Helmets

[browningautorifle]

I would like to take a moment to remember member Harlan

I still have my old M1C jumper sitting on a stand he made and included when he returned my helmet from his short period of possession.

[BEAR]

I never knew Harlan but I like his stand. I debated between different stand styles and decided that the Styrofoam heads were cheaper and easier.

This is my Airborne instructor helmet from 1977-1983. It is a McCord front seam (WWII made). We would turn in our CIF issued helmet and be issued these shiny black helmets. When we left the Airborne Department we would have to turn in the shiny and get our regular helmet back, to be turned in to CIF. Somehow they forgot me when I left, so I still have it today.

BEAR

[browningautorifle]

Now I understand "Black hats"...

[Aragorn243]

Sadly, I didn't think of any of this stuff when I was in the military or when I left. I have my uniforms as I purchased those but no gear, no helmets. I did bring a few things back from Saudi Arabia but nothing too dramatic. Most significant military items are a non matching pants/shirt uniform combination. Both are worn with tears, etc but both are actually marked Iraq. I could have brought back some nicer ones but they were made in the UK or some other foreign nation rather than Iraq itself.

[Flying10uk]

I had the chance to purchase this rare extra small size 60 M42 German helmet a few years ago. It's got a repro liner and chinstrap. I've photographed it against a more regular sized M42 helmet for comparison.

[BEAR]

Never seen a helmet that small. Reminds me of the picture of Forrest Guth in Normandy.

BEAR
.

[HOOKED ON HISTORY]

Rare Extra Small Size 60 M42 Helmet

Hitler youth?

[Aragorn243]

I wouldn't have thought the size differences would be that great but that's pretty significant. I have one of the larger sizes.

[Flying10uk]

Size 60 was the smallest size available, a size smaller than size small. People come in all shapes and sizes but also Germany was sadly using child soldiers at the end of WW2 and, therefore needed small sizes of helmet available.

[Aragorn243]

Mine is a 68 which is the second largest, it's also a Quest which makes it heavier than most. I read the larger helmets get a premium because our heads today are so much larger on average than they were in the 1940's so reenactors are driving the larger helmets prices up. That fireman's helmet I got for a couple of bucks is tiny in comparison to any other helmet I have, so much so I assumed it was a child's toy which the seller probably did also or he wouldn't have sold it that cheap.