Description
Product Description: A desirable, and early war, M40 Blurred Edge Camo SS Smock in overall excellent condition. This M40 Blurred Edge Camo SSmock is made of lightweight cloth, which was printed with the “Blurred Edge” camouflage pattern consisting of a “Summer” and “Fall” side. The smock colors remain vibrant on the fall side, and slightly muted on the summer side. This earlier model features vertical slit pockets and was produced without foliage loops. Foliage loops were not added to smocks and helmet covers until 1942. This one is not a “depot queen” smock, and appears to have seen field use, which is evident by a few field repairs that appear to have been done at different times, with three different colors of thread. The repairs can be seen above and below the left pocket, and also above the right pocket. Both sleeves have the correct “selvedge edge”. The elastic cuffs are still fairly flexible, and each has small repairs to areas of the seams. The elastic waist band is also still slightly flexible and, like the cuffs, has a few minor seam repairs on each side of the smock, right where a combat belt would force most of its weight on while being worn with combat gear. Correct double needle stitching on the side seams of the smock. The lower edge is nicely hemmed. The laced front closure has one L-shaped repair on the bottom of the summer side. The eyelets are hand stitched. The lower corner of the fall side closure has become partially unstitched, roughly 1″ in length. Drawstring is a replacement. As is typically encountered with SS Camouflage, more than one piece of fabric was used in the construction of the collar on the summer side. The SS wasted nothing if they could help it. If scraps could be used, they used them. With its genuine field wear and appearance, while still being in nice condition, M40 Blurred Edge Camo SS Smock will make a great Waffen SS combat display in any collection.
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Historical Description: The use of camouflage by the German military began with the institution of the Splintertarn Shelter Quarter, or “Zeltbahn”, in 1931. In 1937, the SS began trials for a reversible camouflage pattern fall/summer, with the SS-VT Regiment “Deutschland”, resulting in a patent the SS would control for the remainder of the war. Production of SS camouflage then began in 1938, producing reversible helmet covers, zeltbahns, and limited quantities of smocks. As the war progressed, the SS began to utilize the combat smocks more frequently, and was constantly experimenting with different colors and patterns. This resulted in roughly eight different patterns of camouflage, ranging from the earliest “Plane Tree” pattern to the very last pattern, “Leibermuster”. Today, with the help of records, period photos, and other research, collectors have been able to determine the individual camouflage pattern’s scarcity. The Waffen SS camo has become one of the most iconic visions of the elite German Soldier of World War 2, which has resulted in the demand for original SS camouflage to continue to grow in desirability and value.
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