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1st and 3rd ID helmets for review


NKina91
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ArchangelDM
54 minutes ago, king802 said:

I’m not making any comments on the helmets, but the 3rd Infantry Division were known to cut the chinstraps off their helmets. There are many period photos showing this. 

Well there is a positive ! 

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3 hours ago, ArchangelDM said:


believe me I hate being “the one” who writes I don’t like a piece. But I hate collectors being stung More, I’ve been one of them !  (jkash) incident and never got my money returned, And it was a lot of money. 
 

I now speak up, am I wrong sometimes, yes I’m only human. 
But I have learnt a little while doing this, hence the chinstrap answer. 
 

 I hope the OP has 2 great helmets and I am wrong.
If not I hope he can get his money back. 

 

as Costa also mentioned, it’s a minefield now ! And these are 2 of the helmets most often faked helmets out there. 
 

- Dean 

being burnt does hurt and I think all can relate - but what really lights my fire is when well know higher ups in collecting cover for each other - prime example the

Champagne Runes SS decal f--k up - there was tons of money lost!!!  

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3 minutes ago, mdk0911 said:

being burnt does hurt and I think all can relate - but what really lights my fire is when well know higher ups in collecting cover for each other - prime example the

Champagne Runes SS decal f--k up - there was tons of money lost!!!  

That was a mess and it destroyed the reputation of many collectors including Kelly Hicks and it brought to light the failure of XRFacts and their misuse of technology to verify legitimacy. Good helmets were labeled fakes and fakes were given COA's. It was a sad time.

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1 hour ago, Bugme said:

That was a mess and it destroyed the reputation of many collectors including Kelly Hicks and it brought to light the failure of XRFacts and their misuse of technology to verify legitimacy. Good helmets were labeled fakes and fakes were given COA's. It was a sad time.

it also made one of the best SS guy from Canada to quit the hobby

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1 hour ago, mdk0911 said:

it also made one of the best SS guy from Canada to quit the hobby

you have some rip offs right here too

 

 

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Burning Hazard

I'm hoping Bugme can take a look at the helmet to see if the insignia is good or not. After a bit of thinking, maybe the varnish was just preservation gone bad.

However as per original thread in 2009, the 3rd ID was being sold by Estateman who had/has questionable items up for auction.

Pat

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The Rooster

Here is proof that some soldiers cut the straps off of their helmets.

Screen grab from this youtube video...

US Troops inAustria

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBVzd4_t0-8

snapshot.jpg

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huntssurplus

In the book I'm reading right now, which is a personal account from a soldier in the 41st Infantry Division, he says that he accidentally burned of the chinstraps on his helmet. I'm guessing it would not be uncommon at all to find soldiers using helmets with missing chinstraps whether intentionally taken off of the helmet or not. Most soldiers didn't buckle the chinstraps anyway, so it really didn't matter if they were on the helmet or not.

Hunt

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ArchangelDM
8 hours ago, huntssurplus said:

In the book I'm reading right now, which is a personal account from a soldier in the 41st Infantry Division, he says that he accidentally burned of the chinstraps on his helmet. I'm guessing it would not be uncommon at all to find soldiers using helmets with missing chinstraps whether intentionally taken off of the helmet or not. Most soldiers didn't buckle the chinstraps anyway, so it really didn't matter if they were on the helmet or not.

Hunt

Hey Hunt 

common to find helmets without chinstraps ? Didn’t matter if they where on the helmet or not ? 
 

I would really disagree with that statement. For over 40 years the M1 helmet was being produced and in their millions, all with chinstraps. The Kelly helmet before that had chinstraps, While some units cut there’s off, to say they didn’t matter being on a helmet and they where mostly buckled on the back is a very broad statement and not true. 
 

some units did Cut them off, and of course some got burned, rotted or blown off, not the soldiers/marines/sailors choice.

To not have chinstraps on your government issued helmet due to the soldier “cutting them off” was not “standard issue” for most soldiers/marines/sailors

period photos tell us otherwise 

 


 


 

 

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huntssurplus
40 minutes ago, ArchangelDM said:

Hey Hunt 

common to find helmets without chinstraps ? Didn’t matter if they where on the helmet or not ? 
 

I would really disagree with that statement. For over 40 years the M1 helmet was being produced and in their millions, all with chinstraps. The Kelly helmet before that had chinstraps, While some units cut there’s off, to say they didn’t matter being on a helmet and they where mostly buckled on the back is a very broad statement and not true. 
 

some units did Cut them off, and of course some got burned, rotted or blown off, not the soldiers/marines/sailors choice.

