Snake buckles

[Chazmond]

hi all,

I found this snake buckle in the UK recently and wondered if anyone could tell me anything about it?

many thanks,

james

[Dave Wilkinson]

A generic item, worn by police and military the world over.

Dave.

[peter monahan]

James

These buckles were first introduced as part of the waist belt for the British for the kit worn by there riflemen, starting in the early 1800s.  It was, as Dev says, widely adopted and remained popular until the introduction of webbing equipment to replace leather - in 1908 in the UK.  In fact, the leather belt with snake buckel, authorized or not - I'm not sure - stayed popular for 'walking out dress' throught WWI and was a sign of an old sweat, not a wartime recruit.  I owned one for years - the belt I mean - and both Canadian soldiers and our RCMP wore it too.

Here's a brief bit of history: http://www.actionarchaeology.ca/index.php/projects/featured-artifacts/its-all-about-that-belt/

Peter