There are at least three types of Fallschirmjäger Splittertarn uniforms

Hi all,

Today I received a uniform that has been on the very top of my Must Have List for many, many years; a 1956 BW Fallschirmjäger Narrow Splintertarn uniform. Yippie

Despite having seen very nice pictures of the uniform before I purchased it, I missed the fact that the jacket is a type I have not seen before! After some more checking and double checking I have come to the conclusion that there are three distinctly different FJ uniforms:

1. Green Splinter (plastic zippers)
2. Blue Splinter (same as above, but with metal zippers)
3. Broad Splinter (different cut than above two)

Before today I've only seen Blue and Broad, never Green. Here are pictures of each:

Green Splinter:


Blue Splinter:


Broad Splinter:


Now I have to find a Blue Splinter top and a Green Splinter bottom. Maybe in another 10 years?

Here are pictures of the Green Splinter top, Blue Splinter bottom, and a Spanish 1st Model Paracaidista uniform. As you can see, the Spanish uniform (late 50s, early 60s) is an almost identical copy.

luckyyyyyyyyyy, wish I knew where to get all these nice patterns, I live in the middle of yuppiesville where everyone the same, the nearest surplus store is a good hours drive either to NYC or upstate. Ah some guys have it made.

Very cool, Steve! One of my favourite German patterns!

Do you know if there's anywhere I can obtain a commercial version of splittertarn (or something close to it)? I'm looking for a "unique" hunting pattern to get as a gift for my dad this fall when deer season rolls around.

I believe I have seen jackets in a pattern similar to this sold as "BGS parkas" or something along those lines?

Simply outstanding Steve !!!

Camo_fiend wrote:

I believe I have seen jackets in a pattern similar to this sold as "BGS parkas" or something along those lines?

BGS is a similar, but different camo that was used by the West German Bundesgrenzschutz (Federal Border Guards). It was based on the splintertarn, but is unique.

Here is my BGS shirt.

The nearest surplus shop to me is 45 minutes away. Every once and a great while I get one or two interesting things there. But for the most part it is through eBay, contacts, and trading partners. The days of finding kit like this in local shops is long gone.

STURM makes Splittertarn stuff, in the Wehrmacht style (slightly different than Bundeswehr), in a BDU cut. Other than that, there are the tons and tons of different knockoffs of WW2 items out there, mostly from China. Nobody has made commercial items of Bundeswehr Splittertarn. But with prices for beatup jackets and trousers going for $150-$200 you would think there is a market for them now!

Steve

The BGS pattern is actually exactly what I was looking for, actually! Not the splittentarn, as I had thought. Thanks for the info MG!

Steve: I agree completely about the days of finding "good stuff" (for the most part) in surplus stores nowadays are over... The closest thing to a "rare" find I've ever had was seeing a beat-up Portuguese camo shirt that for a split-second I thought was some other pattern until I got a closer look at it.

Absolutely fantastic Steve! Super sweet score!

I must say though, maybe it's the colors on my computer monitor, but your new smock looks like the blue tint version to my eyes. Am I missing something?

You really need to get the OCD under control, as trying to find another one of these just because it has metal zipper pockets instead of plastic, might just be pushing your luck.

Mike

I stumbled upon my own thread while doing a Google search. Hate it when that happens Since I'm here, I might as well post a pic of my Blue Splinter jacket:



Steve

That BGS jacket is not a variant of the splinter, but of the WW 2 water pattern.
I used to have a set of the splinter dated 1959, don't know if it is still around or long gone?
Sarge

--Second pattern looks like it inspired the Swiss.

Steve, thank you for sharing/posting again!

I now know exactly the extent of my shortcommings as a camo collector!

amazing uniforms
makes me happy to see them...

i think this is an early BSG... not mine, but apparently extremely rare, this is from one of our "anonymous" great collector

Sarge wrote:That BGS jacket is not a variant of the splinter, but of the WW 2 water pattern.
I used to have a set of the splinter dated 1959, don't know if it is still around or long gone?
Sarge

Splinter was made from 1955 (supposedly, yet to see any) through 1957. It was officially dropped in 1959, though worn until the mid 1960 here and there. I've never seen any pieces made 1958-1959, and I've seen the labels of probably 100+ items (I check every piece that comes up for sale on eBay). So it's likely your set was 1957 since a 7 can look like a 9 very easily with these old labels.

The BGS Splinter was probably issued in 1957 as part of a trial which eventually led to Sumpftarn. I've never seen anybody produce an exact date, but the long standing assumption that these were issued in the early days of the BGS (1953 on) appear to be incorrect. There's very few pictures of these things in use and the other elements in the pictures suggest mid 1950s, not earlier. Certainly they weren't issued on any scale other than a few units.

Steve

CollectinSteve wrote:Broad Splinter:

Steve, this jacket really intrigues me. Any chance of a photos of the rear, label and zippers please ?

Cheers,
Dave

top tear stuff

These are outstanding. It's hard enough to find a nice standard army version, but paratrooper models, in this condition? And three of them?

You disgust me Steve...

Once again proving why John was the leader and, by far, the most interesting of the Fab Four

Steve