Gtilk8455

I don't like this helmet and here's why 1. its a ranger helmet, and in my experience this is truly the holy grail of helmet collecting, in my time collecting I have ever only seen 2 or 3 confirmed originals marked with the 2nd or 5th ranger bats. like blacksmith said, I would only really expect to see one like this changing hands between serious collectors and definitely not for the public to see. 2. I've seen one 5th ranger lid that was definitely real, and another that may of been, both of their stenciled 5's are from a different stencil and the diamond is smaller, that't not necessarily a deal breaker but it is another red flag. 3. lastly, its not a very good picture but that was a nice spot with what appears to be paint in the crack. personally i'd avoid this one, in terms of ranger helmets i would only ever trust one maybe found at a vets estate (which the chances of are practically none) or if a serious collector came forward with a detailed list of the shells previous owners. As for the conduct being displayed in this tread SAM R, I would like to apologize, it's one thing to respond with a snarky comment, it's another thing to question the intentions of why you posted this in the first place is just flat out disrespectful. it's important to understand that everybody starts somewhere in this great hobby and the "transparency" of whether or not a helmet is fake may not be so easy to see when you are new, or at lest new to the forum. don't let yourself get burned out by a situation like this and I hope you were able to learn something. Graham

my 2 cents on the whole situation is that a similar style of photography does not necessarily mean that it is the same person, in this case it does mean that they both are fairly skilled photographers, or at least have very nice cameras. I myself take photos of my helmets in a very similar fashion with my fathers camera. My father is a semi professional photographer in his free time and as I am home from school I've been able to pick up a few things here and there from him. This helmet I've photographed I picked up from the M-1 Helmet depot back in 2016 I think and I took this photo maybe a month ago. In terms of the helmet in question, I don't see anything that would make me think this is a fake right off the bat. I would however, like to see it in hand before i'd pull the trigger on it. this just looks like one of those you have to have in hand to make the call on Graham

Killer kid... congrats Graham

Absolutely fantastic lids and story. A second ID helmet is certainly on my helmet bucket list

They are incredibly hard to acquire, that liner is also incredibly hard to acquire

What are people’s thoughts on this one. I’ve never actually seen a 517th helmet in person so I’m not really sure what to look for, other than the obvious modifications to the chinstrap and the helmet paint. Also I feel like I’ve seen this helmet before, maybe it was discussed here or maybe on another forum. Anyway I’m curious to see where people stand on this one. https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F383588965084

These helmets that you’ve described (ones with nets or liners added by you to the helmet) are called put togethers. In my opinion there is absolutely nothing wrong with displaying a put together helmet, I have several in my collection. To me the standard for a put together helmet should be that all added parts are original period and that they do not change the helmet in anyway that can’t be changed back. For example: I would NEVER use period original paint on a period original helmet to make an insignia say a 1st Infantry Division insignia. Additionally I think it is important to disclose to someone if a helmet is a put together, especially to a buyer. Ultimately I think helmets that have all of their original parts definitely bring more money in when put on sale but put togethers certainly have their place within the helmet collecting community. That’s just my 2 cents Graham

You could do a hell of a lot worse for your first helmet, I certainly did. Nice pickup!!!

Thanks for all the great comments guys. Display is something I’ve really gotten into over the last couple of years, I built all the stands myself out of some dowels I cut and candlestick holders.

Oh man those are fighting words indeed, looks like its gonna be a good one this Sunday. thanks for the kind words

My pleasure

-

managed to correct those earlier pics

Thanks you very much

although not a helmet, my 1943 Winchester M1