Original items: Only One Lot of 4 Available. A canteen is a reusable drinking water bottle designed to be used by hikers, campers, soldiers, bush firefighters (including non-potable water), and workers in the field in the early 1800s. It is usually fitted with a shoulder strap or means for fastening it to a belt, and may be covered with a cloth bag and padding to protect the bottle and insulate the contents. If the padding is soaked with water, evaporative cooling can help keep the contents of the bottle cool. Many canteens also include a nested canteen cup.

Primitive canteens were sometimes made of hollowed-out gourds, such as a calabash, or were bags made of leather.

Later, canteens consisted of a glass bottle in a woven basket cover. The bottle was usually closed with a cork stopper.

Designs of the mid-1900s were made of metal — tin-plated steel, stainless steel or aluminum — with a screw cap, the cap frequently being secured to the bottleneck with a short chain or strap to prevent loosening. These were an improvement over glass bottles, but were subject to developing pinhole leaks if dented, dropped or bumped against jagged rocks.

Contemporary designs are made of plastic (especially polyethylene or polycarbonate), titanium, aluminum or stainless steel. Double-walled metal canteens keep their contents hot or cold. Single-walled metal canteens are generally lighter and have the advantage that they may be placed over an open fire or stove to sterilize water or prepare hot beverages.

Hunter-gatherers in the Kalahari used ostrich eggshells as water containers, puncturing a hole in them to enable them to be used as canteens. The presence of such eggshells dating from the Howiesons Poort period of the Middle Stone Age at Diepkloof Rock Shelter in South Africa suggests canteens were used by humans as early as 60,000 years ago.

The Canteens In This Lot:
- WWI German East Africa Campaign M1915 Feldflasche: The M1915 Feldflasche is actually a variation of the M1893 Feldflasche, although due to the shortage of aluminum, the M1915 was first constructed of tinned steel, but the tin wore away quickly and rust in the water was a problem, so construction moved to enameled steel. The basic canteen shape remained the same as the M1893, but the cork design changed to stamped steel caps instead of the aluminum pull. These canteens would have covers made from Steingrau or Feldgrau wool, brown corduroy or even ersatz papercloth, with full or simplified leather harnesses.

This example is in wonderful condition and still retains much of the original impregnated type coating that was coated on the outside of the canteen. This would have been ideal in the African climate and aided in keeping the contents somewhat cool in the hot sun.

- WWI German Officers Private Purchase Glass Canteen With Removable Tin Cover: Now this is a strange one for sure! The origins of this feldflasche is most certainly of German origin and has the WWI style suspension hook. We have not been able to locate another example like this one, making for a wonderful research opportunity!

- French Model 1935 Canteen “Bidon”: At the start of WWI the Metropolitan troops were using the 1 Liter Modèle 1877 Bidon, which was covered in dark blue cloth while those forces in North Africa were using the 2 Litre Modèle 1877 Bidon which was also covered in a dark blue cloth. The French military had thought that 1 liter was enough water to carry while on campaign as they could get re-supplied with water easily but as the war went into trench warfare re-supply became an issue and getting water to the front became difficult so then by 1915 ALL French forces started to get issued the 2 liter version.

The model 1935 was essentially the same as the 1877 model but without the second spout for increased airflow and had a khaki cover. The canteen body itself is in good condition without any major issues, however, the original cork stopper now appears to be stuck inside of the canteen itself and the felt cover has extensive moth damage to it.

- German M31 Canteen by Eduard Sommerfeld of Berlin and dated 1942: Although the .8 liter capacity M31 Feldflasche (Field Bottle) canteens were the standard issue canteen, field medics (Sanitäter) and medical personnel were issued a larger, one and a half to two liter capacity canteen that was based on the larger canteens used by their WWI counterparts. These larger medical canteens, called Labeflasche (refreshment bottle), were of identical design to the standard M31 canteens but came equipped with a different carrying harness and shoulder strap assembly. They were also utilized by Gebirgsjäger (Mountain Troopers) during the war.

Originally the mountain troops/medical canteens were manufactured in aluminum but later as the aluminum was required for other more critically essential items the canteens began to be manufactured in steel. With potable fluids being such an essential item for an individuals well-being the mountain troops/medical canteen must be considered as a very important piece of kit.

This is a very good example, featuring a bakelite cap as well as a black leather harness. The neck of the aluminum bottle is marked E.S.B. 42, as is the inside of the wool cover. This indicates manufacture by Eduard Sommerfeld of Berlin, Germany. The bakelite cap does have mold marks, which we are unfortunately not able to identify.

All straps, buckles and snaps are mostly complete. However, the leather is definitely degraded and stretched out, so we do not recommend trying to undo some of the buckles, as the leather may crack.

These are all wonderful canteens and come more than ready for further research and display.