To not have chinstraps on your government issued helmet due to the soldier “cutting them off” was not “standard issue” for most soldiers/marines/sailors

period photos tell us otherwise 

 


 


 

 

Hey Dean,

I'm not exactly sure what you mean by your statement, so please correct me if i'm wrong. But I think you disagree with the final part of my post which was "Most soldiers didn't buckle the chin straps anyway, so it really didn't matter if they were on the helmet or not". 

While I agree that making broad statements and assumptions is not good, I will have to stick generally with my previous statement. 

First I will say, my statement referred specifically to soldiers of the Second World War. 

Next, the book I was referring too was "With the 41st Division in the Southwest Pacific". In the book, the author, a veteran of the 41st Divisions fighting in the campaigns in New Guinea and the Philippines mentions that the chin straps to his helmet were burned off when he was heating his helmet over a fire. He then mentions that for the rest of his time in the infantry he no longer had chin straps on his helmet, but that it didn't affect him much as he didn't buckle his chinstrap anyway, and that infantry soldiers were specifically told to not buckle the chinstraps of their helmet because of "the off chance the rotating of the helmet when hit with a bullet could deflect it away from the wearers skull". This is not the first book I have heard of soldiers not buckling their chin strap as well. Many veteran accounts mention them not buckling their chinstrap for a variety of reasons. A very common reason is that the buckling of the chinstrap around the neck could break the neck from the force of a shell exploding. Also the helmet could be used to choke the wearer by an enemy soldier attacking from behind. It is my understanding that while all military personnel might not have buckled their chin straps, a large majority did in fact leave them unbuckled. Stateside training is obviously a different story, as it was regulation to have the chin strap buckled. 

Now, also as we know, manufacturing variations led to not all chinstraps being able to be buckled onto the back of the helmet. In fact I have a helmet in my collection that has original chin straps which can't be buckled onto the back. If the chin strap was just hanging without a use, it is easy to assume that some military personnel would cut them off to make the helmet more comfortable and easy to wear. It was common for military personnel to ditch pieces of equipment, including leggings, gas masks, certain personal items, other uniform pieces, even helmets. They also modified equipment they wore, adding stencils, "graffiti", many other things. Regulation was rarely ever followed 100% correctly while in the field in a combat scenario. While not every single soldier/marine/sailor modified and ditched their gear/equipment, to say they didn't because it wasn't "Standard issue" to have modified items is just as wrong as saying every soldier/marine/sailor kept their equipment perfectly as it was originally issued to them. 

From most period photos I have seen as well from combat zones of frontline Infantry, both Army and Marines, most soldiers did not have chin straps buckled. Stateside is a much different story. 

Basically in conclusion, during WW2, the chinstrap was seen as unnecessary by many soldiers/marines/sailors. It wasn't always unbuckled, but it wasn't always buckled either. i would say it was more commonly unbuckled than buckled. And, it wasn't unheard of, or extremely rare to see soldiers wearing helmets without chin straps at all while in the field in a combat zone. Were helmets without chin straps, more common than helmets with chin straps? No! Definitely not! But to say they were practically non-existent is also not true. Helmets were worn without chin straps in the field.

The term "Standard issue" doesn't really fit in this anyway as I never said that helmets would have been issued without helmets, just that they would still have been used in the field by military personnel. After a few months of heavy combat in the jungles of the southwest pacific or the deserts of North Africa is bound to put some damage on the equipment used by soldiers. 

Hope this clarifies my point a bit more. I would still say a helmet without chin straps could be displayable as part of a combat kit display. But not as a stateside training kit display

Hunt 

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ArchangelDM
17 minutes ago, huntssurplus said:

Hey Dean,

I'm not exactly sure what you mean by your statement, so please correct me if i'm wrong. But I think you disagree with the final part of my post which was "Most soldiers didn't buckle the chin straps anyway, so it really didn't matter if they were on the helmet or not". 

While I agree that making broad statements and assumptions is not good, I will have to stick generally with my previous statement. 

First I will say, my statement referred specifically to soldiers of the Second World War. 

