canteen strap

[rebelfirefighter07]

I bought a new Cincinnati Depot Canteen made my Axel Ulrich. The cotton strap is marked O. HOLDEN & CO. and is sewn together in two places. I need to shorten the strap so that it will ride right. Wambaugh & White states on their website that the strap on the Cincinnati had a roller buckle. Question is which would be "more" correct, add a roller buckle to my strap or just shorten my strap and sew it back together? My assumption is that both are probably correct but I'd like any opinions.

Also if I go the roller buckle route. What size buckle would I need? Also would the strap have had just one adjustment hole or multiple holes?.

I've tried to look at some original pictures but I can't find any that show a complete strap. They mostly focus on the canteen itself. Thanks for your time.

[GreencoatCross]

Re: canteen strap

Andy,

The original Cincinnati Depot canteen that we based our reproduction on has a roller buckle added to the strap after issue. It is crudely sewn into place and holes were poked in the opposite side of the strap with something like a pocket knife. Keep in mind that this is a soldier modification and not issued with the canteen. A large portion of original Cincinnati straps are white or off-white linen, folded and machine sewn with brown or white thread, with contract stamps appearing around summer 1863 but rarely prior to this time.

Sewing the strap, knotting it, or adding a roller or wire prong buckle are all authentic, documented ways of shortening your canteen strap. Roller buckles and wire prong buckles are available through a number of sutlers; just measure the width of the strap and make sure the inside of the buckle is wide enough to accommodate.

[rebelfirefighter07]

Re: canteen strap

Brian, thanks for clearing that up. Your site was the first reference I've seen to a roller buckle on a canteen strap. Do you have any idea who that original canteen was carried by? Thanks again.

[GreencoatCross]

Re: canteen strap

Andy,

Unfortunately the original is not attributed to a particular soldier. There have been other original canteens with roller buckles or prong buckles that show up at relic shows, dealer websites, or eBay from time to time but those also lack provenance.

[roundshot]

Re: canteen strap

As Brian suggested, try knotting your strap like shown on the PA Bucktail statue at Gettysburg.

[Jimmayo]

Re: canteen strap

http://www.angelfire.com/ma4/j_mayo/cscanteen.html

http://www.angelfire.com/ma4/j_mayo/uscanteen.html

One page shows a strap with a buckle and the other shows several Cincinnati Depot Canteens.

[dixieflyer]

Re: canteen strap

OK, thought about asking this in a thread by itself, but will go ahead and ask it here. I have a leather canteen strap that I got from Chris Schreiber oh so many years ago, but just never used it. Guess I was waiting for the "ultimate" canteen on which to place it. Were these straps an issue item on Federal canteens? If so, are they associated with one manufacturer, depot, etc. especially? Sorry for the dumb question, and yes, I know I should get the canteen book (I love books!), but being unemployed at the moment a $40 book on canteens is just not on my list right now.

Thanks!

[tsgalloway]

Re: canteen strap

Prior to June of 1861, Philadelphia Depot supplied all canteens to the US Army. ALL of these canteens had leather straps. From June 1861 through early 1862, 300,000 canteens were supplied by Philadelpia Depot. Half of these were leather and the other half were cotton duck. Cotton/linen became the US military standard in August of 1862 and were issued continually by this depot through the end of the war.

NY Depot produced leather straps for their canteens in the first months of the war. After August 1861, the majority of NY contractors produced canteens with cotton straps.

In July 1862, St. Louis Depot ordered 45,000 canteens with leather straps from Jewett of NY. After this period, most procured canteens were with cotton straps.

In late 1862, Cincinatti depot ordered from Jewett as well. These canteens had cotton straps (that's not to say that all canteens from this depot were cotton).

I hope this helps.

[dixieflyer]

Re: canteen strap

Tristan, it helps a great deal. Thanks for taking the time to reply.

[tsgalloway]

Re: canteen strap

No problem.

[hireddutchcutthroat]

Re: canteen strap

I just cut my sling in two and just tied it with a square knot. Quicker, easier, and a whole lot stronger than cutting and resewing a sling.