442ndRCT Soldier's Forum

The M1936 suspenders, the pictures I see have a 1943 date on them? I guess the 1943 is the mfg date?

ATF does a good job on their website showing the differences between a M1936 and M1943, they look very much the same at first glance

http://www.atthefront.com/us_gear_suspender.htm

As long as they are M1936 suspenders, all is good. Stewart's militaria had them on sale.

Mayo wrote:As long as they are M1936 suspenders, all is good. Stewart's militaria had them on sale.

The M1936 and M1942 suspenders at first glance look almost identical

1942 is the manufacture date. If it were design date it would be M1942 or M42 marked. Most likely those are M1936 suspenders. Most of the ones I've seen have 42 dates on them.

davep wrote:The M1936 suspenders, the pictures I see have a 1942 date on them? I guess the 1942 is the mfg date?

ATF does a good job on their website showing the differences between a M1936 and M1942, they look very much the same at first glance

http://www.atthefront.com/us_gear_suspender.htm

Dont quote me but I'm sure the M42 is just a collector's title. The "M42" (or M42) suspenders are a slightly more reinforced version of the 36's.

The difference is with the "D" ring attachment, the M1936 has two variations one using a metal bracket, where the M1943 has the "D" ring attached through the webbing without the extra metal. The ATF site shows pictures of both suspenders, see below.

To make matter worse the M36 has two variations



Here is the M1943

davep wrote:Dont quote me but I'm sure the M42 is just a collector's title. The "M42" (or M42) suspenders are a slightly more reinforced version of the 36's.

M stands for Model. The collectors picked that up from the military jargon of the day. Actually there is no such thing as M42 suspenders if I recall.

Those are both M1936 ones. The M44 or 45? ones are the ones you do not want. They are darker and different.

Thats right . . the Top Picture shows two variations of the M1936, the other picture is an M1943. I checked what I have and I have a pair M1936 so I good-to-go.

kanowarrior wrote:

davep wrote:Dont quote me but I'm sure the M42 is just a collector's title. The "M42" (or M42) suspenders are a slightly more reinforced version of the 36's.

M stands for Model. The collectors picked that up from the military jargon of the day. Actually there is no such thing as M42 suspenders if I recall.

Tim, I meant the suspenders themselves were probably just a different production of '36's but collectors would term them "M42s" because of the date of production/introduction. The only ones I know of are 36's and the later transitionals.