The
Fieldbottle M31 comes in many variations.
The standard Fieldbottle had a 0.8 litre aluminium bottle, with a black
painted aluminium drinking cup (Trinkbecher).
The felt cover was intended for insulation (when
made wet, it cooled the contents of the bottle).
On the picture
below a few variations can be seen :
from left to right, top to bottom
Normal issue
aluminium bottle with black painted aluminium cup (black leather)
Normal issue aluminium bottle without green painted aluminium cup (brown
leather)
Late war steel enamelled bottle with bakelite cup (brown leather)
Late war (44) steel enamelled bottle with olive green steel enamelled cup
Late war (45) steel enamelled bottle with bakelite cup (different felt
cover)
1 Litre aluminium bottle with bakelite cup
(black leather)
1 Litre aluminium
bottle with bakelite cup (tropical webbing)
Standard field bottle (tropical webbing)
Wood impregnated Afrika Korps Field bottle (bakelite cup)
Below the front and the back side of the standard Field Bottle.
As
per regulations the belt loop of the cup should be in front, however it is
also seen that
the handles of the cup are in front.
Below some pictures of the cup which demonstrate the way the handles are folded.
On the picture below the rest of the parts are shown.
From left to right:
- Felt Cover
- Aluminium Canteen
- Straps with buckle, carbine hook and lid
The feltcover can be opened by 4 push buttons
Below a few details of the felt cover are shown, including the PRYM buttons.
Left, 2 of the push buttons, the upper one opened.
Below, a close up of the PRYM button.
Left , the felt cover turned inside out.
Clearly visible are the felt
reinforcement parts for the
leather tabs and for the stud at the bottom.
Also visible some sort of makers stamp (448)
Below left: a close up of the stud used to secure the straps.
Below right: the straps attatched to the stud
Below some detail pictures of the straps and bakelite lid
Finaly, on the pictures below is shown how the fieldbottle is attached to the breadbag.
The late war variants, and tropical / webbing versions will be dealt with in another section.