My haul from this past weekend's militaria show

[burb1989]

Last weekend I attended our local militaria show that comes twice a year with my Vietnam items for a display. I looked around for any rifles of interest but sadly they just weren't there. All of the type 99 arisakas were mismatched and ground mums, save for one. Two walked in that were matching but the sellers were asking way too much ($600 for a mummed matching one but with a heavily sanded non refinished stock and $850 for one just like it missing all of the accessories and in a little worse shape) and the sellers wouldn't budge. Needless to say those rifles walked right back out the door. No mausers to be seen and only three enfields to be had but again too highly priced. Anyway I was buying some garand enbloc clips from a friend of mine when he had a helmet and liner on his table. It is missing both chin straps and the shell has some rust in it but the name and service number on the rim of the liner interested me the most. I struck up a deal with my friend to buy this helmet, twenty enbloc clips, and a few oilers for random rifles I already had for $60. After that I looked at the top of the liner and an army insignia was on it so that surprised me too. After I got back to my display I noticed a Vietnam era helmet on another seller's table. Once more it was also personalized by the soldier who used it in the war so I rushed over to the table to look at it. In all honesty it was truly the find of the day for me. The seller wasn't at the table so I waited with helmet in hand for 20 minutes before he showed back up. I was afraid to ask him for a price because I know these tend to be higher priced items since the personalized helmets are more sought after. He told me he wanted $85 for it. Needless to say I made a deal with him for $75 and I almost ran back to my display and I danced for joy. After such an incredible find the rest of the show went uneventful until near the end when I went to a table with random items on it and started to dig into it. Then on the bottom of the pile next to some Vietnam war survival knives was this ww2 marine corps mark 2 combat knife (I would say kabar but it wasn't manufactured by them). I asked the seller what he wanted for it and he told me $20. I couldn't get my money out fast enough when I bought it. I grinned from ear to ear as I walked back to the display and quietly put the knife in my bag. So all in all this show was a haul of smaller US militaria and I can't wait until October when it comes around again.

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