Body Armour/Flak Vest.

Was there such a thing issued/used by the DDR Military?

Not sure...was hoping you'd posted one, because I've never seen such a thing!

Neither have I hence my question but then again Im not into DDR stuff as such but may have something interesting on the way:shock: 

I've never seen anything. My guess is they did have such things for highly specialized purposes, but for sure it wasn't more than that. If you put yourself back in time, body armor wasn't normal issue for most nations. Certainly in West Germany they were only beginning to mess around with body armor in the late 1980s on a scale worth mentioning.

In fact, I can't think of any nation not actively engaged in warfare that had widespread use of body armor or frag vests at the time. The difference is, I think, that many nations had them in limited use. Which means that while the average soldier didn't have one issued there were some sitting in a warehouse somewhere. As far as I know most of the Eastern Bloc did not.

Steve

Hasnt arrived yet(Friday I hope) but here are a few of the sellers pics---

Holy crow!  Now there's a find!  I figured something existed, but I've not seen anything until now. Not even in some of my otherwise excellent DDR books.

Do you know if it has MdI or NVA mark?  MdI is what I would expect. Kinda looks like it might be for anit-riot purposes.

Steve

As soon as it arrvies will take and post loads of pics.

Arrived and weighs a TON,must be near 35kgs. Pics on the way.

Each individual part has a white Ink Stamped box with what looks like NVA,1958 and some other stuff but mostly unreadable unfortunately.

Cool. Looking forward to it.

Steve

Sorry I cannot get any clear pics of the Inkstamping thanks to my rubbish camera but will give it a go again.

Well, I'll be dipped. I'd no idea such a thing existed. There can't be many of these floating around out there, as not only have I never seen one, I've never even heard of one and  it is entirely possible this item has never been documented before...
I wonder. Trials/test piece?
Hmm...looks like the standard NVA stamp, NVA/Facility#/quarter and year code

This is really interesting. Thanks for sharing.

Martin wrote:This is really interesting. Thanks for sharing.

My Pleasure.

That is an amazing bit of kit you have there Gulf. If you ever get tired of it I could send you a container load of stuff to replace it

Can you read ink stamp? It looks like:

NVA
1958
????

The third line is the one we need to determine the date. But one interesting thing is that this is an Army item. I figured it might have been MdI, but it obviously isn't. And looking into the strange overlapping fiber panels it doesn't look like riot protection after all.

This is a very strange item, that's for sure!

Steve

CollectinSteve wrote:That is an amazing bit of kit you have there Gulf.  If you ever get tired of it I could send you a container load of stuff to replace it

Can you read ink stamp?  It looks like:

NVA
1958
????

The third line is the one we need to determine the date.  But one interesting thing is that this is an Army item.  I figured it might have been MdI, but it obviously isn't.  And looking into the strange overlapping fiber panels it doesn't look like riot protection after all.  

This is a very strange item, that's for sure!

Steve

Will try my best to decipher the markings as they are on the 3 individual items.

Also wonder what the words BESPA mean on the label on the carry bag?

I will probably at some stage move it on as only bought it out of curiosity but would estimate that it weighs in the region of 35Kgs,maybe more so shipping would be a KILLER.

Congratulations on this magnificent piece.
It is in very good condition, have commented ciomo thought it would be the MDI, but surprise is the NVA.
Dating from 1988, the 1958 is the manufacturer.
Really curious garment, I hope you do not mind if I include it in a post for the blog I'm doing about strichtarn accessories.

Cool... 1988 confirmed! I figured it would be very late in the DDR's existence.

Gulf91 wrote:Also wonder what the words BESPA mean on the label on the carry bag?

Yeah, I tried looking for info on that and came up with nothing.

I will probably at some stage move it on as only bought it out of curiosity but would estimate that it weighs in the region of 35Kgs,maybe more so shipping would be a KILLER.

It would be horrid from any country, but the UK is amongst the most expensive per KG in my experience. High postage costs is the reason for my modest body armor collection. Covers are one thing, soft inserts another, hard plates even more, but all three? I've only punished my wallet a few times for such things. I'd make an exception for this one as well

Steve

spukmeyer wrote:Congratulations on this magnificent piece.
It is in very good condition, have commented ciomo thought it would be the MDI, but surprise is the NVA.
Dating from 1988, the 1958 is the manufacturer.
Really curious garment, I hope you do not mind if I include it in a post for the blog I'm doing about strichtarn accessories.

Carlos,by all means feel free to include it in your blog.

Thank you very much mate.     

CollectinSteve wrote:Cool... 1988 confirmed!  I figured it would be very late in the DDR's existence.

Gulf91 wrote:Also wonder what the words BESPA mean on the label on the carry bag?

Yeah, I tried looking for info on that and came up with nothing.

I will probably at some stage move it on as only bought it out of curiosity but would estimate that it weighs in the region of 35Kgs,maybe more so shipping would be a KILLER.

It would be horrid from any country, but the UK is amongst the most expensive per KG in my experience.  High postage costs is the reason for my modest body armor collection.  Covers are one thing, soft inserts another, hard plates even more, but all three?  I've only punished my wallet a few times for such things.  I'd make an exception for this one as well

Steve

Same for us here in the UK wanting to buy from the US,some extortionate postage prices and on top of that then get hammered with Import duties,various other charges including a rip off courier handling charge from most companies which is a shame as I used to years back buy a fair bit from the US,no more Im afraid.

Having said that,recently used FEDEX using a third party and was quite surprised at their prices,MUCH cheaper than Royal Mail.

Unfortunately in España goes well, the shipping charges are expensive, it costs less to buy a cap in Germany to buy in Spain.
In USA I have seen very interesting things, but shipping charges have slowed me much.

The killer comes from things like a shirt or a pair of trousers. Not too bad if you send bigger stuff on a per KG basis. But still, UK prices are way higher than everybody else. For example, to ship a 20kg box to Belgium it's about $145 USD and $175 to the UK. Ouch.

Steve

                

It's All Too Much