are post WW2 Norwegian manufacture. The leather is typical for the chrome treated leather used post WW2 in Norway. Why there is a 1944 stamp I do not know. It might even be original but it is not the year of manufacture. Sorry for the bad news….

Metal parts a re-used original bits. The date of manufacture for that part of the strap is indeed 1944, and went to a 1944 dated strap originally. The Norwegians probably used these parts on rebuilt straps for their phones.

[Hauser]

I am a reenactor not a collector, and did intend buying a repro strap first, then this surfaced, its quite possible its a post war strap with genuine steel fixings, we will never know 100%, as they say... in my eyes "the jury's out" i thank you for your comments, I have two phones and a partial clasp on one of the phones, it looks identical and has all the same marks ? but who knows as regarding the leather part

[Enigma]

The grey leather is called ”chrome treated” due to the tanning process. It is no doubt that it is post ww2. Most likely manufactured mid 50’s at earliest. The “chrome” process makes it quite resistant to damage from being wet. Most straps have fittings with the number 1944 on one of the fittings. The number might just as well have another meaning than the year. For instance an internal Norwegian stock number. I recall that most straps had a fitting with 1944 on them.

The straps were easily lost/damaged and the need for straps were too great for refitting/recycling metal fittings on an industrial scale. We had thousands of these phones in stock after WW2. The grey straps were sold in stacks of 50 or 100 about 10 years ago. The weird thing is that shortly after all these straps were sold they started popping up with Waa stamps in the US.

Regards