Brown vs. Black Leather Gear

[hwolf]

The first of hopefully many articles.

The German Army began the war with fawn brown leather that was oiled for preservation. This gave a light to medium brown appearance to the leather depending on the tanning process and manufacture technique. This also included all boots.
With the onset of trench warfare, the decision was made by the high command in April of 1915 to have all Leather gear blackened to make it less conspicuous. (as part of an over arching uniform plan) Troops were ordered to blacken ALL existing leather gear with what ever was on hand. This included (from historical accounts) everything from boot polish to used motor oil.
With the order of 1915, manufacturers of leather gear were likewise to use up old stock and then begin producing leather gear in black.

The point of all of this is the following:
All of us primarily do a late 1918 impression in the Trenches at Ozena, yet LOTS of us are running around with early war brown equipment. Honestly, how much leather gear do you think was still brown by 1918, a full three years after the order was issued?
I would like to see us blacken our gear. A period correct recipe for this can be found at: www.dererstezug.com/blackeningboots.htm
It is a WW2 site but the process is cheap and CORRECT. Your gear will take on a Very dark brown/black appearance just like the real items. Use this method!
Have fun
Dan
German Authenticity Officer

[Marcus]

Cool. I think brown leather that has been blackened gives it a good, "been there, done that" look to it.

[Larry Dunn]

I used this method (steel wool & vinegar) to blacken my boots, and I was very happy with the results. Don't forget to wear gloves! And for the love of God, DON'T PUT MOTOR OIL ON LEATHER!

-Larry

PS-AH forces used oiled, natural color leather gear throughout the war. Boots were generally blackened, though this varied by unit and location and became less common as the war progressed.

[Wolfgang]

Regarding the order to German soldiers to blacken all leather gear, I had heard (but can't find a source at the moment) that this order was ignored by troops in the field. On a more practical note, it would require all whose who want to maintain both an early war impression and a late war impression to have two sets of leather gear, natural brown and blackened.

[hwolf]

The order was largely ignored initially BUT all manufacturers had to switch to the black, which means that any new items that were issued would of been black post 1915. So, since most of us do a late 1918 impression at Ozena, we should be at least 90% black leather gear if not 100%. I agree that we should have both early war and late war leathers. I do.
Cheers
Dan

[cplcampisi]

Jan 14, 2010 10:45:14 GMT -8 Larry Dunn said:

I used this method (steel wool & vinegar) to blacken my boots, and I was very happy with the results. Don't forget to wear gloves! And for the love of God, DON'T PUT MOTOR OIL ON LEATHER!

-Larry

At the time wouldn't motor oil have been caster oil? Or perhaps the Voltol synthetic (which I think is a kind of mineral oil). I don't know what kind of a difference that would make.

-Tony

[Larry Dunn]

Jan 28, 2010 13:11:20 GMT -8 cplcampisi said:

Jan 14, 2010 10:45:14 GMT -8 Larry Dunn said:

I used this method (steel wool & vinegar) to blacken my boots, and I was very happy with the results. Don't forget to wear gloves! And for the love of God, DON'T PUT MOTOR OIL ON LEATHER!

-Larry

At the time wouldn't motor oil have been caster oil? Or perhaps the Voltol synthetic (which I think is a kind of mineral oil). I don't know what kind of a difference that would make.

-Tony

Castor oil was used for aircraft (rotary) engines and two-stroke motorcycles where the lubricant gets mixed in with the fuel, but generally speaking, motor oil was the plain old petroleum-based stuff.

-Larry

[cplcampisi]

To the best of my knowledge castor oil was the preferred lubricant at the time, not just for rotary or 2-stroke engines, but I could be wrong. It may have been simply preferred for high-performance engines. I know it was used in Le Rhone style engines which *didn't* mix the fuel with the oil. I believe it forms gums, and is really only appropriate for engines that are overhauled often (as most aircraft engines at the time were).

-Tony Campisi