My full leather u boat commander hat

[Smithy]

Does anyone have a picture of a real leather jacket of the kriegsmarine ?
Just to be able to compare with the replicas available on the market.

If you go to the link I posted above to the post I made last year there's photos of both the deck and engine personnel variants.

 

[Micawber]

Brave men indeed, no doubt about it. However my personal sensibilities mean I
have no desire to dress in apparel that resembles their service gear. My reasons are purely personal and I fully understand others may feel differently.

 

[Smithy]

Brave men indeed, no doubt about it. However my personal sensibilities mean I
have no desire to dress in apparel that resembles their service gear. My reasons are purely personal and I fully understand others may feel differently.

I can understand that Steve.

Although if you were to wear a rollneck jumper and one of those "private purchase" jackets I wouldn't be surprised if you found a photo of someone on a Royal Merchant vessel wearing similar and especially on the Murmansk run.

 

[Officer Dibley]

I agree Steve. Whilst courage can be found widely, what motivates that courage can be questionable. The Kriegsmarine killed my great uncle. His warship was torpedoed whilst picking up survivors during an Arctic Convoy. As a stoker, he never stood a chance.
Revisionist history has all Germans as reluctant nazis just like all Frenchmen claim to have never collaborated and served bravely in the Resistance.
But as long as symbols or decorations are not worn, i’m personally ok with wearing what you like.
Sorry, back to hats & jackets
Dave

 

[Smithy]

I agree Steve. Whilst courage can be found widely, what motivates that courage can be questionable. The Kriegsmarine killed my great uncle. His warship was torpedoed whilst picking up survivors during an Arctic Convoy. As a stoker, he never stood a chance.
Revisionist history has all Germans as reluctant nazis just like all Frenchmen claim to have never collaborated and served bravely in the Resistance.
But as long as symbols or decorations are not worn, i’m personally ok with wearing what you like.
Sorry, back to hats & jackets
Dave

Sorry my comment earlier wasn't to excuse the side they were fighting on. I just find it fascinating that my granddad thought the men he was fighting were as brave as he did, especially when they were the scourge of the Atlantic. Then again seaman seem more ready to share a bond with those they fight, maybe because they both have the common enemy of the sea.

He'd actually been torpedoed at Jutland in the first show and spend 35 minutes in the drink before getting picked up. He'd told my Dad the thing that really terrified him was that he wouldn't be able to have kids, because when they fished him out his nuts were apparently the size of peanuts due to the cold!

 

[Officer Dibley]

No need to explain Tim. You are a good guy and i fully understood your drift
My comment was meant more as additive to Steve’s.
We all love the glamour that kit from both sides used but sometimes we need to remember what a total waste of life & resources war is. Even the good guys were made to be killers, shooting, dropping bombs etc.
Dave

 

[Kermit3D]

I agree Steve. Whilst courage can be found widely, what motivates that courage can be questionable. The Kriegsmarine killed my great uncle. His warship was torpedoed whilst picking up survivors during an Arctic Convoy. As a stoker, he never stood a chance.
Revisionist history has all Germans as reluctant nazis just like all Frenchmen claim to have never collaborated and served bravely in the Resistance.
But as long as symbols or decorations are not worn, i’m personally ok with wearing what you like.
Sorry, back to hats & jackets
Dave

For the French speakers, sorry for the others...

 

[ausreenactor]

I've talked about real U-boat jackets before here as they're a small, sideline interest of mine.

I've also mentioned that the real deal, those that have been on actual patrol tend to still stink now, even after all these years. U-boats were fetid smelling things, weeks and weeks of oil, diesel, farts, rotting food, sweat, piss, etc. A real deal U-boat leather coat would not be pleasant to wear.

The jacket above - if indeed it was ever used on patrol - is a private purchase jacket. There were two issued patterns of Kriegsmarine leather jacket, a deck jacket and an engine personnel jacket. Although private purchase designs were used they were by far the exception rather than the rule - Das Boot engendered the idea that deck jackets looked like the one above.

