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Fake MARPAT Helmet Cover?


Greg Robinson
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Greg Robinson

These were being sold on ebay a while back and before I knew better I bought one. Mint condition and made basically the same as the Marine issue covers and even have the embedded ega's in the camo pattern. But the label makes me suspicious and it lacks the barcoded inventory tag. Anybody seen these before?

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Greg Robinson

pics of a legit example still retaining inventory tag which I picked up in a local army store.

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I've never seen a sewn in tag in a helmet cover before, and the NSN is off by one. You might find someone that can check that NSN and see what it comes up with. It would also tell you who the mfg is and see if they match.

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I've never seen a sewn in tag in a helmet cover before, and the NSN is off by one.

 

The NSN is off by one because it is a different sized cover than the other.

Different sizes have different last digits in the NSN or the Quartermaster would only get one size when ordering them.

 

IMHO I think it could be OK.

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Greg Robinson
The NSN is off by one because it is a different sized cover than the other.

Different sizes have different last digits in the NSN or the Quartermaster would only get one size when ordering them.

 

IMHO I think it could be OK.

 

Both covers are the same size.....medium / large. The NSN's should match. My guess is it's a "contract overun".....made for the surplus market.

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Both covers are the same size.....medium / large. The NSN's should match. My guess is it's a "contract overun".....made for the surplus market.

 

If they are the same size they should have the same NSN for sure.

This makes me think it my not be ligit.

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Greg Robinson

I confirmed on a USMC website the existence of a "COVER, HELMET, REVERSABLE, 8415-01-500-3903". But it's a size XSMALL / SMALL. My cover is a MED / LG which should be NSN 8415-01-500-3904.

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Here's a couple of legit ones I had recently: how does there pattern compares to yours? The Marine Corps has taken great pains to keep the MARPAT pattern from being used in stuff made for the civilian market so someone either has to change the pattern or counterfeit it overseas, which would explain a legitimate FSN number being used on the wrong size. A legitimate manufacturer could have mistakenly made the labels wrong, but they would not risk their government contract by selling those out the back door. Also I can find no reference to "American Textile Corp." except for a wholesale bedding manufacturer with no evidence of government contracts.

 

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Greg Robinson
Here's a couple of legit ones I had recently: how does there pattern compares to yours? The Marine Corps has taken great pains to keep the MARPAT pattern from being used in stuff made for the civilian market so someone either has to change the pattern or counterfeit it overseas, which would explain a legitimate FSN number being used on the wrong size. A legitimate manufacturer could have mistakenly made the labels wrong, but they would not risk their government contract by selling those out the back door. Also I can find no reference to "American Textile Corp." except for a wholesale bedding manufacturer with no evidence of government contracts.

 

It's almost identical to the legit ones. Only differences I see, and they're very minor, are that the machine used for edging makes a slightly different pattern. So the edge around the perimeter of the cover plus the foliage slits look slightly different.

 

Greg

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