How do you tie the thong on a leather SMLE sling?

[Peter Laidler]

'.....how do you tie the thong of.........' could relate to anythingg similar, such as tent ropes or leather boot laces that we used on our old leather soled (up to the mid to late 60's or so and rubber soled ankle high boots (up to the 80's or so). The answer was that so long as the leather laces were done up tight, crossways, that was all that mattered so far as the room Corporal and platoon Sergeant were concerned. Whether you did it with a knot at one end and threaded crossways all the way up or ended up with two end at the top didn't matter at all. (Some never even used the top lace hole to make squatting more comfortable). The knot was academic - just so long as it didn't come undone during drill periods!

Exactly the same as your leather rifle sling, although we always used webbing in my short time in the Army! Just thread the leather lace through and tie the knot, securing the both parts together making sure that a) it stayed tight and b) you could get it apart when you needed to.

Just my 2c's worth looking from the bleedin' obvious angle

[gew8805]

If the sling is 43 1/2-inches long by 1 1/4-inches wide, your sling is associated with the P14 accoutrement set and is usually called the P14 sling. This pattern sling was manufactured and used during WW1 as well as during WW2. Some were sewn and some were riveted, it seems to have depended more on the abilities and time of the manufacturer - both methods were acceptable as long as production schedules were met and, as Peter said above, "........ so long as it didn't come undone during drill periods" - in other words as long as it stood up to the use intended. This sling was also made in Australia for use by Commonwealth Forces.

For good information on slings along with all other web and/or leather equipment sets, see "Karkee Web" at:

Karkee Web

Web slings are shown under the heading "Non-Patterned Equipment". The P14 sling is located under the heading of "Infantry Equipment, Pattern 1914 " and is described and illustrated under the heading "Associated Equipment" in that section.