Also forgot. The canteen and anything inside the belt as far as markings go. If it is one of our own canteens that is shaped like one and all metal, it is possibly a real deal. The only thing that can change that is a picture of the top of the canteen.
You have to remember guys in what you are looking for and have in your posession right now can easily be faked or made in Vietnam right now. They all know that allot of us here in the states collects items from the War. So they produce and sale. Also, they aren't lying when they put on the item, "Made in Vietnam" because it was. The Vietnam War collections can sometime be more harder to collect than everyone may think.
Whenever we opened trade agreements with SEA. Can't remember when this was?
Anyhow, since I have been collecting Vietnam War Items for over 30+ years now, it is getting harder and harder to distinguish between modern day Vietnam, China or the former Soviet Union than anything else concerning the War. For example back in the days, you could go in a gunshow way back then and see that there were more SKS's that were actual "Bring-Backs" from Vietnam and they all had papers OK-ing that that person of military background was signed off by an Officer (Unknown rank)stating that he could have one in his posession and allowing him to bring it back home. You had all kinds of SKS's come back. Allot of the time those papers were called "Captured Papers". Any clothing you wanted to a certain extent was OK as long as it was certified deloused.
It is just harder to tell what you are getting now these days. Another example would be the white rope around the grenades, which look great by the way, is a somewhat like brand new cord.
There are a few of us here that collect items from the Vietnam War. You can at least come to me with any questions about this stuff.
Also,
one more thing. Back then the Vietnamese had a few helping hands from other countries, particular other Warsaw Pact nations back then. Allot of the arms given to the PAVN were from these nations along with Grenades, Rifle Grenades, Pistols, people, sub-machine guns, Tanks, etc., etc.
Now not very many people know about this however, and is placed here as a FYI Type of information:
Soviet Advisors were pilots of helicopters and cargo airplanes that were found by SOG teams especially in Laos. The Teams sent there would sometimes hear rotor blades in northern Laos at night. Later they would lie motionless on a different mountain top when the sun came up. The pilots were immediately discovered to be Soviets as were their arplanes or helicopters. Often without markings of any other kind than a red star so tehy wouldn't be shot down by the NVA AAA.
Russian Advisors operating with the NVA/PAVN, both initials mean the same communistic state, North Vietnam. Anyways the
Russian Advisors would almost all the time a SOG Team found one, wore black fatigues. Sometimes they would wear green when they crossed borders into the South.
Cuban Advisors for some reason would go around and shoot prisoners or our wounded. SOG, from I have heardsome of them say, they would take them prisoners if at all possible, but they hated and hated the USA for some reason and fight. They wore a darker green fatigue.
Chinese Advisors wore most all of the time a OD colored fatigue with Mao hat. They and along with the Russians would wear thier nations developed equipment.
East Germany gave them doctors, nurses and sometimes drugs. They would wear what ever was comfortable to them.
Like I stated before, they each wore the same uniform when flying choppers and cargo airplanes in and out of a valley in northern Laos.
The only exception would be their Counter-Recon Teams (made up with advisors and North Vietnamese) who would either wear all black or all green, basically it was whatever the team(North Vietnamese) would wear into combat at that time period. Some say they were trained in Russia or were just trained in the North. They were good in the woods. They would sometimes speak to a Recon Team when they hit the ground in English and even naming the R/T's real full names and call signs. Talk about spooky. Usually they would ask the Yards to give up first the Americans in SOG in turn they would treat the Yards as friends or heroes. The answer that was to come was usally returned by a magazine of loaded tracers fired back and some M-79 rounds to boot. Now was the time to declare a "Prairie Fire" emergency asap.
This was happening more and more almost evertime an RT went out in Laos and Cambodia.
They all new their was a spy somewhere in SOG's organization somewhere. Unfortunatley SOG would loose whole Teams, never to found again. This problem was not solved until they realized that it was one of our own in the mid 90's I believe.
Can you guess who it was? Hint: Not only did the dad do it but his brother and his own Son participated in this spy program that sat us back at least 20 years in the intelligence world. They should been tried and found guity as they were by all standards mass murderer's. But it was not ot be.
I hope I am not a bore to all of you, I just thought that this would be only FYI to all of you with few exceptions. Send me a PM if you think this too long winded and not interesting at all to some of you?