Club Obi Wan

Recently won an unissued MkVII off ebay and it arrived today!







It's wrinkly, stained and beat up looking and therefore perfect
I've no reservations about chopping the stitches on the strap when my Todd's gear arrives. I must admit it's a lot smaller than I was expecting...maybe the screen really does add ten pounds!

All I need now is some artifacts to fill it

Looks good, do you mind if I ask you the price?

I paid £26 in the end. Probably a bit over the odds, but it was the first time I've used ebay and I guess I got the 'must win' blinkers on.
Either way, I'm happy with it

Good price $11 cheaper than WPG. Can you PM me the seller if he has any more?

Looking good Dekker. Looking good.

Nice Newey snaps too!

Regards,
Swindiana

Hmm I really shouldn't have time off work...

Dekker,
I think we may have bought from the same guy on ebay. Mine is identical to yours.

G-MANN wrote:Mine is identical to yours.

What...on fire?

Also, I notice the O rings have blackened like mine. You can always cut the rings off and replace them with new ones. That will leave the strap untouched. Indys bag had shinny new ones so I am guessing that is what they did on his.

No, not on fire, yet

You got a great deal Dekker. I've seen original's like that go for over $100 USD. Well done!

Dekker wrote:Hmm I really shouldn't have time off work...

the bag looks nice. To get rid of wrinkles you can fill it of light (but big) books and leave books in it for a couple of nights. It helps a lot

PS i've always spent 40-50 euro (about 50-60USD) shipping included for all the MKVII i've owned and i've always thought they are overpriced. Too many indynuts around the globe made these bags very expensive in these last years

They are also one of the favorites of terrorists for packing explosives in.

G-MANN wrote:They are also one of the favorites of terrorists for packing explosives in.

I definitely think that 98% of the overprice is dued to Indyfans and 60% of them are COW people

That is preferable

We can only blame ourselves for the high price of MKVIIs!

erri_wan wrote:
I definitely think that 98% of the overprice is dued to Indyfans and 60% of them are COW people

I def agree with that erri, I didnt even know about the MKVII until I found this forum. At least they have them at a decent price, it is from WW2

When I got into this part of the hobby back in 81/82, these bags were available for anywhere from 3 to 6 dollars a pop....depending on condition. They were everywhere. I even read where some folks just gave them to others because they were so easy to get hold of.

Boy, haven't times changed!!

Regards! Michaelson

They used to have them at all of the Army Srplus stores here in Chicago for about the same price.

...or gas mask bag. Sorry to rub it in guys, but in the UK unissued examples or these are still surprisingly common. They go for as little as £5 - £10 (about $8 - $16) in surplus shops, so someone is making a big profit.

Alan

Doesn't surprise me one bit, my friend!

Regards! Michaelson

Me neither... *Sigh* And I haven't even been around that long.

Regards,
Swindiana

G-Mann,

Replacing the rings sounds great; where do you find them, and how do you install?

Looks like the original rings are welded or soldered.

Split rings (like for keychains) would be simple, but I don't think they'd look accurate.

Thanks,
Indy45

You can find them at hardware stores. You may have to cut through with a hacksaw and spead it open wide enough to slip the canvas on the bag through then pinch them shut again. I have seen some O rings that were already open. I can't remember where I have seen them though. I will do a search and see if I can find them and repost.

G-MANN wrote:Dekker,
I think we may have bought from the same guy on ebay. Mine is identical to yours.

Who is your eBay contact? I had a bad experience with a seller on eBay last year who took my money and never sent me the bag, or answered my emails - and yet he continues to sell on eBay. Serves me right for buying through him without going through an eBay bid, robs me of the right to warn other buyers, bummer.

Little Venice wrote:

G-MANN wrote:Dekker,
I think we may have bought from the same guy on ebay. Mine is identical to yours.

Who is your eBay contact? I had a bad experience with a seller on eBay last year who took my money and never sent me the bag, or answered my emails - and yet he continues to sell on eBay. Serves me right for buying through him without going through an eBay bid, robs me of the right to warn other buyers, bummer.

His Ebay ID is Santi1. If you want the link from the auction that I won send me a PM.
Cheers,
G-MANN

Phew, I'm glad it's not the guy I tried to buy from Will definitely get in touch, thanks for the info G-MANN

Alan Eardley wrote:...or gas mask bag. Sorry to rub it in guys, but in the UK unissued examples or these are still surprisingly common. They go for as little as £5 - £10 (about $8 - $16) in surplus shops, so someone is making a big profit.

Alan

Now if it had been a US gas mask bag instead of a UK bag the shoe would be on the other foot.

Oh well, it's only fair that the UK folks get a better deal on the bags since we in the US get better deals on so much else that's made here.

Regards,
Indybill

Agreed!

High regards! Michaelson

I have a question, why is it that W+G Ltd. bags go for more money? I was looking at ebay auctions today ( search Mark VII and you will find some good mint ones) and looked at one sellers past auctions. He has sold at least 25 of these mint bags and they range from $40 to over $100!

