Original Item: Only One Available. This is fantastic "salty" heavily service worn mid war M43 Heer Feldmütze (Army Field Cap), faintly marked 60 on the interior. It is constructed of wool gabardine cloth, with fold-down panels with squared scallops to the front and forward sides, covering the entire neck on the sides and rear when in use. When not in use, the panels are raised with their ends resting upon the visor, being joined together by two magnetic pebbled buttons. The visor is reinforced with cardboard, and covered in matching gabardine cloth, and is now quite "rippled" due to wear and moisture exposure.

Sewn in place in the front of the cap is a Heer cap insignia trapezoid constructed of BeVo style machine woven grey and green embroidered threading in the shape of a standard eagle over an embroidered cockade. This patch is stitched through to the interior of the cap, so the original badge may have needed replacement due to wear. The interior of the cap looks to be olive rayon, which is now worn. There is a faded size 60 on the top, as well as what looks to be a very faded RBNr. business number.

Condition of the cap is definitely "well worn", with wear through the fabric in many areas, and some possible moth damage. The rayon lining shows quite a bit of deterioration along the forehead area. Looking under the fold down side panels, you can see the original color and texture that the cap had before staining from use and exposure.

Overall, this is great "salty" wartime used M43 Heer field cap with LOADS of history! We rarely see period caps with this level of patina. Ready to display!

The M43 Feldmütze (Field Cap) is a variety of "Ski Cap" and was based on the Bergmütze (Mountain Hat) used by Austrian and German Gebirgsjäger (Mountain Troops) during WWI. Germany had adopted it in 1915, and after the war it spread throughout the military.

The skirt that surrounds the cap is made in the same wool as the cap, and can be folded down over the ears, though this was rarely done outside of the Mountain troops, which had a double-thickness skirt. The skirt has a small dip in the front quarter with a divide secured by one aluminum button which is covered by an embroidered cockade. The small section in the front quarter was built shorter to show the insignia, and cover the wearer's chin or mouth, without disturbing breathing by covering the nose. There were also later M43 caps, such as those used by the DAK, that omitted the skirt entirely, as it had little use in the desert heat.