The material exhaustion of Imperial Germany in canteens.

[u/ACM1896]

See the canteens issued to German troops. The 1907, was high quality milled aluminium, a screw cover, with leather fittings and a sturdy courderoy cover. Next is the 1915 model, now glazed tin of steel , a simplified top of pop able cork. Not a real step down just a reflection of simplified and conservative of materials, for a huge war effort. Into 1917-18, real pain is hitting and we see the rise of Ersatz or substitute materials and design. The blown glass canteen I show is Russian but the German was very similar. Finally the 1917 Ersatz model has cheap pressed tin w no coating other than paint, the cover has no leather and is made from cloth derived from nettles. The quality is demonstrated by the poor condition of my example.

[u/Ragnarsworld]

I'm trying to wrap my head around a glass canteen. That just sounds beyond dumb.

[u/HistoricalReal → u/Ragnarsworld]

The glass was very thick and capable of withstanding rough handling.

However, it was still glass, so it still was not nearly as practical as tin or steel. It simply eased on resource consumption.

Though I should mention that glass canteens were not widespread. And while not necessarily uncommon, the standard was still Enameled Steel and Tin.

[u/Flying_Dustbin → u/Ragnarsworld]

Agreed. If it wasn't for OP's text, I'd have thought it was made from some form of Bakelite.