US issue canteen reproductions

[J.H.Berger]

Fellows,
for quite a while I was making up my mind why there is so little demand for authentic and good quality US issue tin canteens. George McGillis used to make some pretty good ones, although the collars still would have needed improvement and the spouts should have been soldered from the inside, which were made made of hot dipped tin. But apparently due to little demand is not making them any more. I still read the bees wax issues from time to time. Something that would not be necessary if correct hot dipped tin was used.
People are asking for clothes being made after contractor or arsenal patterns, leather accoutrements should be made like the sample of contractor so and so but nothing like that concering the ever present tin canteen. Why?
As far as I know there is no real authentic issue canteen being made at the moment and it seems that nobody is interested in such an item. Of course hot dipped canteens are more expensive but that is the case with every authentic item we use.
I am curious about the opinion of the people on thsi board.

[LibertyHallVols]

Re: US issue canteen reproductions

Perhaps it is because canteens last a while. I have two Federal canteens. One is a good reproduction I got in about 2000, the other is "so-so". My "good" canteen is starting to show its age and will need to be replaced in the next few years.

Other reasons might include the now-tired mantra of a down economy, shrinking hobby, etc. Back when I got my canteen, there was a lot of "chatter" about them, about who made correct canteens, and even those who could "defarb" them, just like we defarb muskets today (Liberty Mfg., if I recall correctly). The hobby was expanding and interest in the authentic side was exploding.

[GrumpyDave]

Re: US issue canteen reproductions

I have two Federal canteens, neither are hot dipped, neither have beeswax linings. both are at least 15 years old. I take care how I store them and clean them before and after every event. In both cases, the canteens are older than their slings.

Just like in 186x, not all canteens were hot dipped; not all canteens had beeswax linings, and not all soldiers took the same amount of care with their equippage, just like re'nacters.



But, all of that's been discussed at length here, ad nausium.

[Lucky]

Re: US issue canteen reproductions

While i can't comment as to why nobody is making them, I will say that if they were available, I'd buy one.

You never have enough good canteens.

[JimKindred]

Re: US issue canteen reproductions

Jan,

If there were a large enough demand for such an item someone would already be producing them. As it is now it isn't worth the investment someone would have to make to produce them.

[Curt Schmidt]

Re: US issue canteen reproductions

Hallo!

It is an interesting question.

I don't know, and maybe some "canteen makers" can answer. Is it that there is only ONE maker/stamper of "smoothside" or "bullseye" canteen halves out there that every maker buys their "blanks" from?

Repro canteens tend to all be the wrong shape and dimensions.
The "hot dipped" thing is trying to make the silk purse. Meaning, we have makers NUG taking electro-plated sheet steel that is "dipped" in a molten bath substituting for the old, messy, and expensive-to-reproduce Period process (black plate pickled, cold rolled, and close annealed) used to make Period tin plated sheet iron.
Plus the Cincinatti Depot type tin spouts on all depot and contractor made canteens that should have pewter ones.

Curt

[J.H.Berger]

Re: US issue canteen reproductions

Jan,

If there were a large enough demand for such an item someone would already be producing them. As it is now it isn't worth the investment someone would have to make to produce them.

That is exactely the point I meant Jim. Why is the demand so small? There is a demand for good unifroms , defarbed muskets good accoutrements and even the long neglected footwear but apparently not for canteens.
The reason why I have started the thread is really why the demand is som small.

[LibertyHallVols]

Re: US issue canteen reproductions

Let's see...
I posted a poll on this topic:

http://www.authentic-campaigner.com/forum/showthread.php?35308-US-Canteens-Guaging-Demand

[JimKindred]

Re: US issue canteen reproductions

Jan,

If there were a large enough demand for such an item someone would already be producing them. As it is now it isn't worth the investment someone would have to make to produce them.

That is exactely the point I meant Jim. Why is the demand so small? There is a demand for good unifroms , defarbed muskets good accoutrements and even the long neglected footwear but apparently not for canteens.
The reason why I have started the thread is really why the demand is som small.

The majority of buyers do not see the differences as that big a deal in the overall scheme of things would be my best guess.

[David Fox]

Re: US issue canteen reproductions

My Federal canteens are...Federal canteens. Over the years I picked up abused-but-sound Indian or Span-Am War (what are generically called) M.1885s. These are nothing more than reworked M.1858s, smooth and ring sided. Heated off the sling swivels and restored the canteens to their pre-1866 specs with strap guides made of folded tin can metal, soldered on. Covered them with the sound portions of motheaten WW I era Navy or Army blanket. There should still be some half-way reasonably priced ugly M.1885s out there, too hideous to be particularly collectable in their own right.

[faabala]

Re: US issue canteen reproductions

I've had the same repro federal canteen since 1981. Still sound and not rusty. It is as good as anything made in the last 15 years. It has been re-strapped, recovered and re-corked numerous times. If well drained and stored upside down with a dry paper towel in the spout it will last another 30 years.

A really good Cincinnati depot with tin spout would be nice.

[Curt Schmidt]

Re: US issue canteen reproductions

Hallo!

While I understand the different needs of differing Mental Pictures on the Sliding Scale of Imperfection, and what works for folks, but trying not to read or sound as snarky but in the spirit of the thread- I have to ask...

How is electro-plate canteen of the wrong dimensions and shape "as good?" As good as other electro-plate canteens of the wrong dimensions and shape, and maybe also spout if non Cincy Depot?

Curt

[JimConley]

Re: US issue canteen reproductions

I’m surprised that no one has mentioned Mike O’Donnell’s book yet. Great resource! After I read that book, studied the photos, etc, I found that many of the better reproductions were simply incorrect in more ways than I had previously realized. As Curt has mentioned, the shape and body aside, a lot of the problems lie with the spouts.

This is actually a topic that a messmate and I have been discussing for a few years, especially since O’Donnell’s most recent book.

Jan,
I, for one, am on the same page with you. It’s difficult to get guys to purchase a proper coat that costs several hundred dollars. But, I would think that something basic, like a properly made canteen, would have been something folks would have a higher demand for.

On John Wickett’s attached poll, there was talk that a properly made canteen in the $50-$75 would be fair and sought after. I realize after buying canteens better than most (yet still off the mark) in the aforementioned price range that adding a cover and proper sling will easily put the finished product in the $100 range. I don’t think that price is gonna scour. A properly cared-for canteen will last a LONG time. I’d have no issue paying over $100 for a properly made canteen that is true its original despite the additional cost to cover it and add a sling. Even a grand total of $200 for a finished product would be worth the years I would get out of it, others will disagree.