Next, the book I was referring too was "With the 41st Division in the Southwest Pacific". In the book, the author, a veteran of the 41st Divisions fighting in the campaigns in New Guinea and the Philippines mentions that the chin straps to his helmet were burned off when he was heating his helmet over a fire. He then mentions that for the rest of his time in the infantry he no longer had chin straps on his helmet, but that it didn't affect him much as he didn't buckle his chinstrap anyway, and that infantry soldiers were specifically told to not buckle the chinstraps of their helmet because of "the off chance the rotating of the helmet when hit with a bullet could deflect it away from the wearers skull". This is not the first book I have heard of soldiers not buckling their chin strap as well. Many veteran accounts mention them not buckling their chinstrap for a variety of reasons. A very common reason is that the buckling of the chinstrap around the neck could break the neck from the force of a shell exploding. Also the helmet could be used to choke the wearer by an enemy soldier attacking from behind. It is my understanding that while all military personnel might not have buckled their chin straps, a large majority did in fact leave them unbuckled. Stateside training is obviously a different story, as it was regulation to have the chin strap buckled. 

Now, also as we know, manufacturing variations led to not all chinstraps being able to be buckled onto the back of the helmet. In fact I have a helmet in my collection that has original chin straps which can't be buckled onto the back. If the chin strap was just hanging without a use, it is easy to assume that some military personnel would cut them off to make the helmet more comfortable and easy to wear. It was common for military personnel to ditch pieces of equipment, including leggings, gas masks, certain personal items, other uniform pieces, even helmets. They also modified equipment they wore, adding stencils, "graffiti", many other things. Regulation was rarely ever followed 100% correctly while in the field in a combat scenario. While not every single soldier/marine/sailor modified and ditched their gear/equipment, to say they didn't because it wasn't "Standard issue" to have modified items is just as wrong as saying every soldier/marine/sailor kept their equipment perfectly as it was originally issued to them. 

From most period photos I have seen as well from combat zones of frontline Infantry, both Army and Marines, most soldiers did not have chin straps buckled. Stateside is a much different story. 

Basically in conclusion, during WW2, the chinstrap was seen as unnecessary by many soldiers/marines/sailors. It wasn't always unbuckled, but it wasn't always buckled either. i would say it was more commonly unbuckled than buckled. And, it wasn't unheard of, or extremely rare to see soldiers wearing helmets without chin straps at all while in the field in a combat zone. Were helmets without chin straps, more common than helmets with chin straps? No! Definitely not! But to say they were practically non-existent is also not true. Helmets were worn without chin straps in the field.

The term "Standard issue" doesn't really fit in this anyway as I never said that helmets would have been issued without helmets, just that they would still have been used in the field by military personnel. After a few months of heavy combat in the jungles of the southwest pacific or the deserts of North Africa is bound to put some damage on the equipment used by soldiers. 

Hope this clarifies my point a bit more. I would still say a helmet without chin straps could be displayable as part of a combat kit display. But not as a stateside training kit display

Hunt 

Hey Hunt 

 

Your comment here answered my post perfectly 

“Were helmets without chin straps, more common than helmets with chin straps? No! Definitely not!”

 

as explained in the first post this was done by certain units and when the chinstraps became damaged. I was answering your post to this comment 

“Most soldiers didn't buckle the chinstraps anyway, so it really didn't matter if they were on the helmet or not”

 

It did matter if the chinstraps where on the helmet, as you know I have studied and collected USMC for some time now so I’ve seen and have my fair share of photos of them in combat. also numerous combat lids with chinstraps. 
did some cut them, maybe ! Did some rot off, 100% yes. 
 

The discussion is not on field use And the impact of weather and battle conditions on field gear but saying chinstraps didn’t matter is a huge statement to make based on one mans experience  

 

I've collected a lot of  pics of marines over my time and here are just 2.

Important Because one marine is on a ship waiting to be transported to Iwo Jima and the other is in a fire fight with Japanese  soldiers  

All have chinstraps, some buckled and some not 

 

once again seeing marines in combat with cut chinstraps because they where not needed was not the norm

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

C842CCB6-5F5E-4039-8B33-5596BBEB9FC6.jpeg

357A8281-0BEB-4133-92A6-FFE093FF1495.jpeg

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ArchangelDM

Also buckling of the chinstrap round the back very common in ETO and MTO 

marines tended to let them hang, once again this is NOT a rule of thumb but it’s often seen 

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huntssurplus
2 minutes ago, ArchangelDM said:

Hey Hunt 

 

Your comment here answered my post perfectly 

“Were helmets without chin straps, more common than helmets with chin straps? No! Definitely not!”

