M38 tanker helmet

[Okie96]

Hello, I've been reading several of the leather threads and am not sure what to do. I just got my first M38 off ebay, a sears, arrived today, and found some bits in the top of the helmet as it was upside down. Old leather bits. The inner pads are somewhat dry and stiff but parts of the backs of the inner pads are so brittle that pieces are coming off. I suspect this helmet saw quite a bit of use, and sweat, and this is the result. Should I try pure lanolin, where to buy good, pure stuff?, or set it up on a cotton covered head in the case and let it be? Thanks in advance.

[Bodes]

If your describing dry rotting of the leather, I'm not sure there is much you can do to reverse it....Bodes

[Andrew]

Placing the helmet on top of a head will not help to preserve the leather - it just adds stress to the delicate material.

Like Bodes said, if the leather is already flaking to bits, the deterioration is probably beyond fixing.

[Okie96]

Well I wasn’t thinking the head would help preserve it. Just the best way to display it in the case. I’ll see if I can get some pictures up later. Thanks for the replies.

[Andrew]

I know, but what I meant to say is that placing helmets with leather suspension assemblies on foam heads exerts a load on the leather that might aggravate its condition if it is already dry rotted in some spots. In the helmet vault at a museum where I used to work, most/all of the helmets were stored upside down for that reason.

[Okie96]

May need to do that then.still trying to get tome to get pictures.