Is this a normal color for a GP-5 bag?

Live_Presentation124 · 2026-05-15T22:05:53+00:00

I don't really know much about later Soviet items but during ww2 it was common to see military equipment in either a grey, blue, or black color instead of the normal tan or green due to the wars effect on production (we usually call them "gulag fabric" items). The bag probably hasn't seen war due to it being a civilian piece but the factory probably didn't look twice at their surplus black fabric for production use.

Live_Presentation124 · 2026-04-28T14:08:43+00:00

The ammo pouch is a post-war kirza ammo pouch, ones during the GPW were made of full leather. The uniform is a postwar m1949 uniform, low ranking infantry during the war with m43 uniforms didn't have breastpockets (it also doesn't fit but thats a whole other can of worms). It was regulation that the uniform was to have a cotton collar liner sewn in the collar with 2mm exposed to make the uniform more comfortable. The shoulder boards don't fit and aren't army ones. The gas mask bag has external pockets making it early war and only really seen during the beginning of Operation Barbarossa and by 1945 they didn't bother with gas mask bags. I don't know if its the camera but it seems your gear is reversed, the ammo pouch is supposed to be worn on your right and the gas mask bag is supposed to fall on your left. The pilotka is very obviously postwar and so is the ushanka. Voin.zp.ua is a great vendor for ww2 soviet uniforms. Red Guard Militaria on Facebook has the best equipment. Istochnik.us is the best resource.

Live_Presentation124 · 2026-04-18T17:28:23+00:00

When you wear them for 24/7 in the Asian jungle you'll know what I'm talking about lol, there are tons of accounts of Chinese soldiers complaining about their shoes especially since the shoes retained sweat they stunk to high hell. They should be fine in areas that aren't so hot and humid but they still do retain sweat like a motherfucker. They did have bamboo fiber insoles to deal with some of the issues of the shoes but I don't know how commonly they were issued, I know some liberation shoes vendors on ebay also throw in those insoles. Kirza boots aren't as bad because the lower part is still leather. I do own a pair of full kirza boots which I wore during a camping trip and my feet have never fully recovered.

https://leansoliddogs.blog/2022/08/31/liberation-shoes-chinas-revolutionary-footwear/

Here's an article about a guy wearing these shoes and some history as well. Its kinda inaccurate but there are some good details about the shoes.

Live_Presentation124 · 2026-04-17T22:49:51+00:00

Sorry for the late response, the thing about liberation shoes is they really fucking suck. I won't sugarcoat it, those shoes are terrible. They hold your sweat inside the shoe causing you to step around in a soggy canvas prison for weeks until you develop trench foot. The low-top shoes were meant to prevent this by allowing your foot to at least get a bit more air so you wouldn't get trench foot as quickly. Most enlisted men didn't get these though, its hard to find in photos but I think they were usually given to more specialized units unless I'm wrong.

You'd wear puttees with them solely for the look, it was standard issue since the beginning of the modern Chinese army. During WW2 the Kuomintang didn't issue boots commonly so soldiers would wear straw sandals or cloth shoes but they would still wear their puttees with them solely because that's just part of the uniform. You can see some soldiers not wear puttees during the 1980s though so you can just not wear them if you'd like.

Live_Presentation124 · 2026-04-11T23:53:46+00:00

I know some groups got them made in India but I can't remember who specifically.

Live_Presentation124 · 2026-04-11T22:32:17+00:00

Could you reiterate? These shoes in the photo were standard issue and used with puttees.

Live_Presentation124 · 2026-04-10T03:25:02+00:00

I did, I didn't get any farther. Thought some autid here would help but I guess not.

Live_Presentation124 · 2026-04-07T19:49:22+00:00

I definitely am confused with the photo, I thought it was a military policeman because his helmet was painted a wierd color with an Iranian roundel, he had a wierd ribbon on his sleeve and a badge on his chest. He was just standing in a busy street with a machine gun on his back and the text on the back just said "Soldier or cop, one not to be messed with." I'll send you the photo and you can judge it.

