Original Item: Only One Available. Fantastic condition body armor Steel breastplate. This plate has three additional high quality replacement interlinking abdominal and groin plates, all connected by two canvas straps, and suspended from the wearer’s shoulders via the fitted curved panels attached to this breast plate. Each plate had additional rectangular-shaped blocks of thick felt added to deaden contact noise between the plates.
This example of a breast plate with shoulder attachments features the original dark grey painted finish and is free of dents and defects. This First World War period German Army armored breastplate of the type initially issued to front line troops in 1916. The complete equipment weighed between 20lbs and 24lbs (9kg and 11kg), reflecting the two variant sizes produced; 500,000 sets were issued to men on the Western Front. Capable of stopping low velocity fragments and shrapnel, the Sappenpanzer (trench armour) was, due to its weight, only practical for troops on sentry duty and machine gunners operating in static positions and was designed to be used together with the armored brow plate that hooked on to the steel helmet.
This is a rather rare item to come across and is more than ready to be displayed!