Original Item: Only One Available. This is fantastic "salty" heavily service worn mid war M43 Heer Feldmütze (Army Field Cap), which looks to be in size 56cm. 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.

This is one cap that we really wish could "talk", so it could tell us what it is lived through to require the repaired cross-shaped tear on the top, as well as another that apparently cut all the way through the left side of the fold down neck cover! It has seen enough service to wear away much of the fuzzy "nap" that originally covered the surface, giving it a great look that is simply impossible to duplicate.

Sewn in place in the front of the cap is a Heer cap insignia 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 original to the cap and is machine sewn to the outer fabric only. There is also a spot on the left fold down flap where it looks like some kind of badge was held in place for a long time, later removed, as it is much less worn, and the original stitches are still present.

The interior of the cap looks to be olive rayon, fairly standard for these caps, though there is for some reason a rectangular piece of cardboard was stitched to the front interior. This could be to protect the forehead for some type of badge that was later removed, however we cannot find any evidence that one was installed.

Condition of the cap is definitely "well worn", with the previously mentioned repairs, and the interior and exterior showing discoloration and wear to the fabric. 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 that the cap was before staining from use and exposure.

Overall, this is a wartime used M43 Heer field cap with LOADS of history! We rarely see period repaired 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.