Most reenactors follow outdated “campaigner” advice to use a “smoothside” canteen with jeans cover and cloth strap with the usual reproduction stopper tied on with twine. Unfortunately, this type of canteen that has become so common never existed as such during the war,  and only replicates different aspects of numerous canteen contracts.
 
If you've got a "smoothside" canteen with a pewter spout and no hole punched into the sling loop like most reenactors do, you have a copy of the type of canteen being contracted for in Philadelphia in 1861 and the first half of 1862.  We can help you fix it up to match what the typical U.S. Army canteen during the first half of the war looked like.  Here's what you get:
 
-A logwood dyed satinette "Canteen Cloth" cover to match the specific material used to cover many of these canteens, along with thread and instructions to sew it on entirely by hand as the covers on original Philadelphia canteens were.
-A custom made extra long, straight cork stopper with a spanner nut topped with a tin washer rather than a cap, with a proper twisted twine, as used on Philadelphia canteens in 1861 and early 1862.
-A leather sling, as used on Philadelphia's early canteens.
 
Price includes shipping.  Make sure to include your address with payment.