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ARVN Ranger Helmet - Thoughts


anton67
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Saw this up on ebay.

Was not convinced so I did not bid, but I thought I would post it for feedback.

Any thoughts on authenticity, including why you think it is a fake would be helpful to fellow collectors. :D

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Personally don't think it's real. I've never seen BDQ using tigerstripe style patterns of any sort, that was mainly a TQLC thing. While rangers had their own camo pattern, with helmets it seems that early on in the war, there was a set guideline for units for how they should look, but by late war is was mainly handbrushed on by individuals. Also worth saying that by late war, the tiger was no longer painted on the front of helmets

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iron bender

I agree with AnDuc49. I've been digging all night with no luck. Does anyone have the pic of the 113 crew in 70-71 with the full scale hispanic driver wearing an arvn helmet? There's a black dude sitting on the deck with no hand guards or a missing hand guard on his m16? I'll look more tomorrow through my pics.

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iron bender

Here's a photo of the 113 crew I was thinking of. There are a few better pics that are closeups that I just simply can't locate. (I believe these are a Time Life photog) The camo on the helmet is hard to see in this pic. There's a pic that is taken from about 5 feet in front of the swim vain and you can see the arvn paint job perfectly. I was wrong before, he's not the driver, but driving the gun. Anyhow…..

 

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Awesome picture. Love the backwards helmet (I previously thought only done by M60 gunners), ranger lid, and minigun. Is that a helicopter helmet on the guy on the right? Looks a lot like an APH-5/AFH-1.

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That is one awesome photo. GE Minigun? Yikes!

 

On the backwards wear of the M1, there is pictoral evidence of that being done in WWII as well. I stand little chance of finding it, but there's a PTO pic of island Marines, and one is wearing his helmet backwards. The theory I've seen most consistently is that it provided better visibility when firing prone.

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iron bender

FYI in the forward closeups there's a black dude sitting on the link fencing with the hand guards missing from his m16. You can also see the arvn tiger and camo perfectly in detail on the gunner's helmet. The paint job is very similar to the op's helmet, not that I believe the op's helmet is original paint. Until I find the closeup I'll digress (hopefully I can locate it)

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iron bender

That is one awesome photo. GE Minigun? Yikes!

 

On the backwards wear of the M1, there is pictoral evidence of that being done in WWII as well. I stand little chance of finding it, but there's a PTO pic of island Marines, and one is wearing his helmet backwards. The theory I've seen most consistently is that it provided better visibility when firing prone.

Marine with flip-flopped helmet in Bruce Canfields US Infantry Weapons WW2, not to get off topic….

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Iron Bender, you are the MAN! That is exactly the picture I was referring to. Thank you.

 

 

That USMS photo is also posted in the carbine topic on Marines

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iron bender

To me when you blow up the photo looks more like a regular Ranger pattern

I agree. I'm gonna do my best to find the other (maybe two pics) photo this weekend. The helmet on the gunner has a more typical tiger stripe pattern than the op's posted helmet. I'm in agreement that the helmet in question was very recently enhanced. I am going to say that something very similar to this helmet does exist in period pics. Maybe even one in color? Can't remember.

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