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Patterned straight from
WWII shleter halves.
No corners are cut.
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Fabric shades mixed
just like on originals
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Brass grommets
are made by Scovil.
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The "US" is stenciled
and heat cured on
one side.
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New, USA made reproductions of the shelter half issued to US troops during WWII. This is the 2nd model, in olive drab no. 3, and both ends can be closed. These can be combined with a second half to make a pup tent. These appeared late 1943 and were far more practical by being able to close both ends of one's tent. Why this seemingly simple innovation required the US Army 40 years to employ is yet another mystery lost to history.
Our shelter halves are made by us, in our own factory in Columbia, Ky. The canvas is American made, and is the same weight as the originals, (which actually vary quite a bit), water repellent, and professionally dyed and finished. We sew them with custom olive drab cotton wrapped thread from American and Efird, on period Union Special brand double needle chain stitch machines. We take more care than they did in WWII to make sure our buttons and buttonholes are consistently spaced, and all grommet and guy line attachment points are reinforced like the originals.
As in WWII, our fabric rolls exhibit some shade differences, so we intentionally mix these to give the patchwork appearance found on the majority or period examples. Lastly, our hardware consists of Scovil brand brass grommets, and original WWII 13-stars tack buttons, which were occasionally used on WWII production examples.
Complete tent (2 shelter halves, poles, pegs and ropes.)
This listing is for ONE shelter half. It takes 2 to make a tent.
Made in USA
Notes:
1. Price: Yes, our shelter halves are more expensive than those made in Pakistan and China- this is the cost of American versus Asian manufacture.
2. Each soldier was issued ONE shelter half. He was then to combine his with those of his fellow troops to pitch their tents.
3. Ropes, guy lines, poles and pegs sold separately.
4. Approximately 9 ft x 4.5 ft.
Getting the peg ropes though the grommets
I found this to be a real S.O.B. of a job at first. After couple minutes of consternation, I double checked our rope and grommet sizes against the originals to be sure we hadn't measured incorrectly as it appears there is no way these will fit- but they do. Following more head scratching, I had a Macgyver moment and found a solution:
I'm not sure if this is the "1942 approved" method, but it works well. Use a standard G.I. shoe lace, feed it through from what you want to be the outside of the grommet (right and left halves will need to be threaded opposite from one another), loop the rope through it, and use the shoe lace to pull the rope through. You will still need to compress the rope at the tip as much as possible with your fingers, but this works far better than fingers alone. Once the rope is through the grommet, then knot each end to prevent it from slipping out or fraying.
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Feed shoe lace through
the grommet from the
"outside"
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Compress the end as
much as possible to
start it through
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Pull through
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Knot the ends
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SHOPPING BAG ()
270.384.1965