WW II German Tropical Web Equipment

These items would be issued to a soldier assigned to a tropical area such as Afrika. Instead of leather, which tended to dry out in the hot climate, the leather substitute is an olive green web material. The waist belt, bayonet frog, and harness of the canteen are all web material. The ammo pouches are actually leather. With leather in short supply near the end of the war, web equipment was issued to the soldiers. The M-42 helmet, and the gas mask cannister are painted a sand yellow in order to blend in with the terrain. The wooden canteen body kept water cooler than the standard aluminium canteen body with the felt cover. The bayonet is that which attaches to the K-98 Mauser rifle. The small black, white, red, and green ribbon is an award for having served in Afrika.