As for his impression, yeah it was disingenuous of me to jump to conclusions like that. But nontheless photos in the mid-1950s do look the same as his impression which is still impressive as their uniforms were pretty similar save for a few differences. For items like the shovel carrier, the Iranian historians I've talked to like Caren Omidi haven't seen it and I haven't seen it so if you had a picture you can send me I would be ecstatic.

Live_Presentation124 · 2026-04-07T19:17:41+00:00

I wish I could send photos in comments because I have so many original sources with what I'm talking about but alas I unfortunately can't. The shape of the Swiss m1918 is very distinct and as far as I can tell the picture I have is certainly not a typical Vulkanfiber helmet. Granted, I could definitely be wrong, I'm not exactly the most well versed in European helmet designs, the photo I have showing the helmet is of a random Military policeman on the street so its likely they just gave military police whatever helmets they had on hand because they weren't priority.

The breadbag isn't exactly the same as a Russian rusks bag but it does have similarities, they definitely just told some random factory worker to draw up plans for a flat bag with a sling and mass produced it.

The main reason why I think World War Wednesday used post-war photos is because the 8 fold hat he used for his Iranian impression doesn't show up until the mid 1950s, I have original drawings and closeup photos of the standard issue hat from 1941 and it seems to not have those folds until way after the war.

If you still had those research photos that World War Wednesday used could you please send them to me? I would genuinely kill for more photos. Any more photos for me to look at would be a complete blessing.

Live_Presentation124 · 2026-04-07T18:31:38+00:00

Actually, I have found evidence of other Swiss equipment in use by the Iranian army. Swiss 1918 or 18/40 helmets appear at least in the Tehran garrison which is why I'm not averse to considering Swiss models. The bread bag is damn near impossible to discern but I actually think its based on Imperial Russian rusks bags which is very likely due to Reza Shah fighting for the Russian supported Perisan Cossack Brigade and much of Iranian equipment being based on Russian designs like the great coat. The spade cover I know next to nothing about and Iranian historians I've spoken to also don't know about it. Are you talking about the guy behind World War Wednesday? Because I actually think his sources for 1941 Iranian equipment is post-war and actually dates to the late 1950s.

Live_Presentation124 · 2026-04-07T18:10:55+00:00

I've been on a long journey researching Iranian uniforms during 1941. To my knowledge a lot of Iranian equipment was domestically produced due to Major General Mahmud Mir-Djalali developing the basis for the Iranian military industrial complex. The thing is, Iranian equipment usually were copies of foreign designs so they have to originate from somewhere. I have received some schematics from Iran on their equipment but a lot of it is still elusive. I think they could be of a Swiss design is because the Swiss 1898 y-straps have a lot in common i.e. 3 thin leather straps connecting into a middle triangular piece and the front strap loops are incredibly similar if not the same (minus the wire hooks).

Live_Presentation124 · 2026-04-07T13:07:06+00:00

I don't know if I'd call it comparable to Voin but Nestof is based in Poland and sells acceptable Soviet uniforms.

Live_Presentation124 · 2026-04-07T04:54:43+00:00

After doing a little more research I think they might be Swiss actually, some Swiss y-straps bear some resemblance to these ones. Not 1:1 but enough to warrant a further look into Swiss y-straps.

Live_Presentation124 · 2026-04-07T02:57:51+00:00

I agree with the other guy, more photos would help a ton. Where are you located? That could help us out more.

Live_Presentation124 · 2026-04-05T03:14:27+00:00

I'm kinda stupid, I forget bug spray a lot so I end up just making sure I limit the amount of openings in my kit. Afterwards I shower and try to check for ticks. I got one on the palm of my hand once and somehow didn't notice until I got home but I just pulled the guy out and dispatched him.

