Chinese field gear

[Woodard]

For those of you who know of "Hong Kong Keith", he has a run of Chinese WW2 gear on his E-bay store. For those of you who don't know of him, his stuff is cheap, although not the quality of more expensive retailers(second hand info). I hear really good things about his delivery speed and service, and I intend to order a WW2 Chinese impression and some US stuff as soon as I get paid on the 15th.

stores.ebay.com/ww2militaria-keith7524fnl

The Field gear is good for Korea, the bandoleer for riflemen and the leather chest pouches for SMG gunners.

[Woodard]

I got my Chinese bandoleer today from Hong Kong Kieth. No lie this thing is like 6 feet long, it must have 30 pockets. It's made to be worn however, with just the pockets that are easily reachable filled. It's pretty neat, even if it hangs almost to my knees when I wear it like a regular bandoleer.

[Glen K]

So it's definitely worth the bucks, then? And does it look like it would hold up to actually carrying ammo and lots o' rice?

I plan on ordering one soon, and probably some of their puttees too.

[Woodard]

I looks like it'd hold plenty of ammo, but I think you'd need another to carry rice. It's pretty well made and all. seems like I got some Khaki puttees cheaper from Ostfront for cheaper.

[Glen K]

Duh..... I already have a set of Ostfront ones sitting downstairs! Thanks for the kick in the head... Now what I really need to do is get the canteen and knapsack/breadbag thingy

[Woodard]

I've got a source for the modern canteens, I was thinking of getting a Japanese Khaki carrier for one. If I can find a way to do DVD stills I can post a pic of the Chinese old style canteen. As for the satchel the one shown is a Soviet WW2 shovel cover (Front of Russia has them IIRC), but a Japanese haversack would probably be good too.

[pop401k]

I was thinking...maybe it's supposed to be twisted into a figure "8" and worn arond waist and shoulder or around both shoulders... just a thought

John C.

[Woodard]

Yea, the one he sells is worn kinda like that, I usually wear it over one shoulder and then around my waist. If I try to just loop it over my shoulder it hangs past my knees. I've been trying to figure out how to get it to look like two bandoleers crossed over my chest, but then it's tied in all kinds of wierd knots on my back. I'll have to look at pics of guy's backs nd see if I can figure it out.

[pop401k]

Here's a site in Taiwan. Looks like they have lots of Nationalist (lots of crossover) items. I especially like the canteen...sweet!

WWW.FUKUO.TW/SHOP

[8mmzzs]

www.fukuo.tw/shop/

Actually the uniforms are more apple green (green yellow) color. I am not sure what actual color the Chinese wore during the Korean War though.

HKK is more khaki/ light tan colored which isn't quite correct for German trained Chinese units.

[pop401k]

UNIFORMS:
My original m-58 is an orangish khaki, not too different from a faded out Soviet color and not so different from the Nationalist Chinese uniforms (just a bare hint more green)... matches near perfect with the old WWII USMC wool shirt.

The budget minded CCF can use a khaki US BDU shirt with all pockets removed and buttons added to the front (breast pocket flaps too if you're serious)... that's a lot of work, but they are cheap enough to obtain.

CANTEENS:
You can find VC/NVA style canteens on ebay, which are not 100% accurate for KW period, but will do nicely. The FUKUO shop above has Nationalist canteens which would be perfect for our use, or you can also get repro Japanese canteens from ebay which also are correct.

BREADBAGS:
Repro Japanese bags are a near perfect match, as the old style Chinese bags have pretty much dried up. A cheap alternative is a Hungarian breadbag (you'll have to remove the loops on the front). These are available from: www.armysurplusforless.com for $12.99

BROWN LEATHER BELTS:
Exceptional quality, sturdy 1 3/4" belts are available from ebay seller: BOBKITCHENER for less than the Japanese belts from Hessen, and maybe FUKUO too when you add international shipping. I have one and it's "the berries", although I did replace the (soviet style) roller buckle with a US tyle "square" buckle.

I'll keep you posted on anything new I find that will help us look better and deliver a crushing defeat to the Imperialist armies .

[kampfer]

I say no to PLA 60's cannteen for KW use.
If you don't want to buy the one from FuKuo then I would go with a Jap one.
There were two kinds bandloeer, one piece and two piece. One from FuoKuo is twenty prockets one piece.
You will need two piece version to make a cross pattern on chest.
And bandloeer is for ammo, rice or ration go in the rice bag, FK has them too.
I won't use Russian gears because there weren't much around for the PVA.

[hqcdr]

Breadbag: The Fukuo copy is the best. It should be like a HJ or SA breadbag, which means non-removal type sling, and single loop on cover. Believe it or not, I used an original German HJ breadbag. IJA stuff is certainely ok. For budget minded, various Czech or Eastern European could work.

Canteen: Kampfer is right, enough said.

Messkit: I would go with NVA (Volksarmee, not PAVN) or Soviet. They are dirt cheap.

[kampfer]

Mess kit!? No, just use metal rice bow with chopsticks

[pop401k]

I can't recall ever seeing any kind of formal "messkit" in photos, but I don't think a metal rice bowl would work for cooking in either; it's too small and without a handle... I'm thinking that they used some/any kind of metal pot to cook in, but they had to use something, that's for certain.

Maybe all rations were cooked at company level and distributed... but then why have rice tubes? Hmmm... interesting subject, rationing for CCF!

What did the Nationalist forces use during WWII and after? That, or something similar, would probably be what was used in korea.

[kampfer]

Rarely see Nationalist soldiers had mess kit, a captured Jap one if lucky.
I use my metal field cup for eveything.
Of course bowl is not for cooking, it is for holding food.
There were cooking unit behind the line, if it is safe, they bring the food to the front line. Most the time it is not...only after sun set.
It was common for soldiers carry " fried rice " as ration, they would drip frie the rice in pork oil, dry it completely as ration.

[hqcdr]

Kampfer, true, a metal bowl would be more common. Yes, it is hard to cook in it because most likely they didn't. We are not GIs, who heat their own rations individually. One of the "cultural shock" of people in Taiwan in 1945 was seeing Chinese troops carrying cooking pots on their backs...something they never saw with the IJA.

[marsouin]

Check as well "Hiki1620" or "HIKISHOP" on E**Y.......For chinese and japanese stuff.

[redstar]

Photo on flickr showing Russian type backpack and KMT german type hide with hair backpack.

Gregg

[redstar]

Also there is a photo of a chinese mess kit from the Korean War museum in Seoul.