Hybrid-Bergmutze ?

[peiper1944]

Howdy
Thought i would ask the GJ experts their opinions on this cap.
It is badged up as Gebirgsjager with steinmuss buttons/trapazoid eagle and Edelweiss,
but it has a longer peak and cental top seam also a feint RB code on the liner

Am i correct in thinking this is a "re-issued" M42 einheitsmutze issued to some
Gebirgsjager trooper and badged up as a replacement, the liner (not pictured)
is brown silk/satin but no leather sweatband, i will download some more pics
but here are two at the moment, any thoughts are appreciated, i tried to post
it on the WW2 awards forum to get an idea but it wont let me post

Bergmutze pic1.jpg (21.27 KiB) Viewed 4576 times

Bergmutze pic2.jpg (25.37 KiB) Viewed 4576 times

Cheers Pipes

[peiper1944]

More pics

Bergmutze pic3.jpg (32.79 KiB) Viewed 4571 times

Bergmutze pic4.jpg (32.26 KiB) Viewed 4571 times

If possible could someone post it on the awards forum and ask for me ??

Cheers Peiper

[FtrPlt]

Is the underside of the visor covered in cloth or wool? The one photo from the front suggests wool.

There appear to have been several versions of the contract/issue Bergmütze produced. This is personal theory and has evolved slightly over the years.

???? - 1936 I believe there was a very early pattern cap which changed slightly in 1937. I've yet to see a modern photo of one so this is purely my personal theory at this point. These caps appear taller than later caps and have taller earflaps. Photographically, these are seen with just the cockade (as the only form of badging) and then with a separate woven eagle and metal cockade.

1937-1938/1939-1941 Other than the addition of a single vent in late 1938, these caps are essentially the same. Full leather sweatband, front stiffener, turn-up for the earflaps starts where the visor meets the side of the cap, rounded end to the front arms, steinnuß buttons, etc. T-badge.

1942+ Contract/Issue caps begin to appear which feature a mix of Bergmütze and M43 features. Full leather sweatband is still seen on 1942 examples, front stiffener is eliminated, the crown is now attached with the same type of seam as on the M43; the front arms can be seen with straight-cut ends instead of rounded; caps have two vents on each side; turn-ups on these start forward of where the visor meets the side of the cap; etc. Caps with cotton linings often appear with drill material on the underside of the visor. Caps with rayon linings appear to have wool on the underside of the visor. T-badge

All the above is observed in reference to government contract, depot-marked caps. The only depot stamp I've seen is "M" -- München. There is supposedly a Wien depot stamp "WB" but I've not seen a cap with this stamp.

Where does your cap fit into this? Tough to say. I'm looking at 2 original caps that, to me, resemble M43 caps with short visors. Did the maker simply use remaining BM visor on M43 production? Unknown. Your cap has T-badge, steinuß buttons and a single vent on each side -- features not seen on the M43 (very rarely you can find a T-badge on one).

My impression is that your cap is a good example of a later-production cap.

I'm curious of the central seam you mentioned. Can you post some additional photos of your cap, please?

[peiper1944]

Cheers Ftr Plt, for your input
I will add more photo's when i get round to it, hopefully Monday as iam away at the moment,
in answer to your query, yes the peak is covered with wool underneath, it looks genuine in my
opinion, just it has some strange features not seen on normal Bergmutze's, i did at first think
it may be a version of Gebirgs Field Police because of the colour??

The insignia looks to be correctly stitched and aged etc, this cap i had for years but the reason
im looking into a dealer i showed it to was puzzled by it so would like to know more tbh

Many thanks for the help, regards Pipes

[peiper1944]

After a breif delay due to my PC playing up here's some more pics of
the "Bergmutze"

Bergmutze pic3.jpg (26.01 KiB) Viewed 4516 times

Front of cap showing steinuss buttons and t-shaped adler insignia

Bergmutze pic4.jpg (34.79 KiB) Viewed 4516 times

Interior showing herringbone faux silk liner

Bergmutze pic5.jpg (35.55 KiB) Viewed 4516 times

Top of cap showing central seam

Cheers Pipes

[FtrPlt]

Interesting. I've never seen an M-43 with a central seam before. Did the M42 have a central seam?

[peiper1944]

Interesting. I've never seen an M-43 with a central seam before. Did the M42 have a central seam?

Not sure

Have had a look but can't see any except on the "Schiffen" types,
am wondering whether this is a "foreign" contract cap made perhaps
in Hungary/Czech because of the variations, either that or maybe a
rebadged and issued captured cap, you can see the insignia has been
sewn on originally along with the wear/tear to the liner and imho appears
genuine....just very unusual