French webbing

[rullow]

Bonjour mes amis

I ve decided to put together the photos of the webbing I ve ollected during the years.... maybe it will help somebody....but more I believe that your comments will help me to adjust it to perfection

list is below - its from 1950s to 1980s.... comment is on each photo....







thats how it looks like when taken out from a locker....







this first set is MAS49/56 shooter - late Algeria/kolwezi suitable.... I am thinking on adding the "pochette de secours" either on the bayo or the X straps...

this set is made out of TAP47/53 belt, 50/53 X straps, 50/53 pouches and grenade pouch and early MAS49/56 bayo - brown leather... I think that its maybe way too complex for algeria- often I dont see any pouches or streps or max 1 set of pouches with mags stuffed in the pockets either snapped to the straps/belt







this second set is a MAS36 shooter - its a standard leather equipment used through indochina and algeria and even afterwards.....

there is a mle52 canteen which suits better for algerian period..... sometimes I do replace it with british M44 canteen to fit better for the earlier periods....

question is if to add any kind of knife/bayo to it.... since mas36 comports it own bayo its not necessary but it seems that this set up is very pure...







this is the setup for my Indochina -1952 and later - MAS36 shooter (also usuable for a carbine).

This set comports - US M36 belt, TAP50 pouches (wider wire loops), early TAP50 canteen and TAP50/53 X straps (i do have only those - correct TAP50 are extremely scarce)

I d like to add to it M3 knife and perhaps a first aid pouch










this one is a not yet finished set for Kolwezi - now I have TAP50/53 belt, MAt49 pouch and MAT49 tools pouch, butits missing too many things - one MAT49 pouch, Mle52 canteen and its pouch, first aid pouch and some sort of bayo - I d like to add to it a remington 17 cutaway bayo.....







this a webgear meant to be for either an officer either a machine gunner with AA52 for Algeria,

the belt is RAPCO + there is a pouch for MAC50 mags + pouch for the pistol, also you note the later version of TAP50 canteen.... only M3 bayo will be added to this impression (well also a gun if I ll ever find one)









those two photos show the beginning of M1 carbine equipment for ALgeria..... later I ll add to it TAP50 canteen (later version already on its way to me) and also a M4 bayo.

The M1 carbine pouch is a french modified US







this set is for MAT49 shooter - later Algeria... you can see TAP50/53 belt, M52 canteen, MAT49 mag pouch and M3 bayo (the blade is a copy - not so hard to get a real deal but price tag on those is insane) + small pouch for MAT accesory (oil, loading tool, cleaning tool)







here is the most tricky one - ots meant to be a webgear for a paratrooper around 1950.... as you can see the belt and canteen are repros (at least a belt will be soon replaced) + two M1 us french modified carbine pouches + M45 suspenders - and here comes the question -do you think that these are OK? i ve got them directly from France and the story told is that those came from indochina.... well since I am not strong believer I do doubt a bit about it - even thougt it came from good friend of mine who did get them from a family with an ancestor who fought at DBP... but anyway - I found only one photo where I can see M44 suspenders - so the question is to leave as it is or perhaps use it for some later impression - ALgeria perhaps?

and last piece of this webbin is modifier remington 17 bayo.







thats my favourite webbing - MAT 49 shooter late indochina..... as you can see the first aid pouch is not correct ad has been replaced already.... + you can see TAP50 belt - perhaps non officialy issued copy, MAT49 pouches - earlier type, TAP50 canteen - early type, + M3 bay and its scabbard (both a copy).. nothing to add to this - perhaps only change a scabbard for a real deal one...







thats the newst set of french webbing I posses - its for FAMAS - you can the late type of canteen - black plastic cap + 4dot cover, FAMAS mag pouch + updated first aid pouch? ... its missing the FAMAS bayo that will hopefully come some day..... it could serve as a basis for Lebanon 1992 impression





and as a last one a standard MAT49 leather equipment - nothing special here - M52 canteen - older type pouch without wire loops (my suspection is that it is TAP50 pouch with a replacement bottle)

representative for ALgeria and with another bottle perhaps also for the end of indochina..... however I cant recall so much pictures of it being used there.... brittish Mle37 pouches are more common in indo - as it seems to me....









If you have any ideas of what should bechanged/replaced - it strongly welcomed... the helthy criticism is necessary for an improval...



Have a nice day



Jakub

[lew]

How did I miss this? The admin on this forum should be flogged.

Nice assortment. The French had some great web gear. Even the leather gear is comfortable and well-thought out. The only pouches I haven't bothered to collect are the TTA Mle. 45 SMG mag pouches.

[rullow]

well I have some thing I dont like on those - from leather gear everythinkgs keeps slipping off when its on side where is no buckle..... other from that its quite OK...
however RAPCO withs suspender is like a net of snakes when you try to put it on with pouches loaded....
also putting a mle51 canteen on RAPCO belt proved impossible... well drillbit and hammer solved the problem in the end but now nobody can take it down

I only miss MAS38 leather pouches but since I never saw any photo of anybody wearing it - I dont care


now its to finalize those sets to make it ready to "grab and go"

[hoover]

Nice!

[earlymb]

Unfortunately this topic is useless without the photo's... Any chance they can be uploaded again?

[lew]

He checks in regularly, so we'll see if he notices. If not, I'll PM him.

[earlymb]

Any chance the original pics can be re-uploaded?

[rullow]

Hi, sorry for late reply....
I ve uploaded the pictures once again, however I dont have time to reattache them to the description.
Till the end of the year I should be able to make many of those webbings substantially better since I acquired some period OK cutting tools

[earlymb]

Thank you!

[Kenneth]

In the 12th and 13th photo above, if I counted correctly (almost identical photos), is that a .45 magazine or .30 carbine pouch that has been modified with an added d-ring?

Never mind! I read the description in the first post. But while I'm at it, have you ever seen any British P-37 pouches modified in any way as may have been used by French forces?

[earlymb]

It's a standard WW2 first pattern US.30 carbine pouch modified by adding a D-ring indeed, I believe the French never bothered to design/produce their own pouch for the .30 Carbine magazines. They did make their own pistol ammo pouch, which was a close copy of a British Made US .45 pouch.

I've never seen French-modified P37 webbing myself.

[rullow]

I disagree,
french made the copy of m1 pouch - www.leboncoin.fr/collection/1470449064.htm/
its suitable for late algeria when they ran out of the original stock I guess....
However the mines are modified US WW2 by addition of the D ring as was already mentionned.

So far I saw Pat37 mag pouches modified the way you can hang them on the US or leather belt without the suspender - there is very simple grommet added on the rear side of the pouch....
you can see it very frequently on Marine commandos in indochina......

[earlymb]

I stand corrected

But with modified US ones you can't go wrong.

There was a P37 Basic Pouch that could hang from the belt without the braces, it has a wide webbing loop at the back. It was intended for drivers and motorcylists.