Artifact ID: G3 cleaning kit

Our Rogue One identification series continues, with a very useful–and very accessible–piece of German hardware that you can use to diversify your Star Wars-reenacting ‘hard kit’.
Credit for this goes to German contributor ‘T.K.’, whose eagle eyes were able to identify the gray-and-yellow box on the shoulder of ‘Cassian Andor’ as a familiar bit of Deutschland militaria.
Specifically, T.K. correctly noted that said box is a repainted cleaning kit for the German G3 rifle! First, some  background history:
The G3 rifle is a Heckler & Koch creation, originally designed to replace the 1944 Sturmgewehr (which itself has a great Star Wars pedigree as the base for the BlasTech A295 rifle used in the trenches during the Battle of Hoth):
The G3 was introduced in 1959, and remained in service for 37 years until the introduction of the G36 in 1997.

Like the best no-nonsense milsurp gear, G3 cleaning kits are sturdy and inexpensive (I snagged a pair—one for me and one for a friend—on eBay for $7 each). For a bonus, they come packed with handy gun-cleaning goodies – bore brushes, cotton swabs, oil bottle, and a neat flexible chain to pull through the barrel:
Probably the coolest feature about these boxes is that they are curved instead of flat!–much like a pocket flask. This means if you wear one in a pocket it will conform to your body somewhat, which is more comfortable if you want to carry one in a pilot’s flightsuit, for example. They are made of hard plastic with a sturdy two-piece pinned hinge, and so shouldn’t break if accidentally sat upon!
Each measures about 5 1/4″ tall, 3 1/2″ wide and 1″ deep.

The partitions inside are also plastic which gives them a bit of (irreversible) customizability—by carefully removing one or more of the inner partitions (with a Dremel or X-acto blade) you can modify the compartments to hold different sized objects!
So how do I use mine? Tired of always having to fish around in the bottom of my soft pack’s outer pocket to retrieve small items, I use my G3 box as a way to consolidate a whole bunch of ‘pocket trash’!:

To better match the onscreen example, I spraypainted my G3 box with Ace ‘Heavy Equipment Gray’, although I have not yet added the yellow stripe. To secure the box and keep it from opening unexpectedly, a stretched section of mountain bike inner tube does the job handily (no evidence on how ‘Cassian’ attached his box to his backpack strap.)

What do you suppose the box is used for in-universe? Leave a comment below or join the conversation on the SWLH facebook group and share your ideas!

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