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True Surplus: Swedish Bandolier

A favorite item is the Authentic Swedish Bandolier.  Banana Republic was selling these “authentic relic” surplus bandoliers in their catalogs from Holiday 1984 until Fall 1985. UPDATE: Discovered the Bandolier was offered as early as 1979!! See below. 

From the catalog: “One never has enough pockets on safari. This leather bandolier with canvas insets offers five extras for film, matches, notepad, sunscreen, snacks, compass & trinkets. Handsome enough to hang on your wall when you get home.”

The bandolier is a  Swedish Army Mauser ammunition bandolier. It’s very popular with Star Wars fans and cosplay enthusiasts because it was used as a belt for the Tusken Raider Sandpeople in the first Star Wars film.

You can often find a few on eBay, and some even claim to be from Banana Republic, but without markings who can say?  BR marked their Swedish Bandoliers with a permanent ink stamp of the “Discovered By Banana Republic” logo they used on true surplus items. 

 

 

 

The bandolier was first seen in the 1979 Fall Catalog #3!
From Fall 1985. The Bandolier was illustrated twice, with this being the more detailed rendering. This page is practically a colonialist cosplay catalog. If you are looking to invade the West Indies this is for you.

About The Author

Robyn Adams
Robyn's fascination with Banana Republic began in 1984 when her Alaskan adventurer father began buying the clothing and giving her the catalogs. She loved the clothes and as an artist she was drawn to the illustrations. She went on to study illustration at art college in BR's hometown of San Francisco and worked for years as a background artist for animation. She is now based in Oakland, CA as a graphic designer and illustrator with Secret Fan Base . She's been collecting and archiving at Abandoned Republic since 2011.

7 Comments

  • Frank lengle on December 3, 2014

    How much are the Swedish Mauser Bandoliers?

    • TOM KEMPER on June 15, 2016

      I’ve seen ’em go as cheap as $50 and on up to around $200. The old style were stitched, the newer ones were riveted.

  • Darin Dunham on January 6, 2018

    I bought 2 from them back in the day and neither bore the BR stamp. In addition to it’s appearance in Star Wars, the bandolier also appeared in the 1978 British sci-fi series Blake’s 7. They were used as part of some soldiers outfits in a couple of episodes, though they had dyed them black! I have since dyed one of my bandoliers black and it looks awesome! Still have the other original brown one too!

    • Robyn Adams on January 30, 2018

      Very interesting! Short of a tag and a reciept that stamp would be the only way to confirm it came from BR. Thanks for the additional sic-fi related info.

  • Roger Champion on April 28, 2021

    I have one that I bought in 84 or 85, I thought it was the coolest thing, liking old surplus it was right up my alley, it has the Swedish stamp and the Banana Republic stamp….they must have ran out quickly because I didn’t see them very long, I got mine at the Banana Republic in the brand new mall The Galleria in Birmingham, Al.

  • Stefanie Hoke on March 13, 2023

    I just found one of the Swedish bandoliers at Goodwill and it does have the banana republic stamp. Is the same model as in your cool photo. Thanks for all the info….if you know anyone interested in the piece I don’t plan to hold on to it.

    • David Powelson on December 3, 2023

      If you still have this (it’s a old post I know) and I would love it. I will keep an eye open in my junk hotmail folder in case you reply. Cheers!

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