Original Item: Only One Available. This is a very nice lightly used example of a German WWII Issue M31 canteen water bottle rig, maker marked SMM 44 on the steel cup and SMM 45 on the canteen. Referred to in German as the Feldflasche Modell 1931 (Field bottle model 1931), these are usually found made of aluminum. However towards the end of the war, Aluminum, which was never plentiful in Germany, was in short supply, so the cups and later bottles were switched to enameled steel, with a red primer coat and olive top coat. The inside of the water bottle itself is green, while the outside just has the red primer coat.
The set comes with the correct steel screw top cap, a genuine wool cover with four snaps, and a steel cup. This is held together by the standard black leather belt harness, which has a painted steel belt hook on the back for attaching to the combat rigging.
SMM is the maker mark for Süddeutsche Metallwarenfabrik, Mussbach. The top cap still has the rubber sealing washer, though we cannot guarantee it still holds water. The canteen does have a small spot of the red primer on the exterior visible but the canteen itself still retains nearly all of the green paint.
Condition of the set is very nice, showing only light use if any.
Comes more than ready for further research and display.