 

as explained in the first post this was done by certain units and when the chinstraps became damaged. I was answering your post to this comment 

“Most soldiers didn't buckle the chinstraps anyway, so it really didn't matter if they were on the helmet or not”

 

It did matter if the chinstraps where on the helmet, as you know I have studied and collected USMC for some time now so I’ve seen and have my fair share of photos of them in combat. also numerous combat lids with chinstraps. 
did some cut them, maybe ! Did some rot off, 100% yes. 
 

The discussion is not on field use And the impact of weather and battle conditions on field gear as I can pull out 30 pieces all used in theatre but  saying chinstraps didn’t matter is a huge statement to make based on one mans experience  

 

I've collected 1000 plus pics of marines over my time and here are just 2 Important Because one marine is on a ship waiting to be transported to Iwo Jima and the other is in a fire fight with Japanese  soldiers  

All have chinstraps, some buckled and some not 

 

once again seeing marines in combat with cut chinstraps because they where not needed was not the norm 

 

 

 

 

C842CCB6-5F5E-4039-8B33-5596BBEB9FC6.jpeg

357A8281-0BEB-4133-92A6-FFE093FF1495.jpeg

Dean, glad I could answer your post. 

I do know about your extensive time collecting USMC and have seen many of the amazing pieces, specifically helmets, from your collection. I have a lot of respect for you as a fellow collector. 

I believe you may be misinterpreting my statement a little bit though. When I said "Most soldiers didn't buckle the chin straps anyway, so it really didn't matter if they were on the helmet or not." I didn't necessarily it meant that for every soldier/sailor/Marine. Some cared, some didn't. It mattered if their helmet had a chin strap to some, and to others they didn't. For the Marine Corps specifically it might have been much more strict for Marines to have a chin strap on their helmet because they have lots of tradition, stricter standards, and they were a smaller service so had more control over stuff like that. But then again i'm sure it didn't matter as much to someone who didn't wear the chin straps of their helmet buckled around their neck who was in the middle of a combat zone if they had chin straps on their helmet. Again, it's a big assumption to say it mattered to everyone in the Marine Corps if their helmet had chinstraps based on photos showing helmets with chin straps. They didn't always fall off, and they didn't always cut them off. But they didn't necessarily always have them

I think that if anything, it's best not to make broad assumptions, whether saying it's that it didn't matter to most if their helmet had chin straps or if they didn't. We can't understand how every single Soldier/Sailor/Marine felt about the chin straps on their helmets. Some photos show that Marines did wear their chin strap buckled around their neck in a combat zone, some show some didn't. Some veterans account mention them not having chin straps on a helmet and not caring that they didn't.

My statement of 'chin straps didn't matter" was rather harsh of me, but what I mean was referring to whether it is accurate for helmets to have chin straps vs not having chin straps.

But we can't say that a display having a helmet without chin straps is not accurate because it doesn't have chinstraps, and we cant say that a display with the chinstrap buckled around the neck is inaccurate because the chinstrap is buckled around the neck. 

Hunt

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ArchangelDM
17 minutes ago, huntssurplus said:

Dean, glad I could answer your post. 

I do know about your extensive time collecting USMC and have seen many of the amazing pieces, specifically helmets, from your collection. I have a lot of respect for you as a fellow collector. 

I believe you may be misinterpreting my statement a little bit though. When I said "Most soldiers didn't buckle the chin straps anyway, so it really didn't matter if they were on the helmet or not." I didn't necessarily it meant that for every soldier/sailor/Marine. Some cared, some didn't. It mattered if their helmet had a chin strap to some, and to others they didn't. For the Marine Corps specifically it might have been much more strict for Marines to have a chin strap on their helmet because they have lots of tradition, stricter standards, and they were a smaller service so had more control over stuff like that. But then again i'm sure it didn't matter as much to someone who didn't wear the chin straps of their helmet buckled around their neck who was in the middle of a combat zone if they had chin straps on their helmet. Again, it's a big assumption to say it mattered to everyone in the Marine Corps if their helmet had chinstraps based on photos showing helmets with chin straps. They didn't always fall off, and they didn't always cut them off. But they didn't necessarily always have them

I think that if anything, it's best not to make broad assumptions, whether saying it's that it didn't matter to most if their helmet had chin straps or if they didn't. We can't understand how every single Soldier/Sailor/Marine felt about the chin straps on their helmets. Some photos show that Marines did wear their chin strap buckled around their neck in a combat zone, some show some didn't. Some veterans account mention them not having chin straps on a helmet and not caring that they didn't.

