East German (NVA) Zeltbahns

East German Border Guards on the Border

I had the opportunity to purchase a lot of six unissued NVA (East German) zeltbahns recently, so I gathered up the cash and placed my order. The shipment came yesterday and I must say that I was not disappointed!



I received one bundled package of 5 zelts and one loose zelt. The group of 5 were still in their original bundle with the original NVA warehouse tag and rain-camo pattern bundle ties! The tag is marked with the date code "III / P", which translates to "March, 1986".




These zeltbahns are designed to be worn as a camo-rain cape and used as a tent shelter. There are two built in draw cords that turn one corner into a hood and two arm slots that can be closed with a double overlapping flap when used as a tent. There are numerous buttons and button holes along the edges to allow several zelts to be fastened together into larger structures.



I have everything but the original East German issue tent pole and stake sets for these......... I'll just have to improvise with my WW2 Swiss pole sets for now.

Here are a couple of web shots of the zelt set up as a poncho and tent.

Two zelts used as a tent.

Drawstrings pulled tight for use as a poncho.