Earlier in the year we looked at an orange smoke parachutist No 1 Mk 2 canister here. As always with any design, developments are made and the next iteration of the smoke canister was the No1 Mk 3 that was introduced at some point in the late 1970s or early 1980s. These canisters were strapped to the legs of parachutists when performing displays for the public to make a plume of smoke and make the parachutist easily visible in the sky to the crowds below. The big change between the Mk 2 and the Mk 3 version of the canister was the change from a screw top to a crimped top for the canister itself:

This example is for white smoke and dates from 1983. I suspect that this laid on the ground for a long time after being used before being rescued as the top of the can has badly rusted and the paint was very flaky (I have since stabilised this with a varnish to prevent further damage). The instructions on the use of the canister are marked on the outside of the can:

It is the variations and minor changes between items that makes them so interesting to the collector and I am sure there will be plenty more to find to accompany the pair of smoke parachutist canisters I have in the collection so far.