My statement of 'chin straps didn't matter" was rather harsh of me, but what I mean was referring to whether it is accurate for helmets to have chin straps vs not having chin straps.

But we can't say that a display having a helmet without chin straps is not accurate because it doesn't have chinstraps, and we cant say that a display with the chinstrap buckled around the neck is inaccurate because the chinstrap is buckled around the neck. 

Hunt

Hey Hunt 

I also respect your views and knowledge my friend and Thankyou for the kind words on the collection. 
I totally agree with you regarding if a helmet didn’t have chinstraps in a collection it wouldn’t be incorrect. 
 

My point on this thread was that with the paint and ageing on these helmets being what they are IMHO and the chinstraps gone was something I’ve seen on other aged/fakes helmets a lot  

Scott is looking at them so I hope I’m wrong 

 

once again Hunt Your opinions will always be valued my friend 

yours

Dean 

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On 5/15/2020 at 1:33 AM, ArchangelDM said:

 

 

that’s why in MY opinion no chinstraps is a red flag when paired with rusted painted up helmets With very collectible and desirable  WW2 insignias. 

just to add - the flag is there because I don’t like the painted insignias And the chinstraps are not there 

Not that the chinstraps are not there 

 



 

 

Every helmet should be evaluated past just not having chinstraps, IMO.  To immediately move on from or discount the originality of it based on chinstraps present, is narrow minded.  This helmet has no chinstraps and had I blown it off, I would have made a significant mistake.  But, to each his own.

IMG_0082.JPG

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ArchangelDM
1 minute ago, M1A1-1944 said:

 

Every helmet should be evaluated past just not having chinstraps, IMO.  To immediately move on from or discount the originality of it based on chinstraps present, is narrow minded.  This helmet has no chinstraps and had I blown it off, I would have made a significant mistake.  But, to each his own.

IMG_0082.JPG

Please read the thread from the start, paint work was the problem  then the chinstraps. 
no one has immediately done anything, narrow minded  is not reading the full thread and making this statement 

 


 

 

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ArchangelDM

And I quote from page 1 

 

“just to add - the flag is there because I don’t like the painted insignias And the chinstraps are not there” 

“Not that the chinstraps are not there”

 

with regards to evaluating them I believe Scott is taking a look so I’m guessing that will be another opinion that we can all look at. 

this is also my opinion which I’m entitled to 

 

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ArchangelDM

This is going off topic like it always does ,

so let me be clear. No one has determined the helmets are no good because they have no chinstraps. 
 

Scott seeing them in hand will help the OP get a much better opinion on them, then I’m sure he will let us know his findings. 

Ive spoken with the Op and I want him to have 2 amazing helmets ! 
 

So let’s just wait and see what the findings are so we can determine the paintwork on these 2 helmets. Much better than arguing the toss on chinstraps

 

 

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I did read the full thread.  IMO, which I'm also entitled to, paint and patina are what is important. I used your quote but am not necessarily picking on you.  When the helmet I posted came to light, there were collectors here who discounted it based solely on not having chinstraps.

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ArchangelDM
29 minutes ago, M1A1-1944 said:

I did read the full thread.  IMO, which I'm also entitled to, paint and patina are what is important. I used your quote but am not necessarily picking on you.  When the helmet I posted came to light, there were collectors here who discounted it based solely on not having chinstraps.

Now your post makes sense but I was not one of those members that comments on your helmet. Seemed if you where aiming that into me which I didn’t do. 
 

I never discount anything based on 1 Fact but rather 2-3 flags which Pop up which need answering then I make an opinion. 
 

Anyway no harm no foul just exciting to hear next week when they get looked at in hand. 
 

Yours 

Dean

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  • 2 weeks later...

Just as a reference and follow up to this topic, Scott was able to look at them in hand and deemed them to be repros. Thanks to everyone who commented and Scott for his time. I’ll be marking these clearly inside as reproductions and keeping them as a lesson learned.

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ArchangelDM
2 hours ago, NKina91 said:

Just as a reference and follow up to this topic, Scott was able to look at them in hand and deemed them to be repros. Thanks to everyone who commented and Scott for his time. I’ll be marking these clearly inside as reproductions and keeping them as a lesson learned.


Nick I’m sorry they turned out to be Repros, 

and I’m glad you posted the reply here for future reference on them. I also still have Jamie Kashettas fake painted up helmet I bought and was never refunded for as a reminder and also a good benchmark to judge other helmets by. 
 

Thanks for the update and good luck for future helmet hunting 

 

- Dean 

 

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