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M1 Helmet Liner Question


Thaddeus
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Hello all,

I have what may be a very simple question but I do not know the answer. My question is this: What are the differences between a WW2 era helmet liner and post war liners? Are there specific things to look for that can help distinguish them? Thanks for your time. Picture is from one of my personal helmets.

 

Thad

 

 

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Burning Hazard

Though there are lots of good references, I'll walk you through it.

 

Early WWII Produced Liners

 

Very early production liners 1941 to mid 1942 had white rayon webbing with embedded snaps for the rayon sweatband and unpainted webbing washers; these were only produced during WWII and tend to be more scarce.

 

Typically seen on General Fiber, Hawley, St Clair, Westinghouse, and MSA liners

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Burning Hazard

Mid-late WWII Produced Liners

 

Cotton webbing in various shades of OD3, the liners are high pressure and have insignia holes on the front. Webbing washers range from unpainted, to green painted, to blackened brass.

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Burning Hazard

Note that some WWII webbing tends to be a bit darker shade of OD3, could mislead collectors into believing it's post-war

 

Example is my WWII produced St Clair liner below

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Burning Hazard

Korean War Liners (1951-1953)

 

Very similar to WWII produced liners with the exception that the webbing is now OD7 in color and the webbing washers are black painted steel. These liners still have the insignia hole on the front like their WWII counterparts.

Best way to tell is look on the inside dome, Korean War liners were produced between 1951 and 1953 by dual CAPAC and Westinghouse, the dates are stamped next to the logo as "51" "52" and/or "53".

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Burning Hazard

Korean War liners are commonly repainted with glossy OD paint and tend to have water-transfer decals on them, note the insignia hole is still present:

post-8715-0-35925800-1516145937.jpg

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Burning Hazard

Early Vietnam Liners (about 1958- about 1964)

 

Webbing is now changed to thick OD7 with a distinctive weave. Webbing washers are black painted steel and the front insignia hole has been removed, still has the little studs for the leather liner chinstrap:

 

 

post-8715-0-03411000-1516146349_thumb.jpg

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Burning Hazard

Vietnam Helmet Liners (1964-1970's)

 

Almost complete change to the webbing suspension; no more shoe tie, no more leather liner chinstrap, no snap in nape strap. Same webbing as the 1958 liner.

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Burning Hazard

"Grenada" Issue M1 Liner, final liner (late 1970's-about 1985)

 

Similar to the Vietnam liner except the webbing is held by clips instead of washers and 100% removable. These liners are thick, bulky and tend not to fit into the steel shells.

 

 

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Vietnam liners are dated on the side of the webbing, quick check shows this liner was made May 1967

 

Wow,

That was an amazingly detailed description of how the liners changed over the years. Thank you so much for your time Burning Hazard!

 

Thad

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Burning Hazard

Of course there are a lot of tiny details (you could write a book about it as some members here have) but this gives a rough idea of what to look for when identifying when a liner was made.

 

Some of the other guys will also throw in some more details that I might have missed.

 

Pat

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Wow, I was somewhat aware of much of that liner ID info, but man, that is easily the BEST summary I have ever seen. Thanks for the effort to put that up.

Mikie

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