Gentlemen:
With rare exception I have great confidence, if not absolute certainty, in my identification and characterization of my Vietnam bringback firearms. For too many reason to elucidate now the same cannot be said about many of the pieces of Vietnam bringback militaria in my collection. This is the first in a number of threads where I would like to solicit the opinions of the Vietnam vets who encountered, and sometimes brought home, the gear and uniforms used by the VC and NVA, as well as my fellow collectors who share my passion for these bits and pieces of history.
Among the most common pieces of web gear used by our enemies in Vietnam were the iconic ammunition and magazine chest pouches, or rigs. As a result many were captured by our soldiers and Marines and many were taken home as souvenirs. I have quite a few of these rigs and every time I open a box or look in a closet I find a couple I purchased decades ago.
Most chest pouches, whether for the Type 53 or 1944 Mosin, the SKS, or the AK, were manufactured in China and provided as war aid to their allies in North Vietnam. Seen far less commonly are those rigs purported to be made in local Viet Cong workshops, in North Vietnam, or other Combloc sources. The following two rigs are definitely not the typical made in China examples and I welcome your thoughts and comments.
The first piece, with the blue plastic toggle closures, was sold to me by a Vietnam vet who stated that he personally picked it up off the ground and brought it home. No exciting story of adventure and bravery. He saw it lying on the ground in an area where gunfire was exchanged and he brought it home as a souvenir.
Blue plastic toggles and fittings are commonly regarded by collectors to have been made in North Vietnam. The cotton webbing cloth is neither the tan color seen on early Chicom equipment nor the dark green later made and issued by the Chinese. As you can see from the photos it's a green shade, perhaps with bluish or grayish tones. I'm at a loss to accurately describe the color so I'll ask you to weigh-in with your thoughts.
The shoulder straps are very much atypical. Usually the straps are made of the same, or a very similar, cotton web material as the rest of the pouch assembly, but the shoulder straps on this rig are made of a tightly woven "seatbelt" material. The two straps that tie around the waist are made of the more expected cloth webbing.
The quality of construction, the workmanship involved, appears to be a bit less than is seen in the mass manufactured Chicom web gear. That said, this piece, is much, much better constructed and designed than what emerges from the VC cottage workshops.
I do believe that this rig, with the blue toggles is a wartime bringback and based on what I have learned from other collectors I do furthermore believe that it probably was made in North Vietnam.
1
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2
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2a
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3
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4
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Please note that on the backside, middle panel, there appear to be some markings written in ink. They are barely visible and I simply lack the computer skills to do much more than apply a tone filter to try to make them more apparent. Not much of a change:
5
![Image]()
Translation or interpretation of these markings would be greatly appreciated.
The second piece, which I suspect is a crudely made Viet Cong rig, will be detailed in the post to follow.
Thanks in advance for your comments.
With rare exception I have great confidence, if not absolute certainty, in my identification and characterization of my Vietnam bringback firearms. For too many reason to elucidate now the same cannot be said about many of the pieces of Vietnam bringback militaria in my collection. This is the first in a number of threads where I would like to solicit the opinions of the Vietnam vets who encountered, and sometimes brought home, the gear and uniforms used by the VC and NVA, as well as my fellow collectors who share my passion for these bits and pieces of history.
Among the most common pieces of web gear used by our enemies in Vietnam were the iconic ammunition and magazine chest pouches, or rigs. As a result many were captured by our soldiers and Marines and many were taken home as souvenirs. I have quite a few of these rigs and every time I open a box or look in a closet I find a couple I purchased decades ago.
Most chest pouches, whether for the Type 53 or 1944 Mosin, the SKS, or the AK, were manufactured in China and provided as war aid to their allies in North Vietnam. Seen far less commonly are those rigs purported to be made in local Viet Cong workshops, in North Vietnam, or other Combloc sources. The following two rigs are definitely not the typical made in China examples and I welcome your thoughts and comments.
The first piece, with the blue plastic toggle closures, was sold to me by a Vietnam vet who stated that he personally picked it up off the ground and brought it home. No exciting story of adventure and bravery. He saw it lying on the ground in an area where gunfire was exchanged and he brought it home as a souvenir.
Blue plastic toggles and fittings are commonly regarded by collectors to have been made in North Vietnam. The cotton webbing cloth is neither the tan color seen on early Chicom equipment nor the dark green later made and issued by the Chinese. As you can see from the photos it's a green shade, perhaps with bluish or grayish tones. I'm at a loss to accurately describe the color so I'll ask you to weigh-in with your thoughts.
The shoulder straps are very much atypical. Usually the straps are made of the same, or a very similar, cotton web material as the rest of the pouch assembly, but the shoulder straps on this rig are made of a tightly woven "seatbelt" material. The two straps that tie around the waist are made of the more expected cloth webbing.
The quality of construction, the workmanship involved, appears to be a bit less than is seen in the mass manufactured Chicom web gear. That said, this piece, is much, much better constructed and designed than what emerges from the VC cottage workshops.
I do believe that this rig, with the blue toggles is a wartime bringback and based on what I have learned from other collectors I do furthermore believe that it probably was made in North Vietnam.
1
2
2a
3
4
Please note that on the backside, middle panel, there appear to be some markings written in ink. They are barely visible and I simply lack the computer skills to do much more than apply a tone filter to try to make them more apparent. Not much of a change:
5
Translation or interpretation of these markings would be greatly appreciated.
The second piece, which I suspect is a crudely made Viet Cong rig, will be detailed in the post to follow.
Thanks in advance for your comments.
👍