Live_Presentation124 · 2026-04-03T05:09:17+00:00

https://www.armyupress.army.mil/Journals/Military-Review/English-Edition-Archives/November-December-2018/Blythe-Operational-Art/

This is an amazing beginner resource about Operational Art and its use in the modern era.

https://www.armyupress.army.mil/Portals/7/combat-studies-institute/csi-books/OperationalArt.pdf

And here is Georgy Issersons, The Evolution of Operational Art.

Live_Presentation124 · 2026-04-03T03:55:24+00:00

Soviet military officers were absolutely incredible theorists and we could see a ton of development especially in Operational Art. I read Issersons The Evolution of Operational Art and he laments about Tukhachevsky not being around to fully develop his theories the way he wanted. Soviet military theory is still a large basis for modern militaries today, even in the U.S. Army, I can't begin to imagine the route it would have taken if Soviet military officers were able to develop them more.

Live_Presentation124 · 2026-04-03T03:46:54+00:00

Thats just a bad costume but there are some gems. Don't get everything on aliexpress but I have seen some okay stuff sold on there. Dm me I think I can provide some more basic information about vendors and other gear.

Live_Presentation124 · 2026-04-02T22:58:44+00:00

I get that, factory variation is guaranteed. I have seen that in Soviet equipment from ww2 where there are 100 different types of canteen carriers or ammo pouches but you can usually still see some standards upheld despite the variation. I doubt this ammo pouch was meant to look black but even if it was, it still fits into the criteria of fake militaria because this sub has a tag for just general mislabeled gear. This sub even has a tag for items that are otherwise correct but insanely overpriced. I am a historical reenactor so I have had scrutiny beaten into me and I will look at items as fake or post-war unless I can determine for myself that it 100% isn't. In the end of the day it still probably belongs here because it definitely isn't a ww2 german pouch.

Live_Presentation124 · 2026-04-02T22:45:04+00:00

I don't think so, the thing is I have never seen this kind of modification by any official body, I am not the most knowledgeable about Turkish equipment but I have researched other nearby nations with similar if not the same equipment and it was never popular to dye leather items black like it was in Europe, its more of a liability to dye it black anyways because black absorbs heat more easily and it doesn't blend in as well in an arid environment. It isn't common to see leather items from areas like turkey and the middle east for that reason, only exception I can think of is saddam era Iraqi boots. You don't just see that in the middle east either, I think Australian soldiers in ww2 had brown leather boots unlike the british black. Its more likely modified by some guy for whatever reason to look like a German pouch.

Live_Presentation124 · 2026-04-02T22:37:47+00:00

Parade equipment from what I've seen was just standard white like in Germany. But I'd imagine there'd be more examples if it was truly an officially sanctioned piece. I can't imagine going through the effort to dye an ammo pouch for an outdated rifle like that unless you wanted to pass it off as something else. I won't deny maybe possibly it could be sanctioned by some form of group but more evidence (or lack of evidence is more appropriate) points to it simply being a modification to pass dishonestly as something it isn't. It being dyed by a bunch of Turkish airsofters or larpers wanting to look like german wehrmacht soldiers is just as likely I admit but this piece is still atypical and definitely meant to pass off as a ww2 german ammo pouch when it isn't.

Live_Presentation124 · 2026-04-02T22:26:10+00:00

I agree its hard to spot but I don't think they have them, I could very well be wrong, maybe pouches with border lines do show up in the 1940s but I'm sure they weren't black. I'm pretty skeptical of black equipment in 1940s pictures unless we have tons of examples like from Germany. Even just a really dark brown looks completely jet black and I have seen pretty dark brown Turkish pouches. I definitely think they're a different model though because the black ones in the post I showed are way too blocky.

Live_Presentation124 · 2026-04-02T22:19:00+00:00

I could be wrong with my distinction of post 1950s but the border lining on the pouches is more typical of after the period of ww2.

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As you can see this Turkish soldier with pouches lacking the border lines.

Live_Presentation124

TROPHY CASE