U.S. Strap, Support, ST-35, Wire Reel

The Strap, Support, ST-35 is a piece of military field gear designed by the U.S. Army Signal Corps. It is a carrying strap used by soldiers on foot to transport and deploy telephone lines and wire reels.

Specifications and Function

• Primary Function: Serves as a shoulder strap for hand-operated reels and spools.
• Period of Use: Introduced during WWII and used through the Vietnam War.
• Material: Made of heavy-duty, olive drab (OD) cotton webbing.
• Design: Adjustable strap with metal rings and two short straps with snap hooks.

Associated Equipment

The ST-35 strap is part of a modular field communication system:

• Reeling Machine RL-39: The hand-operated portable reel that the ST-35 snaps into.
• Wire Reels: Often used in combination with the DR-8 spool or the W-130 light field wire.
• Field Telephones: This system connected devices such as the legendary EE-8 and the TA-1/PT field telephones.