Manufactured from 1941 through 1945, the "Oak Leaf" pattern was created by streamlining the "Blurred Edge" pattern for faster production, with "Type B" being a further simplified variant introduced in 1943. This pattern of camouflage cap was reportedly designed to take advantage of the scrap materials produced during the construction of camouflage smocks, and is often associated with hot climates and hard labor; prior to the cap's introduction, one can see pictures of SS men wearing their camouflage helmet covers sans helmet in the summer. While effective, a tightening of resource and a reduction of smock production (and resultant salvageable scrap) led the cap to be phased out towards the end of the war, limiting overall production. The exterior is a black/green/brown "spring" pattern, with a set of two stitched vent holes on each side and a soft board reinforced visor. The underside of the visor and interior of the crown are a reddish-brown/black "autumn" pattern, with a stitched cloth sweatband. While the cloth is double-sided, the cap itself is not designed to be reversed. Notes from the consignor attribute the item as being formerly of the Blake Collection, which in turn attributed it as an item captured from an SS depot somewhere near the Bavarian/Austrian border
Very good, with some tiny holes concentrated on the visor and minimal wear overall. The vent hole stitching still shows a line of thread connecting the front and rear holes; this would likely be an artifact from the machine stitching process. A very small amount of staining is present on the sweatband.
There are currently no customer product questions on this lot