I recently bought another H&S A for 50

IndyGear Main Site wrote:Waring & Gilbow Ltd.
Positively identified as one of the versions used in the films.

http://www.indygear.com/gear/bag.shtml

Waring and Gillow (1932) Ltd were an English furniture manufacturer contracted by the Ministry of Supply to make box repirator cases. They are the most common Mark Vll in the UK. I would expect to get a mint one for less than $15.

I guess they go for more because that's what the props department are supposed to have used in ROTL.

Now, here's another interesting fact, as I know many of you like to visit the Queen Mary in Long Beach. Waring and Gillow (1932 Ltd) were responsible for fitting out the First Class Accommodation. See for instance:

http://www.sterling.rmplc.co.uk/visions/retain4.html

The people who made your gas mask bag did that! How's that for interesting?

So.. It is actually Gillow and not Gilbow, then?

Regards,
Swindiana

It seems so... "Waring and Gilbow" hits leads to Indygear.com, while "Waring and Gillow" gives us the real deal. Most likely a tpyo on the main site.

Gygle iz jör fryndd.

in the wrong places I have then.

Regards,
Swindiana

Forgot to take away the one Kaddam you did...

Well, I got my bag today. I am not too happy about it. It is in mint unused condition, but I was led to believe I was getting an H&S A bag. I like the color a lot and it is real nice but...well for one thing it has button snaps, the snap is smooth too.. The vents are a tad bit different. I don't know if I want to keep it or sell it. It is made by a company I have never heard of...and I can't make it out too well. WHTTELEY'S? WHITELEY'S?

Kind of a @#$% deal they didn't say it wasn't the one in the photo...

IndyGear Main Site wrote:W.E.&S. Ltd

Whiteley's Equipment and Supply Ltd.

Production years known: 1942.

Does it look like this?

No VP, it doesn't look like that, which is strange. It has smaller print with no rectangle around it. VII WHITELEY'S 1942, on the strap it says the same thing in the same size print.

From what I can tell from the pictures, the vents have a circular patern in the holes, the bag I have has more of a mesh pattern. The strap is also much lighter.

Must just be a variation within the manufacturer. But thanks for pointing that out VP, I skipped over the abbreviations...

Both vent patterns do occur.



There is a WPG one in there aswell.

You will even find that the lanyard discs can be different;



Myself am I firm believer that in at least some of the shots in any given movie there might have been flat snaps aswell, you just can't tell. Knowing how many jackets was used in a movie, I'm sure there were plenty of bags aswell. Only one bag was confirmed as being a W&G, from an auction. How can we be so sure all of them were?

Also, I've seen pictures of 1942 bags with the flat snaps, and most 1943 bags have the flat ones which leads me to guess that the Newey snaps stopped getting used on bags late 1942. The Newey ones are more complicated and use more material so this would have cut down the costs a bit.
Even the stitching varies within and from manufacturer to manufacturer sometimes.

Though $50 is pretty much, it is still a mint bag which sounds like a very nice Indy bag to me. I'd keep it, or at least hold on to it just a little bit longer.

Regards,
Swindiana

Swindiana

As you have a observed, there is a wide variety of parts and patterns used on box respirator cases. You see various type of press studs (snaps) - I can count four types on bags in my small collection. Some are flat and shiny, others flat and dull, some round and dimpled and some are even painted green. There are several types of Newey and some are un-named. Likewise with the drain grommets. I have bags in at least three distinct colours - khaki, green and a pale tan shade. Then there are the Candadian bags!

I think we have to get away from any modern notions we may have of mass production or standardisation. In war time an item like a gas mask bag would be made from anything available.

Alan;

I bet we could talk gas mask/respirator bags for a whole weekend you and I.



Yeah.

You wouldn't happen to have an instruction booklet for a Mk VI or V Service Respirator you could scan, would you?

High regards,
Lars

Redinight wrote:No VP, it doesn't look like that, which is strange. It has smaller print with no rectangle around it. VII WHITELEY'S 1942, on the strap it says the same thing in the same size print.

From what I can tell from the pictures, the vents have a circular patern in the holes, the bag I have has more of a mesh pattern. The strap is also much lighter.

Must just be a variation within the manufacturer. But thanks for pointing that out VP, I skipped over the abbreviations...

I've had an exact same bag.I rather liked mine - there are SO many different manufacturers and several of them have different stamps for different years, and there's all the different snaps...

..It really doesn't matter. These bags are a standard pattern and several bags were used in the movies. Yes ONE bag was identified as W&G - but several may have been Whiteley's, or HS&Sons or H&S Co or... ...

Here's another wartime issue product by W&G - with the full company name on the stamp. It's a Millbank bag and 'Indy' would probably have carried one on his expeditions in the late 1930s. A quiz - any of you outdoor types know what it's used for?

uhh...for Millbanks?

Actually it looks like a tent bag, but I don't know if they would have had that type of gear back then (I know they had TENTS, just I'm not sure if they are bag-toteable)

Cheers
Craig

It's about 12" long and 4" wide. Too small for a tent. Comes into its own in the jungle...

It's used to carry water. Before filling, the bag was soaked for 24 hours to make the canvas fibers swell and become watertight. Also known as a "chagli" or "chaggle."

Cheers!