Be VERY careful if purchasing a jacket which purports to have been used on patrol. I'm not saying the one above necessarily wasn't (although I'm very sceptical due to condition and the lack of staining on the lining and some other things) but just because a crewman owned a leather jacket during his life doesn't mean it was the actual jacket he used on patrol during the war. These private purchase jackets were enormously popular in Germany pre and post war. It's also VERY common for people to assert they were used on U-boats.

Some say that the crews stink years after their service too!

 

[busdrivermike]

The reason I bought this hat was actually the 2005 King Kong movie
The captains hat stuck in my brain, only part of the movie that stayed
In my brain, this hat was basically perfect

 

[Micawber]

For the French speakers, sorry for the others...

A brief summary for the majority here who are not blessed with an understanding of the French language would surely be appreciated.

 

[Kermit3D]

A brief summary for the majority here who are not blessed with an understanding of the French language would surely be appreciated.

Sorry, it wasn't very nice of me to put a video in French and say: you'll have to deal with that !

It's an excerpt from a French comedy movie: OSS 117, which tells the story of a French "secret agent" in the mid-50s. This secret agent played by "Jean Dujardin" turns out to be proud, pretentious and especially full of misogynistic, racist or xenophobic prejudices.

In this excerpt, the secret agent receives information from his superior about a former Nazi who has a list of French people who collaborated with the Germans during the war.
The secret agent sneers and says that the list must not be very long... and he says: "Didn't General de Gaulle say that all the French had been resistant during the war?

Even if the subject is put in scene in a humorous way, it is finally rather revealing of the state of mind of many French after war.

 

[Micawber]

Sorry, it wasn't very nice of me to put a video in French and say: you'll have to deal with that !

It's an excerpt from a French comedy movie: OSS 117, which tells the story of a French "secret agent" in the mid-50s. This secret agent played by "Jean Dujardin" turns out to be proud, pretentious and especially full of misogynistic, racist or xenophobic prejudices.

In this excerpt, the secret agent receives information from his superior about a former Nazi who has a list of French people who collaborated with the Germans during the war.
The secret agent sneers and says that the list must not be very long... and he says: "Didn't General de Gaulle say that all the French had been resistant during the war?

Even if the subject is put in scene in a humorous way, it is finally rather revealing of the state of mind of many French after war.

Thank you kindly

 

[MikeyB-17]

Returning to Mike’s hat, I really like that, but not sure I could get away with it-and it’s a lot of coin. Not so sure about some of the designs further down the page!
I once went to a fancy dress do . The theme was ‘what were you doing when the ship went down?’ I went as a U boat captain-I spent weeks and several quid customising a Royal Navy cap, wore an old sweater, a leather pea coat and grew a beard. Wish I knew what I did with the pics.

 

[Officer Dibley]

The reason I bought this hat was actually the 2005 King Kong movie
The captains hat stuck in my brain, only part of the movie that stayed
In my brain, this hat was basically perfect
View attachment 56679View attachment 56680

The more i see of that cap, the more i want one !!

 

[busdrivermike]

The more i see of that cap, the more i want one !!

His Instagram page has many more colors and styles many non military style also he also
Uses old duffle bag and tent canvas and does phone cases and bags couple pics and link below

Rüdiger Gadde (@der_muetzenmacher) • Instagram photos and videos

1,534 Followers, 465 Following, 1,541 Posts - See Instagram photos and videos from Rüdiger Gadde (@der_muetzenmacher)

instagram.com

 

[Micawber]

The more i see of that cap, the more i want one !!

Go for it Dave, I can just see you sauntering around Bury Market in one of those.

 

[Officer Dibley]

I don’t think a market town in rural Suffolk would be as accepting as blue collar Edmonchuck would be ....
Go Oilers !!!!
Though i recall you laughing at my B-2 cap Steve, just before you went and bought obe ! Lol

 

[Micawber]

On the contrary, I believe I was first

 

[asiamiles]

The hat is from a German company [snip]

View attachment 56646

And the jacket...? Lovely patina, and a nice design too.

 

[busdrivermike]

And the jacket...? Lovely patina, and a nice design too.

The jacket is a vintage unlined deerskin shirt I found at a thrift store a few years ago
Built for motorcyclists, zipped sleeves and sides, underarm gussets snap down collar.
It’s wears like a loving hug the deerskin is fantastic thick but soft.
Mexican in origin I think from the tag
T