Compared to it's West German counterpart, the East German army canteen of Cold War period looks kind of sad, really. It's very basic, cheap piece of gear - East Germany officials obviously decided that drinking water is a secondary function of a soldier and that there's no point in making big deal of it.
Canteen itself is made of soft plastic (and I can guarantee nobody cared about "BPE free" stuff in NVA headquarters back then). Cover is made of thick cotton in "raindrop" pattern, lined with some very basic insulation and locked by two pressbuttons.
The cup is lightweight and has folding loops - and that's about as much good as one can say about it. It's made of a very thin aluminum (not as thin as a cola can, perhaps, but nowhere near the thickness you could expect form an army gear), it barely fits the set, and it's shape make it quite unstable. Oh, it also has a shallow groove, so the straps hold in place better - I guess you could count it as another "pro".
And so we came to the straps... Longer strap goes around the cup, shorter can be made into a loop to attach it to the belt. It can be removed without the need to unfasten your belt. The straps are made of the cheapest leather imitation you can probably imagine, and the cuts don't have finish of any sort. They do work, however, and they are cheap - and it's painfully obvious that was a priority when this gear was designed.
SPECIFICATIONS:
Weight: 228g total (96g canteen only)
Capacity: ca. 0.75l
Weight to capacity ratio: 128
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