unidentified piece of kit

I fished this item out of a bin a the surplus store. I have never seen one before, but it is made out of the same vinyl as other BW kit from the 1960s-80s. Any ideas? Note that the belt loop is much too narrow for the standard BW webbing belt. The manufacturer is Wechner AG, and the date appears to be 1992. Unusually for BW stuff, there is no NSN. Overall dimensions are 7.5 X 2.5 inches.

Sure looks like BW. A commercial item wouldn't likely use that material and I really doubt they would date stamp it.

This might seem silly, but it could be for a BW cook. I recently got a whole bunch of butcher's stuff and I've seen the aprons available online from a shop, so the stuff is definitely out there. The tool rolls I have even came with an inventory printed on the inside to account for what all the pouches are for.

The narrow belt loop would fit with that concept. I was thinking a fillet knife. Having done my fair share of butchering I can see it being advantageous to have one on the hip.

Another option is perhaps a Naval deckhand knife. Check this one out:

http://www.kotte-zeller.de/Original-Bundeswehr-Matrosenmesser.htm?websale8=kotte-zeller-shop&pi=29053

Again, narrow belt loop makes sense for something used for such a purpose. I can't see Navy guys running around ships with a full width combat belt on.

Steve

Thanks - these are good leads Steve.

This looks exactly like the current Swiss bayonet frogs.

Ghoward2 wrote:This looks exactly like the current Swiss bayonet frogs.

So what we have here is not German at all, but for a Swiss SIG bayonet? That would explain the German-language markings, but lack of NSN. The D-shaped cut-out is similar to other types of Swiss frogs. I should have noticed that in the first place. Thanks.

Damn! Yeah, I should have picked up on that too. Especially because Swiss and Austrian stuff constantly gets confused into the mix.

Interesting that the Swiss are using the same type of material as the BW has long since abandoned.

Steve

Looks like the Swiss picked a nice neutral shade of brown as well for this item.

It's a swiss bayo frog for the STG-57 bayonet.

http://www.zib-militaria.de/WebRoot/Store8/Shops/61431412/484F/8F32/2214/E946/103C/C0A8/28BA/98C8/782.jpg

Er... now that I see the picture I think I have one of those (I definitely have the older leather type). Oops That's the problem with collecting so much stuff over such a long period of time. The stuff that isn't central at the moment can get forgotten about.

Steve

This was a rookie oversight on my part. I had forgotten that the Swiss also used rubber/vinyl on their kit (which I don't really collect), and the design is obviously Swiss.

Yarp. They went from the leather model (which was very similar to the K31 frog) to this vinyl version as I'd bet it was much cheaper.

Not only cheaper, but Vinyl is also much easier to decontaminate when in a NBCW environment.