Club Obi Wan

Even as a new guy in the club, I know this has been discussed ad-nauseam, but I have a question.

Has anyone ever considered that the bag strap MAY have been an early G3 rifle sling?
The G3 was designed in the 50s, so in theory the accompanying sling would have been available at the time of production.

I've had one for years, but I never thought about it until yesterday when I was watching Raiders.
Now, in raiders the buckle is straight, but in the next couple of movies it is a bent roller.

A bent buckle is standard on late G3 slings, I am not sure whether earlier ones have rollers but it is entirely possible.

The G3 sling has a couple of defining features - namely the double rivets behind the buckle and the stud attachment point.
I don't have time at the moment to compare, but for your consideration, here is a gallery with photos of a late G3 sling.

https://imgur.com/gallery/pwwjxCU" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Note: The hook attachment is easily removed to allow the loop to be passed through an attachment rail.

Nice sling you've got there. If I understand your question correctly, you're wondering whether the G3 sling *could* have been used by the propmasters who are living in 1981, in which case, the answer is "maybe," and your point about the buckle is relevant.
For Indy to have used a 1950s NATO strap in a pre-WWII setting is hopelessly anachronistic, and that does not appear to be your intent.

A much more diagnostic feature of the G3 is the snap hook, of course. And unless the sharp-eyed COW screencappers have missed something, there is no such hook on the screen-used strap(s) in any of the films. So a *modified* sling, sans snap hook, becomes much harder to verify. As your photo shows, the hook is easily removable from the strap, so it would certainly be easy for a propmaster to slap one onto the MKVII bag-- easier than cutting off the original webbing one, even.

If you're sitting on a stash of NOS G3 slings, What Price Glory may want to hear from you.

Speaking strictly of Raiders, one of the Paramount prop masters 'back in the day' said they had grabbed some surplus Mauser rifle slings from a shelf when they rummaged through a military surplus shop to find props in the London area. That's also when they grabbed the bags.
This was back in the day when they used to answer their own phones at the studio and were more than happy to talk to interested fans. Those days are LONG gone!
Regards! Michaelson

Nosirrah wrote:Nice sling you've got there.

Thank you!

Nosirrah wrote: [you're wondering whether the G3 sling *could* have been used by the propmasters in 1981]

(Quote in square brackets because I have paraphrased for brevity)
I am proposing both that it may have been a possibility, at least of source parts to be consumed when building the costume.

Michaelson wrote:Paramount prop masters 'back in the day' said they had grabbed [stuff] when they rummaged through a military surplus shop

I think that it is especially interesting that we KNOW the propmasters raided a surplus store from firsthand account, and I don't think its a stretch to assume that some propmasters might have taken liberties with history by rearranging the components of the sling and using it on a MKvII bag.

I do think it warrents more research, as I am not sure that G3 slings could have been on the market at that time. That will be the most compelling argument for / against.

Nosirrah wrote:For a 1950s NATO strap to be in a pre-WWII setting is hopelessly anachronistic.

Well... A number of things could be said on that matter. The MKVII itself already presents an anachronism for a 1936 setting.
On top of that, there are many, MANY anachronistic aspects to the movie (which do not bother me or hurt suspension of disbelief for most people enough to consider them worthy of scrutiny) so I am not certain that accuracy was the most important thing on the minds of the propmasters. The German 'uniforms' are probably the strongest example of this.

Nosirrah wrote:your point about the buckle

Yeah, thats the strange bit. I believe I have seen some G3 slings with roller buckles, but my own does not have that aspect.
That snaphook comes off by design as the strap separates by means of a stud fastener. Take it out and unfold the loop, and the hook comes off. At this point the entire strap can be threaded through the buckle and attached to ANYTHING with ease. That's where the maybe bit comes in for me, as the strap is quite clearly riveted on to the bag in some scenes.

https://imgur.com/SULfGxy" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
(I'm posting IMGUR links because even though the quality is low, these images came out HUGE for some reason.... awkward )

My thinking is that the straps,if they were available at all, were taken apart and riveted on to differentiate themselves from their original appearance and make them less distinct.

In any case, they are close enough to some screen used props and inexpensive enough that some among us might consider them an extremely rugged and cost-efficient alternative to some of the commercially available products, so long as one is willing to put the work in to make them screen accurate.

Nosirrah wrote:If you're sitting on a stash of NOS G3 slings, What Price Glory may want to hear from you.

I wish, at +- 6 euros a pop I'd have a pretty penny
I am basically sitting near to a hoard of original P37 gear, however...so I guess I will be hearing from WPG after all.

I had this thought as well about 10 yrs ago and got one of these slings. After getting it, I was and still am convinced that they were not the same as the Raiders strap. I know it's said that they used a rifle sling as the strap, but no strap I've seen to this day looks like what we see in the movie. The G3 is definitely the closest rifle sling I've seen so far, but there are some key details that lead me to believe the strap was not only not a G3 sling, but not a rifle sling at all. 1) As I said, I've never seen a rifle sling that looks like the Raiders strap. 2) There's a slit in the G3 sling, not in the Raiders strap. 3) The G3 has a very shiny/ glossy finish. And lastly, the sling (IIRC) was only about 50" long. It was short on me and I'm only 5'11". Imagine a 50" strap on Harrison, who is 6'1".

Anyway, just my $.02

That's what I used to make two straps for my Mk-VII and my Replica MK-VI.




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Sheffield Jones wrote:That's what I used to make two straps for my Mk-VII and my Replica MK-VI.




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Wow, it looks great!

Cheers,
Bear