G.43 mag. pouches, old vs. "new" Ukrainian imports

Saved these pics from a forum post awhile back on WAF. Interesting. The old pouch came out of France many years before the new, mint condition Ukrainian find imports. Compare.

Thanks for posting, interesting comparison. G/K43 pouch collecting has a collecting has become a minefield in the last few years, I stay away from them to be honest.

I've seen other Ukrainian import pouches that match that one from France exactly. I think both are good though based on these photos.

Are they real or repro?

They are both original IMHO. The raggedy old one turned up in France many years before the Ukrainian stash flooded the US. Back in the early 90s G/K pouches were expensive. Pouches like the ones we buy for $50-90 were regularly selling for $350+ and more. The ersatz ones like this could fetch $500+. Then they found piles of them in a warehouse.

Great link and info: http://claus.espeholt.dk/g43_pouches.html

That's a great pic.

Yes, it shows how one warehouse find in old Soviet Union can take a $600 pouch and make it a $60 pouch

I want to see a pic of the G43's that went with those pouches.

fuq 1944

I bought this at an estate sale in the early 1990's - shortly before the Russian "flood". I think I may have already posted this, but thought it was appropriate for this thread.

fuq 1944 code - Cottbusser Lederwarenwerk Curt Vogel KG, Cottbuss

Thank you Denny! That is very relevant and helpful as it shows "vet bringback" vs. current import. I think I have that exact pouch, but curiously mine may be unmarked. The devil is in the details, such as stitching, thread, rivets, material, D-rings.

Ohhhhh, G43 pouches.

Always love these things, the harder to find variations are pretty much gone these days, along with the "cheap" prices.

I too have compared known vet bringbacks, side by side, stitch by stitch etc. against the Ukrainian examples. They compare nearly perfectly, from what I saw I compared the qkv, fug44 and no marked ones (that look just like a qkv, but do not appear to be the same maker).

The Ukrainian ones were obviously never issued and sat in an old underground storage system...hence the unique/pleasant smell they have. If you have been in one of those "facilities", you would understand.

Some argue that they all are fake, and they may very well be. Some "fakers" are very talented.

My one and only pouch, "qkv 44"
I didn`t want to start a collection of these.

Brian Kowalski said:

Ohhhhh, G43 pouches.
...hence the unique/pleasant smell they have.

Click to expand...

This has that smell!