Sten Sling U.K. manufacturers

[Flying10uk]

Does any-one have a definitive list of U.K. manufacturers of Sten Slings, please? There seems to have been quite a few. I own 7 different WW2 Sten slings with different manufacturer markings, all WW2 dated, in my small collection and I'm sure that there were a lot more. Did the U.K. stop making Sten slings in 1945 or are there post war examples about?

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[Peter Laidler]

I think the best place to find an answer to this is on one of the forums that specialise in webbing. Yes....., there REALLY are webbing collectors and specialists out there! But after a few years blancoing it and polishing the brass, then re-blancoing it where the brasso has got onto the blanco and so on....., and on....... until the room Corporal, then the platoon Sergeant et al were satisfied, webbing just doesn't hold the same appeal!

[peregrinvs]

Yes....., there REALLY are webbing collectors and specialists out there!

Yes I'll confess to being an accoutrementalist. I blame finding a 1937 Pattern belt at a jumble sale when I was a kid. I now have (in varying levels of completeness) the following webbing sets:

1908 Pattern
1919 Pattern
1925 Pattern
1937 Pattern
1944 Pattern
1958 Pattern (1st generation)
1958 Pattern (2nd generation)
1958 Pattern (nylon 1970's trials)
1975 trials PLCE
1985 trials PLCE
1990 olive green PLCE
1995 DPM PLCE

And the quest still goes on...

[Peter Laidler]

Jeeeeeeeeees! I had absolutely no idea that there was so much of the stuff or that there were 2x gen types of 58 pattern AND a nylon trials sort! It was all the same to me. We had nylon rifle slings but were warned that because they were nylon and slippery, they were not to be used as 'securing straps' like you could use the old webbing rifle slings. I always used an old Sterling sling on my L85 rifle. A VERY versatile bit of webbing if ever there was such a thing

[peregrinvs]

Pictures of my 1970's nylon trials 1958 Pattern set. It's basically 1958 Pattern, but made in the same materials as the second type SUIT carrying pouch. I lack a water bottle pouch and a pack - the former are extremely rare and the latter seem to be non-existent other than in contemporary pictures.

It's raison d'etre was that it would be easier to decontaminate in NBC environments than cotton webbing, but for whatever reason it wasn't adopted.
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