Customer Reviews

The Collector's Guide to Cloth Third Reich Military Headgear

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I purchased Gary's book last year, and I am quite certain that it has already paid for it's self by helping me distinguish the fakes from the originals.
In my opinion it is an absolute must for beginers, and a fasinating delight for the advanced collector. Advanced collectors will find an exhaustive reference, concering the history of most all German military cap manufacturers, 1930's-present, 95% emphasis on Third Reich. The fact that Gary is a German language major enabled him to contact present day German Government agentcies, allowing him to extract tons of lost or forgotten information from vast German Archives. Gary's mastery of the language gives the reader a unique perspective of the 'German way of thinking', concering design, manufacturing, advertising and distribution of German cloth military headgear.
As for the photographs, well there are loads of 4/color photos. Beautiful originals as well as some ugly fakes, and everything in between. Original period photos of the military men wearing their headgear, indepth discussions on fabric types and grades, charts on fabric weaves, and cap "disections" are also contained. DRGM, RZM, patient and sweatband embossing stamps are all addressed.
Over all, a very well rounded collectors guide. With such an enormous undertaking, only the lack of space and extra pages limits any addional information. The only thing wrong with the book is that it does not have a volume or two to acompany it. Great job on a difficult subject! Worth every penny.
THIS IS A FIVE STAR BOOK, AND IS HIGHLY RECOMENDED!!!

I HAVE BEEN A COLLECTOR FOR SOME TIME AND HAVE SEVERAL BOOKS ON GERMAN WW2 CLOTH CAPS..SINCE I PURCHASED COLLECTORS GUIDE TO CLOTH OF THE 3RD REICH I HAVE NEVER HAD TO USE ANY OF MY OTHER REFRENCE BOOKS ON THIS SUBJECT. FROM THE DETAIL OF PICTURES IN WONDERFUL SHARP COLOR TO THE EXACT DISCRIPTION OF EACH ITEM. THIS BOOK IS EASY TO READ FOR THE NOVICE OR EXPERIENCED COLLECTOR. I CAN'T SAY ENOUGH GOOD FOR MR. WILKINS BOOK SINCERLY JAY E. WELCH TULELAKE CA.

Anyone interested in 3rd Reich headgear,this book is a "must have".It is well researched and laid out.

This is one of the finest WW2 Militaria reference books you could buy. It is loaded with details , closeup photos and information ....this makes it one of the most useful ref tools that any Military collector could own.

Unfortunately, this book is a flawed reference for the average collector and damning to advanced collectors with rare, original variations of German headgear. Many original examples of highly collectible headgear are omitted and the authors often leave the reader with the false impression that what you see in this book is the final word in originality. Half of the book does have an interesting section concerning the different hat makers of the period, thus providing some minor redemption for the publication, along with good photography of limited examples. Overall, the book is of narrow scope from incomplete research and laced with errors, many by omission.

As a collector of various military items including firearms and uniforms, I have recognized that many purveyors of cloth issues often rely on their visual appreciation of the object alone. This causes unfortunate and sometimes expensive errors in judgement.

In his offering, Mr Wilkens has provided a 416 page text, replete with precise illustrations of various cloth caps, wherein he exhibits not only the standard configuration, insignia and lining asssociated with a particular headgear, but also reveals the type of cloth and the general technique used to sew and dye its basic material components.

Acknowledging that most of we enthusiasts hope for the best when purchasing additions to our collections (sufficiently re-assuring ourselves by singular similarities to some photograph we have seen), this book insists that tactile appreciation is critical in enhancing our judgement. Mr. Wilken's advises that such knowledge may be obtained only by making the effort to actually interact (in person) with others in the field who's qualifications are revered by the community of collectors.

However, the path to viable discussion is paved by Mr. Wilken's book, allowing we fledgelings to contribute to the colloquium. In the real world, such interloqutions may expand our knowledge, while disuading a malefactor from tempting us to take a second mortgage in order to purchase a heinous mistake.

Concurrantly, the author provides extensive information regarding the manufacturers of various caps, much in the same way one would confirm the veracity of information on a handgun. The specifics of internal markings, identifying a particular company (seen beneath the sweatband and on the liners) may provide the final confirmation that an item is worthy of consideration.

However, at no time does the author claim to have superceded the need for additional education, which should be garnered by direct experience. In fact, it is his love of the subject (and your own) that should bring the two of you together in the first place. In any event,during such a venture it is the journey that must count. To that end, Mr. Wilkens does not intend to take you to your final destination, but rather provides the most exquisite vehicle by which to travel. I for one am most grateful for the ride.

The Publication information given by Amazon for the book is INCORRECT, but I have had no luck at all in getting it changed; I therefore resort to this method as the only way to get the correct information out there:

No. of Pages: 416 (NOT 144)
Hardcover, w/Dust Jacket
Published: May 2002, by Schiffer Publishing, Ltd.
MSRP (price on the book - not necessarily what Amazon sells it for): $79.95