Bonjour,

I present to you this set of North Vietnamese early war uniforms that I have had in the boxes for a long time. This is an authentic piece from the People's Army of North Vietnam that I bought at EnemyMilitaria (one of the rare shops that sells original VC/NVA).
 

So I dressed him lightly like the soldiers of the north used to be equipped. All that's missing is a boonie to style our BoDoï as it should be.

 

[b]Gears listing:[/b]

 

Chinese Type 56: It's a "custom airsoft" based on an AK47 Cyma, the retractable cruciform bayonet is a real one and the strap is Chinese. On the belt, with aluminum buckle, we can find a PLA (Chinese People's Army) water bottle.

 

A ChiCom medical kit with the mention "YT2B" for the bandages.

 

The Type 56 ChiCom magazine holder also comes from Chinese army stocks. Unfortunately, this one is 1967 dated.

 

A Vietnamese knife and its sheath which is a rough copy of the American Cattauragus 225. I had to apply black tape because unfortunately the leather is starting to deteriorate and break between the loop and the sheath.

 

That's it for me, hoping you like it, the North Vietnamese Militaria being drowned out by the US in the field of the Vietnam War. It is also a subject that is rarely covered in uniformology documentation.
 

 

Nice display. To bad the AK is not real.  Rich A. in Pa.

Yea true, maybe one day.. I had to find a small size mannequin as well to put the pants and the chinese sneakers on

 

 

I also would like to find an earlier belt and a boonie. 

Looks nice though.  Rich A. in Pa.

Some really nice items, good work on the replica Type 56 too. But I must say the display feels a bit disjointed with the items together. 

It took a long time to transition colors but by around 1969 the majority of PAVN soldiers in South Vietnam would have been wearing green uniforms, and before then it was mostly a light brown rather than a tan color. 

Those M1936 clone belts were introduced in 1968 but they only ever show up sporadically. 

The rubberized first aid kit pouches seem to have been introduced in 1972, before then they were just plain cotton. 

I'm not sure exactly when the 3 rivet version of the knife replaced the 2 rivet version, but I am confident it was in the 70s  

Similarly I'm not sure exactly when the Type 65 canteen cap switched from brown to black and when the canteen cup was introduced, but it was sometime in the 1970s.

 

So the belt setup would look great over a green uniform for a 1975 fall of Saigon display, but it looks place over a tan uniform that would largely be relegated to within North Vietnam after around 1967 or so. I'd liken it to having a full set of M1967 LLCE over an OG-107 sateen utility uniform with color insignia. Could it happen on rare occasions? Yes but it's not a great representation of what 99.5% of soldiers dressed like at the time. 

On 1/21/2024 at 5:02 PM, Cap Camouflage Pattern I said:

 

So the belt setup would look great over a green uniform for a 1975 fall of Saigon display, but it looks place over a tan uniform that would largely be relegated to within North Vietnam after around 1967 or so. I'd liken it to having a full set of M1967 LLCE over an OG-107 sateen utility uniform with color insignia. Could it happen on rare occasions? Yes but it's not a great representation of what 99.5% of soldiers dressed like at the time. 

Thanks for your reply, yea I was aware the gears set up was more late war than mid early war. What belt should I use then ? 

3 hours ago, toitoine66 said:

Thanks for your reply, yea I was aware the gears set up was more late war than mid early war. What belt should I use then ? 

In 1965-1966 it is mostly either leather belts with brass buckles, or tan canvas with "XXXX" reinforcement stitches, also with brass buckles, that would be the best match for your uniform. In late 1967 a belt with the same buckle as yours but on plain green canvas was introduced, and it becomes the most common belt until late in the war when for some reason most soldiers started wearing US style belts M1936 and M1956, both captured and possibly some Chinese made clones although I'm not sure of that. But of course all of the older models continued to be used, they just got less and less common. 

On 2/5/2024 at 8:18 PM, Cap Camouflage Pattern I said:

In 1965-1966 it is mostly either leather belts with brass buckles, or tan canvas with "XXXX" reinforcement stitches, also with brass buckles, that would be the best match for your uniform. In late 1967 a belt with the same buckle as yours but on plain green canvas was introduced, and it becomes the most common belt until late in the war when for some reason most soldiers started wearing US style belts M1936 and M1956, both captured and possibly some Chinese made clones although I'm not sure of that. But of course all of the older models continued to be used, they just got less and less common. 

I also have a Canva belt but I thought this was late post war as well does this the one you are talking about ? : 

 

Yes as far as I can tell that is a post war model of belt, associated with the K82 uniform worn in the 80s. 

 

 

These are the two basic models that were the most common from 1965-1967, with some variation such as buckles with or without stars or the way the buckle latches. 

Photos borrowed from EnemyMilitaria 

Thanks for all that informations does there is some good books about PAVN  uniforms ? 

I see alot of those belts with the aluminum grommet holes but never seen any good photo evidence of them being used during the war.