US waist belt

[musketbal]

I just recieced my leather order from Nick Duvall. He is definately the master of leather work, or at least one of the best. The US waist belt has a sewn keeper at one end. I know the belt threads through and the buckle is then attached to secure it around the waist. It just seems a real pain in the butt to the soldiers, and they would remove the sewn on keeper.
Am I doing it the hard way or is this just a pain in the butt? Also please excuse me if this is considered a dumb question. I have always portrayed Confederate infantry, Federal impression is new to me.

Thanks,
Brent Conner

[Curt-Heinrich Schmidt]

Hallo!

In brief and to over-generalize...

They are a pain in the butt.

With the preWar/early War large flat plate, the plate will not pass through the keeper.

The soldier had six options:

1. Take off and put the plate back on
2. Loop the belt and put it on like a girdle- stepping into it and pulling it up from the feet
3. Defying regulations and cutting off just the sewn loop
4. Defying regulations and cutting off the loop end entirely
5. Ignore the keeper and put the belt over it
6. Use the cap box loops to secure the end.

:)

Curt

[Arkansas Box Boy]

Brent,
you might check out this website:

http://www.angelfire.com/ma4/j_mayo/relics.html

Jim Mayo has some really great information regarding this topic as well as other things that might interest you...

Thanks!

[brown]

As Mr Mayo suggests on the above link, you could just ignore the loop and fasten the belt as if the loop wasn't there. He describes it as such:
"For those who have Paul Johnson's book on cartridge boxes, look on page 94. The young soldier in the photo is wearing his belt with the keeper behind the belt."

[musketbal]

Thanks for the help. So simlpe to fix. Just wanted to do the right thing. Nicks work is outstanding!!

Brent Conner

[Pvt Schnapps]

I soaked the loop in hot water and stretched it by stuffing sticks inside. I have absolutely no documentation for this practice, but I have a belt that I can wear the intended way and did not damage the captain's property.

[Curt-Heinrich Schmidt]

Hallo!

"I soaked the loop in hot water and stretched it by stuffing sticks inside. I have absolutely no documentation for this practice, but I have a belt that I can wear the intended way and did not damage the captain's property."

That will work if one has the later smaller "convex" plate. The earlier larger "flat" plate is too large for the size of the belt loop.

Curt

[Pvt Schnapps]

I'm not sure which plate I have: it's flat, 2 1/4" high and 3 1/2" long.

BTW, I'm not suggesting anyone else do this; I'm just making a confession to my fellow obsessives...

[Clark Badgett]

I have seen a couple of originals a few years back that had the loops removed. Here is where I say that common since can come into play. Soldiers in every war (and peace time) have a tendency to make minor mods to their gear and uniforms. That is how inprovements in feild gear come about.

[John McPherson]

I don't know, and maybe I'm just weird; but, I haven't really had any difficulty removing my puppy paw plate from my belt and reattaching it after threading the belt through the loop. The first few times were a bit of a hassle, but now my plate comes right off with the right outward twist and pull. I'd imagine trying to force any type of plate (flat or convex) through even a stretched belt loop would take more time than what I'm doing right now.

My only advice: break-in your belt over the next year and you'll be fine. Of course, if your plate has arrow-backs, you will indeed have a tougher time of removing the plate just by the very nature of the shape of the prongs. Puppy paw plates work just fine.

John McP