Carrier, Water Bottle
General Information
Name: Carrier, Bottle, Water.
Country of Origin: The United Kingdom.
Date of Production: c 1960s.
Manufacturer: Yet to be identified.
Armed Forces (AF) Code: AA 0577.
NATO Stock Number (NSN): 8465-99-973-6178.
Colour: Jungle green (JG).
Equipment Family: Pattern 44 Web Equipment.
Number Of compartments: Two.
Volume Capacity: 2.5L (When its used as a utility pouch).
Weight: 250g.
Dimensions (cm): 21 (H) × 14 (W) × 11 (D).
Waterproof: No.
Similar Objects
History
The Carrier, Water Bottle issued with the Pattern 44 web equipment represented a significant departure from the earlier carrier used with the Pattern 37 web equipment. Its design drew heavily from the U.S. Canteen Cover, Dismounted, adopting the general concept of a fabric carrier fitted with side retention flaps and an M-10 style wire hanger.
Unlike the smaller U.S. design, the Pattern 44 Carrier was enlarged to accommodate the larger British water bottle and associated equipment. In addition to the bottle itself, the Carrier was designed to hold a canteen cup, a folded canvas Mills water filter bag, and water purification tablets, providing individual soldiers with a complete personal water purification capability for tropical and jungle operations.
The Pattern 44 Carrier proved to be a well-liked component of the web equipment system and remained in widespread use after the introduction of the Pattern 58 web equipment, which initially lacked a dedicated water bottle carrier.
Although no confirmed date for the cessation of general production has been identified, the design appears to have later been brought back into limited production for issue to members of the Royal Marines Mountain and Arctic Warfare Cadre for use in arctic operations, where the nylon Pattern 58 water bottle and cup were found to be deficient in extreme cold-weather conditions. This also required the continued use of the Pattern 44 Carrier, as the Pattern 58 carrier was unable to accommodate the larger Pattern 44 water bottle and cup.
The Pattern 44 Carrier also saw widespread use outside the United Kingdom. It was issued and used by both Australian and New Zealand forces during the Vietnam War, with New Zealand continuing to issue the Carrier for a number of years after the conflict.
The design was also copied or locally produced by several countries throughout the 1970s and 1980s. Malaysia and Singapore both manufactured variants of the Carrier, while Iraq issued a copy alongside its locally produced version of the Pattern 44 web equipment during the 1980s. Fiji also appears to have produced a local variant during the same period.
Description
The Carrier, Water Bottle is fabricated from lightweight dark olive drab woven cotton webbing cloth impregnated with an anti-rotting agent.
The Carrier is cut comparatively large in order to accommodate the components carried within it. The water bottle is retained by two side flaps, formed as extensions of the rear face, which fold over and secure to the front face using curtain clips or Lift-The-Dot (LTD) fasteners.
Mounted to the upper rear face is an alloy ‘M-10’ wire hanger that extends slightly above the top edge of the Carrier. Positioned below this is a 50-mm-wide olive green webbing belt loop.
The internal side of the Carrier incorporates a flat, open-bottom pocket sewn against the rear wall. The pocket is fitted with a webbing flap-type lid and is designed to hold a folded Mills water filter bag. Located on the lower left side of the pocket is an open webbing loop intended to retain an aluminum and plastic tube or bottle containing water purification tablets.
The internal edges of the Carrier are reinforced with webbing binding tape to prevent unraveling and fraying of the raw material edges.
Examples
Example One
Object Number: 2428-826-46107.
