I have had a few requests to show how Zeltbahns and shelter halves are used , I will first start with wearing them.

 There are 5 Basic shapes I have found so far , Triangle , Square , Diamond ,Parallelogram and the U.S. type that is a rectangle with triangles at both ends ,  I'm sure there is a proper name for this shape , but I do not know it .

Most Triangular zelts the hole is for the head , in all other models I have seen , the holes are for the arms .

First I will start with the square shaped types , this type as far as I can tell was defined by the Russians , Square zelts were in use before the Russian model like in Germany , but since the focus of this website is post WWII , the Russian design wins , Many countries have copied and used this basic type since the end of WWII , they are easy to tell as one corner will have a crescent sewn in which has a pull string in it , this corner is the Hood and is the best place to start ,The exception to the rule is the square Italian Zelt , many of these have a central opening for the head of the wearer to go through .

In the pictures below I am using a late model East German zelt to show the features of most square zelts , the E.G. version has 2 arm holes where most of these kind only have one for the right arm , or you can reverse it if you are left handed .

Basically you wear the zelt like a cape , once you put your arms through the are slits , you can button the zelt together in the front.

The corner that is on top then becomes the hood , you can put the corner flap over your head and pull the strings to tie it off , the annoying part of this type is the corner grommet area , some zelts have a extra button to button this part back to keep it from getting into your face , or you can tuck it under if you are wearing a hat or helmet , sadly these do not work very well , the ones with buttons work the best .

 On the other end at your feet , unless you 6'7" the end will drag on the ground , Again some zelts are equipped with an extra button to hold the bottom from dragging on the ground , they seem weird at first, but you will soon get the hang of it , it is easier to wear one , then dress the stupid dummy I have !

Below is a variation to the square type , its actually a  parallelogram shape and although it has the hood features like the square , it has no arm holes at all , I have handled a couple of these Czech zelts and none had arm holes , it is thought these were very early post war zelts , I also have a Polish square zelt in Whermacht splinter with one edge being made of Sumpftarn , this could have been a wartime copy of the Russian shelter half , or post war , these are not well documented , and I have seen very few period pics of these in use .

 Next we have the U.S. style shelter halves , this type has been copied by many nations including West Germany,Switzerland,Belgium and Turkey , some of these shelter halves have arms built in ,and many have carry pouches that double as hoods .

Below  I am using the West German version dated 1955 , these had a seperate pouch for the poles as well as the hood/carry bag .

This version like the square version is draped like a cape , the main difference is , your back will line up with the center of the zelt , you wrap it around your body and put your arms through the arm slits , then use the buttons to close up the front , if you have it centered the buttons line up well , the triangular end sections just drap down .

The hood simple buttons on the top row of buttons , and the hood has its own buttons for closing the front in the cold or rain.

 Make sure the hood flaps are on the outside to shed water away when in the rain .

Below is a Turkish version of the U.S. type with built in hood , Below that is a Swiss model from the mid fifty's with built in arm sleeves and button on hood that doubles as a carry bag, This Swiss shelter half seems to be very rare and I have not seen any others then this one , it may have been a trial piece that was not accepted as the Square versions are very common .

Next is the triangle shaped zelts , like the German WWII version , this type has been used by many countries after the war , I am not going to go into much detail as these are covered all over the web and sites already show the many ways to wear them , below is a mid sixty's West German BGS zelt .

 The first pics shows after you put your head through the hole , one way to wear them is to button the side flaps together , then let the front flap lay flat .

 Most Triangular zelts work this way , however there are variations to wearing them .

Below are some copies of pages from manuels on the use of Zeltbans , I pulled thes off the web a long time ago , if these pics belong to someone ,please write me so I can credit you for the pics , or I will take them down if there is a problem , thanks

Special thanks to  http://www.operationeastwind.com/ for the below pic from a Russian manual

 Below is from a Swiss manual dated 1951 Special thanks to The Patrick Kiser Archive 

 For supplying these images !