The US Military Roller Buckle Pre-Dates the American Civil War

The military roller buckle, featuring a movable cylinder to ease fastening, was in use by the U.S. military as part of equipment, such as carbine slings, at least seven years prior to the 1862 establishment of Fort Bowie, placing its introduction around the mid-19th century or during the Civil War era. These buckles were used on leather belts and gear to reduce friction and facilitate easier fastening. 

A reproduction of this buckle is still available at Aircorpcamo Tactical on the military web belts and available in black, brass plated, Chrome plated and solid brass and the cotton web belts are available in several colors including: black, olive drab green, khaki, coyote brown, navy blue, grey, red and earth brown.

Aircorpcamo Tactical also has the M1937 Open Face buckle introduced for use by the U.S. Military in 1937 and still available today! Prior to the introduction of the Nylon BDU Belt, Rigger Belt was still in use by the US DOD for all branches as the field utility belt. The author wore the issue open face buckle on a navy blue web belt as required wear with the fatigue uniform in the 1980s an on until it was later replaced by the issued Nylon BDU Belt. The author retired from the Active US Military in 2012 and was listed on the inactive list until Officially retiring in 2017.