Bundesgrenzschutz Feldflasche, BGS Canteen
This item item was issued to every BGS trooper. It is the , Bundesgrenzschutz Feldflasche, better known in English as a Field Canteen. The canteen bottle and cup are both matched and are dated 1974.
This style of canteen was adopted in the 1960's, replacing the earlier German WW2 styled canteen and cup. These new style canteens were used extensively through the 1970's and on into the 1990's. A number of German Police departments also issued this style of canteen, as well as the THW (Technisches Hilfswerk). The canteen was designed to clip on to the outside of bread bag, next to the mess kit, or to hang from the belt on a D-ring loop.
The design of this canteen is quite unique and has not been duplicated by any other country. This is a bit surprising as this is a great design with some well thought out design details. The complete canteen assembly consists of an aluminum bottle with double-cap, an aluminum cup and a heavy leatherette cover with clip hanger. The cap consists of a large screw top with a built in small cap opening. You can imagine how this really makes this canteen bottle much more versatile, not to mention easier to clean! The cup has folding wire handles and an insulating plastic plate on each side of the cup lip. This protects the user from getting burned lips when drinking hot liquids! A very cool design feature! The cup can be removed without removing the bottle, by simply unsnapping the cover and pulling the cup down.... another nice feature.
The design of this canteen is quite unique and has not been duplicated by any other country. This is a bit surprising as this is a great design with some well thought out design details. The complete canteen assembly consists of an aluminum bottle with double-cap, an aluminum cup and a heavy leatherette cover with clip hanger. The cap consists of a large screw top with a built in small cap opening. You can imagine how this really makes this canteen bottle much more versatile, not to mention easier to clean! The cup has folding wire handles and an insulating plastic plate on each side of the cup lip. This protects the user from getting burned lips when drinking hot liquids! A very cool design feature! The cup can be removed without removing the bottle, by simply unsnapping the cover and pulling the cup down.... another nice feature.
Bundesgrenzschutz Feldflasche, BGS Canteen
Here is another version of the BGS canteens. This one is not dated, but is marked "BGS". These canteens date from the 1960's to 1970's, and judging from the material used for the cover, I would guess it was from the 1960's. The fabric cover is a polyester knit cloth with a fuzzy fleece type lining. The straps are cotton webbing with leather ends. It has a synthetic zipper with metal zipper slide, as opposed to the all snap version cover on the canteen pictured above.