Bugme Posted November 20, 2011 Share #1 Posted November 20, 2011 The news is official, Chris Armold will be doing a new Steel Pots book... well sorta. Below is some information he shared on another forum. Today, I received an email from Chris telling me it was OK to bring this information over here. So, Direct from the author: Both of my books, "Steel Pots, The History of America's Steel Combat Helmets" and "Painted Steel" have been out of print. It's hard for me to believe that Steel Pots has been unavailable for 10 years. That's apparently about to change. While I haven't been active as a collector in the past few years, I've always remained a historian and a student of 20th century "American Steel." Consequently due to some encouragement from my good friend Jeff Schrader of Advance Guard Militaria and my good friend publisher Roger Bender I'm going to press ahead with a new version of the Steel Pots book. To be honest, everything in the original Steel Pots will appear in the new volume but there will be ample fresh new content as well. Bender and I believe it's hard to improve on the Steel Pots book and we're not going to re-invent the wheel. However, we also have no intention of picking your pocket by presenting only the same information from the original books. Trust me, I've got some cool information and reference documents that are not only informative but valuable knowledge for collectors. I'll also do an update on fakes and reproductions. To tell the truth, I can't do all that alone. While my name is on the cover, I relied on a lot of people to create Steel Pots. As it was in 1995, so is it today, I will be looking to YOU, the collectors, the historians, the active seekers of these iconic pieces of American military to give me your suggestions and contributions for improving Steel Pots as a guide and reference. When it comes to US helmets, what are your questions, what needs more attention? What are your concerns related to content? As for "stuff" I'm looking for unpublished and interesting photos of US soldiers using combat helmets from WWI to present. In addition, I'm always interested in photographs of interesting helmets, liners, suspensions, documents and more that were omitted, not covered, or unknown. If you have cool combat helmet photos and would like to be a part of the finest helmet reference book about US helmets ever written, please drop me a line at [email protected] Please put STEEL POTS in the subject line. I'm invigorated by this project and I'd like to invite you to come along for the ride! Thanks for your interest and support over the years. Being a military collector and historian has been a fun and exciting part of my life. Please pass this information onto your collecting buddies! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harlan Posted November 21, 2011 Share #2 Posted November 21, 2011 That's GREAT news! Thanks for sharing Bugme. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bugme Posted November 21, 2011 Author Share #3 Posted November 21, 2011 Chris also added this yesterday: For those of you interested in the status of the revised Steel Pots book... some of the new things that will be included are: a biography of the Riddell's, Jack and John, with a focus on their relationship with the US army and the development of the M1. Written by John's widow (she is in her 90s) and his son, I have some really interesting cool information about this guy. I'd also like to include some additional information about Bashford Dean because he is so important to the early years. Other new things are I will be upgrading some of the helmet photos and presentations in the book. For example, rather than a photo of an M1 with a colonels insignia on it, I'll have an example that was worn by a Congressional Medal of Honor winner. A much better story and presentation. I'm also adding generous amount of technical information and historical source data that collectors and historians will appreciate. I have also tracked down a woman who worked in a Helmet Liner factory and am hoping to interview her and get her thoughts. Not certain if any of the information I get from her will be useful or relevant but I'm hoping she'll have some interesting knowledge. The most time consuming facet is that that the data files for steel pots are long gone. That means I'm essentially retyping the entire volume set, 500 plus pages, captions, not to mention al the new stuff. It's a big job and I'm just one guy. My plan is to give you guys something of real merit, not just some rehashed crap. I want it to be a really informative, interesting, quality book. Hell, I want it to be worth buying. BOttom line is, I'm just the gatherer and organizer. My books wouldn't exist without the support, interest, contributions and encouragement of people who collect helmets. A lot of you helped write Steel Pots... while I get an occasional pat on the back, I couldn't have done it alone. All my best to you all. Chris A. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bugme Posted November 22, 2011 Author Share #4 Posted November 22, 2011 Just when you think that there is no more to add about the U.S. combat helmet, along comes this new information that Chris has gotten. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GITom1944 Posted December 2, 2012 Share #5 Posted December 2, 2012 Is there any updated word on the new Chris Armold book? Is it still in the works? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bugme Posted December 2, 2012 Author Share #6 Posted December 2, 2012 Is there any updated word on the new Chris Armold book? Is it still in the works? He had stopped work during the Summer but, he has plans of moving forward over the winter. That's all I got right now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoyA Posted December 2, 2012 Share #7 Posted December 2, 2012 Do you have a different email address for Chris? [email protected] is not valid. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bugme Posted December 2, 2012 Author Share #8 Posted December 2, 2012 Do you have a different email address for Chris? [email protected] is not valid. Thanks! Try contacting him through his facebook page for the book: https://www.facebook.com/SteelPotsHelmetBook Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GITom1944 Posted December 2, 2012 Share #9 Posted December 2, 2012 Thanks for the update. This sounds like something that will be worth getting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoyA Posted December 2, 2012 Share #10 Posted December 2, 2012 Thank you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GITom1944 Posted October 19, 2013 Share #11 Posted October 19, 2013 The Facebook page appears to be gone. Does anyone know if Chris Armold's this project is abandoned? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bugme Posted October 19, 2013 Author Share #12 Posted October 19, 2013 He dropped his plans for the book. He said he just didn't have time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GITom1944 Posted October 19, 2013 Share #13 Posted October 19, 2013 Too bad; thanks for the info. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willysmb44 Posted October 20, 2013 Share #14 Posted October 20, 2013 And this, gentlemen, is why I never get excited about any new books until they`re at least at the.printers... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bugme Posted October 20, 2013 Author Share #15 Posted October 20, 2013 And this, gentlemen, is why I never get excited about any new books until they`re at least at the.printers... Yeah, this one had more starts than a NASCAR race on a rainy day. I even spent a load of time retyping some of the text from Steel Pots for Chris since the original electronic text was gone.... this will teach me to volunteer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MartyMcPouch Posted December 18, 2016 Share #16 Posted December 18, 2016 Yeah, this one had more starts than a NASCAR race on a rainy day. I even spent a load of time retyping some of the text from Steel Pots for Chris since the original electronic text was gone.... this will teach me to volunteer. What about the book now? 3 years passed by and I wonder if Chris has started on his new version of steel pots? Greetings, Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vintageproductions Posted December 18, 2016 Share #17 Posted December 18, 2016 He has been doing books on USAF Air & Security Police. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MartyMcPouch Posted December 18, 2016 Share #18 Posted December 18, 2016 He has been doing books on USAF Air & Security Police. Thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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