Fall 2026 Militaria and Aviation Auction
Lot 380:
Description
WWII German Luftwaffe Kapok-Schwimmweste, Geraet-Nr. 10-76 B-1, Anforderz. Fl 30156, tubular kapok-filled aircrew life vest with intact fabric specification label. Offered here is an original World War II German Luftwaffe kapok-filled life vest, pattern 10-76 B-1, issued under requisition designation Fl 30156. The vest retains its original woven-printed interior specification label naming the pattern, Geraet-Nr., and Anforderungszeichen in full, though the fields reserved for Werk-Nr. and Hersteller were left unfilled at issue, so no individual factory or works number can be attributed to this example. The 10-76 B-1 kapok vest was standard-issue flotation equipment for Luftwaffe aircrew operating over open water – bomber crews, transport personnel, and coastal maritime patrol aviators flying missions over the North Sea, English Channel, and Baltic approaches during the middle years of the war, circa 1940 to 1944. Unlike the pneumatic 10-30 series favored by single-seat fighter pilots for their reduced cockpit bulk, the kapok vest relied on naturally buoyant vegetable fiber packed into individual tubular canvas rolls, offering immediate passive flotation of up to twenty-four hours without dependence on a CO2 cartridge or manual inflation bulb. This made it particularly valued on longer overwater sorties where a downed airman might face extended time adrift before rescue, and the dense kapok packing additionally offered some protection against shrapnel and the onset of hypothermia in cold northern waters. The label’s printed care instructions – cautioning against stacking and ironing, and advising drying suspended in the open air, preferably in sunlight – reflect the practical realities of maintaining such equipment in frontline service. Constructed of heavy cotton canvas in a strong yellow-tan coloration, the vest is divided into the characteristic segmented tubular rolls running down both front panels and across the articulated neck support pad, each chamber retaining its original kapok fill and full loft. Front closure is by wooden toggle-and-cord ties, with the sets surviving intact and functional. The rear features an adjustable webbing harness fitted with a period metal friction buckle, the padded neck support cradling the wearer’s head and shoulders. The interior specification label is machine-stitched and fully legible, reading ‘Kapok-Schwimmweste / Geraet-Nr. 10-76 B-1 / Anforderz. Fl 30156’.
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