Wanted: Original M15 gummimaske with canister

[KnuckleDuster1]

Please send me a private message if any here are looking to sell one of these masks. I'm very interested in adding one to my small collection. Many thanks!

 

[John Josef]

There is one that popped up on ebay,

It's the earlier mask you are looking for but is in the later can, just search this and you can find it.

WW1 German Gas Mask Original Complete Set Including Cannister And Spare Lenses

Good luck

 

[KnuckleDuster1]

WW1 German Gas Mask Original Complete Set Including Cannister And Spare Lenses

Thank you so much for your response. I know the exact one you're speaking of. It is indeed the correct mask but with an incorrect filter and canister. Also, this seller sold that very mask to another eBayer for $350, then cancelled the sale and relisted the mask for $800! Not okay. Unfortunately, the hunt continues. All the best!

 

[Peter B]

The Collector's Guild have a canister, although it says M1917 and does not have a strap, so I am not sure if it is the same as the M15:

The Collector's Guild

It also comes with spare lenses.

 

[John Josef]

Thank you so much for your response. I know the exact one you're speaking of. It is indeed the correct mask but with an incorrect filter and canister. Also, this seller sold that very mask to another eBayer for $350, then cancelled the sale and relisted the mask for $800! Not okay. Unfortunately, the hunt continues. All the best!

No problem, just trying to help you out and your post just states.

Wanted: Original M15 gummimaske with canister​

You have to be really specific and post exactly what you're looking for.

So, you're looking a pure early example, they are much harder to find as during the course of the war as you know things and designs changed and they just used what they could get so it's really hard to find one that hasn't been touched since first issued early in the war.

Those late war snap filters are getting hard to find and can bring 2 hundred bucks and any type can with complete straps are also very desirable and extremely hard to find.

Since I know exactly what you're looking for I will keep me eye out for you.

Can I ask what the max is you'd like to pay for an all original M15 set? I may even be tempted to part with one of mine.

Happy hunting. John Josef

 

[John Josef]

The Collector's Guild have a canister, although it says M1917 and does not have a strap, so I am not sure if it is the same as the M15:

The Collector's Guild

It also comes with spare lenses.

Unfortunately, that's the later model can and won't work for what he's looking for. He wants an untouched complete M15 set with early can and filter system.

They are much harder to find; I buy everyone I see, and you see about 1 per every hundred if that. The material stiffens and just cracks and rips up and the filters were used and replaced with later production models.

Tuff to find complete M15's no doubt.

 

[2nd.Leibhusar]

Are you located in the EU ?
I'm on the hunt for a small collection and there's also a Gummi in it..
But as you might know it can't be send outside the EU...

 

[KnuckleDuster1]

Are you located in the EU ?
I'm on the hunt for a small collection and there's also a Gummi in it..
But as you might know it can't be send outside the EU...

I'm located in the U.S. Interesting, I have received a couple masks from overseas in the last year, from France and Italy. Possibly something was written differently on the customs paperwork as to exactly what it was?

 

[KnuckleDuster1]

The Collector's Guild have a canister, although it says M1917 and does not have a strap, so I am not sure if it is the same as the M15:

The Collector's Guild

It also comes with spare lenses.

Thank you Peter for chiming in. I truly appreciate any and all responses. I've only recently joined the Pickelhaubes forum but it's a good one to be a part of! BTW, I would private message people but I don't have enough posts yet to do so.

 

[KnuckleDuster1]

No problem, just trying to help you out and your post just states.

Wanted: Original M15 gummimaske with canister​

You have to be really specific and post exactly what you're looking for.

So, you're looking a pure early example, they are much harder to find as during the course of the war as you know things and designs changed and they just used what they could get so it's really hard to find one that hasn't been touched since first issued early in the war.

Those late war snap filters are getting hard to find and can bring 2 hundred bucks and any type can with complete straps are also very desirable and extremely hard to find.

Since I know exactly what you're looking for I will keep me eye out for you.

Can I ask what the max is you'd like to pay for an all original M15 set? I may even be tempted to part with one of mine.

Happy hunting. John Josef

John,

Thank you kindly sir for your response. Your willingness to help is very kind. I can't send you a private message yet but maybe you can send me one so that we can discuss a possible purchase from your personal collection... exciting, but I won't get my hopes too high just yet. I didn't necessarily have a number in mind but maybe that's something we can discuss if you are willing to let one of yours go. Now you have me wondering how many you actually have and how vast your collection truly is. I myself have only a small area in my home dedicated mainly to items from the Great War; various gas masks, helmets, knives, and a British splatter mask that I'm quite fond of. Hoping this thread continues. This is fun! All the best to everyone!

- KD1

 

[KnuckleDuster1]

John,

Thank you kindly sir for your response. Your willingness to help is very kind. I can't send you a private message yet but maybe you can send me one so that we can discuss a possible purchase from your personal collection... exciting, but I won't get my hopes too high just yet. I didn't necessarily have a number in mind but maybe that's something we can discuss if you are willing to let one of yours go. Now you have me wondering how many you actually have and how vast your collection truly is. I myself have only a small area in my home dedicated mainly to items from the Great War; various gas masks, helmets, knives, and a British splatter mask that I'm quite fond of. Hoping this thread continues. This is fun! All the best to everyone!

