Another purpose of this site is to show the collector the various tauchretter variations produced during the war years.While at first glance the tauchretter may look the same, there are many small variations from one life vest to another. There are several reasons for all of the modifications:

a) manufacturer of the part

b) availability of the raw materials

c) war time production demands

       The Dräger Tauchretter was developed by the Dräger firm but many were produced by the AUER firm under contract.This can be determined by the war time maker code " bwz" found printed on the front of the vest. Sometimes the company logo, an "A" can also be found stamped somewhere on the vest. AUER also made the oxygen bottle valve,canvas life vest and CO2 scrubber can.These parts were also made by the Dräger firm and they will will display the company name and/or logo on them.

       You can find a tauchretter vest made by AUER with all AUER parts and others could have Dräger parts in an AUER made life vest.

Many raw materials were scarce in Germany during the war and this had a profound effect on it's production. Early war parts that were made from natural rubber were now produced in a synthetic rubber material . As brass and aluminium became scarce other materials were used in their place.

As the war dragged on, U-boat production and losses increased which meant more and more tauchretters needed to be made. It appears as the tide turned against Germany, with materials in short supply and a growing demand the tauchretters canvas bag was simplified in it's construction. Early war examples were made from at least 9 different canvas panels sewn together.The late war Dräger "byd" example was made from 2 large canvas panels that appear to be glued together. Interestingly this author has never seen a tauchretter, no matter when it was produced, that was poorly made. Construction materials and methods may have changed during the war years due to availability of raw materials but poor,sloppy workmanship was never tolerated and a good sign of a reproduction. A U-Boat crewman's life depended on this device and all the fakes and reproductions cannot hold a candle to the high quality product that was  made by Dräger and AUER .