- KD1

Checking eBay sales, over the past couple months, I found two that sold; in May for $300 and in June for $377 (see photos). I would have been very happy with that all original $300 example if I had seen it, although looking a bit rough. The other one that sold for $377 looks like the filter has been repainted, and the mask seems quite stiff, but it did have an original canister with straps. There is another example currently on 1944 Militaria (see photo) but both the filter and canister are for the M17, not M15. I tried conveying this to the seller but received no response. With the research I've done, I would love to pay $500 for a solid example of an original M15 set, but could see paying up to $700 depending on overall condition, being a named example, having a bit of give in the fabric, etc.

 

[John Josef]

Proof of just how hard an untouched M15 is to find. I will keep an eye out for ya but I can't even remember the last complete one I saw.

I appreciate your thoughts and offer but it would take a crazy not for sale price to get me to part with one of my babies. I'm just not a good seller to be honest.

 

[KnuckleDuster1]

Proof of just how hard an untouched M15 is to find. I will keep an eye out for ya but I can't even remember the last complete one I saw.

I appreciate your thoughts and offer but it would take a crazy not for sale price to get me to part with one of my babies. I'm just not a good seller to be honest.

Haha, yes, collectors are usually not willing to part with the items that mean so much to them. In other words, collectors collect, they don't sell. I completely understand. If nothing else, maybe you can share a few photos of any of the examples you own. Always nice to see images of untouched examples. Can I ask you John, are the Austro-Hungarian gummis more difficult to find than the German gummis? More rare to come across? I feel that when they do come up for sale I see German gummi examples more often. All the best!

P.S. Attached are some photos of my modest collection.

 

[John Josef]

Great collection

The topic of Austro-Hungarian masks is not so straight forward and to be honest a little complicated. The first type Neupert made mask was what they were first issued in July 1915 they made about 10,000 and a second batch of 12,000 these have only one large eye lens and look wild. They were total failures, so they made a few modifications and quickly introduced the second model made by Neupert in Wien which was also terrible.

The German sent them 200,000 of what you're calling the M15 Gummi masks so those were used alongside the Neupert mask by the Austrian forces. The Germans didn't grant the Austrians a production licence to produce their masks until 1917.

I could go on but let's just say to find an original 1st or 2nd pattern Neupert made mask is IMPOSSIBLE.

Finding an Austrian made and marked Gummi is also nearly impossible up until the end of the war most filters were still being made in Germany and to find an Austrian KuK stamped filter is like hitting the lottery.

Sorry for the long answer but yes Austrian made gas mask are much much harder to find. There was a lot of German items brought back from the western front by the US soldiers but only one US unit fought on the Eastern front with the Italians against the Austrians so not much was brought back.

Extremely hard to find truly made in Austria Gas mask of any kind.

I'm still looking for the Bavarian made gas can if anyone sees this and has one, they would like to sell or trade.

mfg John Josef

 

[Bobted]

Fabulous WW1 collection , you have a little bit of everything. ( I bought the $300 one lol ) it was stiff but I steamed it with my hand held steamer and opened it up and put some life back into it Rob

 

[KnuckleDuster1]

Fabulous WW1 collection , you have a little bit of everything. Rob

Thank you so much for your kind words Rob. And, wow, you were the one that got the $300 example. Well done my friend. It looked like a truly authentic mask, filter, and canister. I'm still keeping my eye out for one. Definitely not easy to find.

 

[KnuckleDuster1]

Great collection

The topic of Austro-Hungarian masks is not so straight forward and to be honest a little complicated. The first type Neupert made mask was what they were first issued in July 1915 they made about 10,000 and a second batch of 12,000 these have only one large eye lens and look wild. They were total failures, so they made a few modifications and quickly introduced the second model made by Neupert in Wien which was also terrible.

The German sent them 200,000 of what you're calling the M15 Gummi masks so those were used alongside the Neupert mask by the Austrian forces. The Germans didn't grant the Austrians a production licence to produce their masks until 1917.

I could go on but let's just say to find an original 1st or 2nd pattern Neupert made mask is IMPOSSIBLE.

Finding an Austrian made and marked Gummi is also nearly impossible up until the end of the war most filters were still being made in Germany and to find an Austrian KuK stamped filter is like hitting the lottery.

Sorry for the long answer but yes Austrian made gas mask are much much harder to find. There was a lot of German items brought back from the western front by the US soldiers but only one US unit fought on the Eastern front with the Italians against the Austrians so not much was brought back.

Extremely hard to find truly made in Austria Gas mask of any kind.

I'm still looking for the Bavarian made gas can if anyone sees this and has one, they would like to sell or trade.

mfg John Josef

I love the thorough response. The more information I can gather the better. Thank you John.

So would this be an example of an Austrian mask that was made in Germany then? It has, what looks to be, the KuK marking on the filter and the AGD stamp on the mask for the maker Auergesellschaft (based in Germany). The filter carries a Riedel marking, also German, with the 11-c-11 stamp and date of April 22, 1918. The canister looks to be the A3 type (as gathered from the Gas Warfare book by Rossi, Pisani, Brambilla, and Osio). I'm just curious if this would be an example of a fully authentic gummi kit [mask, filter, and canister]. Many thanks!