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Post WWII Damage Control Helmet


Nickman983
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Ended up checking out a new flea market this morning and had some luck with the helmets. Bought this one and another that I'll be posting in the other M1 section in a bit from a gentleman with an indoor surplus booth. The shell is a late war FS/SB Schlueter. It's a bit rusty and crusty but that's the way it goes with navy helmets. Unfortunately though it seems like someone may have oiled it at some point and the long chinstrap and J-hook are lost to time. What's interesting is that the shell seems to have been painted a blue/grey and then repainted OD before the markings were applied. It came with an 80s liner but given how rusty the inside of the shell is and how dusty the outside of the liner is I'm thinking that they've been put together fairly recently. Sadly mice got at the webbing of the liner so it's pretty shot, not sure what I'll do with it since I don't think it belongs with the shell and I've got no use for a worn out late style liner. In any case, while the shell is obviously a bit toasty itself I think it still displays very well. I'm thinking it might be KW era but I would love to hear what others thing on age!

 

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3 hours ago, Nickman983 said:

Ended up checking out a new flea market this morning and had some luck with the helmets. Bought this one and another that I'll be posting in the other M1 section in a bit from a gentleman with an indoor surplus booth. The shell is a late war FS/SB Schlueter. It's a bit rusty and crusty but that's the way it goes with navy helmets. Unfortunately though it seems like someone may have oiled it at some point and the long chinstrap and J-hook are lost to time. What's interesting is that the shell seems to have been painted a blue/grey and then repainted OD before the markings were applied. It came with an 80s liner but given how rusty the inside of the shell is and how dusty the outside of the liner is I'm thinking that they've been put together fairly recently. Sadly mice got at the webbing of the liner so it's pretty shot, not sure what I'll do with it since I don't think it belongs with the shell and I've got no use for a worn out late style liner. In any case, while the shell is obviously a bit toasty itself I think it still displays very well. I'm thinking it might be KW era but I would love to hear what others thing on age!

 

PXL_20230312_162813897.jpg.9f9f80bb75c5d2204ba66c7877a66f85.jpgPXL_20230312_162849250.jpg.1c5bf8a387370fefc50d4b51e5c65f9c.jpgPXL_20230312_162930574.jpg.745d0a3b2a643d4be49f68fde875dd8a.jpgPXL_20230312_162959492.jpg.be981b65b8eeac0e4edabcecc0f6306b.jpgPXL_20230312_163015054.jpg.ac3b0e058bfa52297dec09121c9a4862.jpgPXL_20230312_163105811.jpg.f4b2aaa17c49a216592c668ce8aac2a2.jpgPXL_20230312_163141890.jpg.268ba6c1de962931b7ab0cb2456c934c.jpg

We were using the M-1 well into the 1990s. We would piece together helmets with pieces of older beat up ones. We had fixed bales on my first ship in 1973. We would repaint most every year or so with what ever paint was handy in the paint locker unless we were told different. As ships decommissioned, the helmets were turned into the supply system to be re issued 

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1 hour ago, sigsaye said:

We were using the M-1 well into the 1990s. We would piece together helmets with pieces of older beat up ones. We had fixed bales on my first ship in 1973. We would repaint most every year or so with what ever paint was handy in the paint locker unless we were told different. As ships decommissioned, the helmets were turned into the supply system to be re issued 

 

Yea, that's the tough part about trying to date navy helmets. I usually go by the newest piece on the helmet is to get a rough idea of when the earliest it could have been used in that configuration with the knowledge that it was probably kicking around a while after that. Would have been the liner in this case but with it having no rust staining to match the shell and a pretty thick layer of dust I'm pretty certain it was thrown in the shell to make it "complete"

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1 hour ago, Nickman983 said:

 

Yea, that's the tough part about trying to date navy helmets. I usually go by the newest piece on the helmet is to get a rough idea of when the earliest it could have been used in that configuration with the knowledge that it was probably kicking around a while after that. Would have been the liner in this case but with it having no rust staining to match the shell and a pretty thick layer of dust I'm pretty certain it was thrown in the shell to make it "complete"

I only saw “New” helmets once in 26 years. They were in “Tri Walls, going to a new LHD, when she was still fitting out and brand new. We did, get a bunch of brand new 1980s clip on chin straps once. We cut off all the old VN and earlier and installed them. Got a crate of the old helmet liner leather chin straps, brand new and all bundled up. We had ordered chin straps for the old phone talker helmets, but got those instead. Put them on with zip ties.   Every now and then, we’d get new bits and pieces and would install them on what we had. 

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1 hour ago, sigsaye said:

I only saw “New” helmets once in 26 years. They were in “Tri Walls, going to a new LHD, when she was still fitting out and brand new. We did, get a bunch of brand new 1980s clip on chin straps once. We cut off all the old VN and earlier and installed them. Got a crate of the old helmet liner leather chin straps, brand new and all bundled up. We had ordered chin straps for the old phone talker helmets, but got those instead. Put them on with zip ties.   Every now and then, we’d get new bits and pieces and would install them on what we had. 

 

The funny part about that story with the talker helmet chinstraps is I'm sure if one of those miraculously showed up today with the zip tied liner chinstrap still in place many collectors would probably cut the zip ties off thinking it was done by someone after it was surplused

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12 hours ago, Nickman983 said:

 

The funny part about that story with the talker helmet chinstraps is I'm sure if one of those miraculously showed up today with the zip tied liner chinstrap still in place many collectors would probably cut the zip ties off thinking it was done by someone after it was surplused

Quite true. We also made chin straps out of orange nylon shot line ( para cord). 

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1 hour ago, 1972firebird said:

nice helmet, i saw that one a few weeks ago but didnt pull the trigger!

 

Thanks! I was on the fence myself but I'm a sucker for navy helmets and ended bundling it with another helmet to make a deal.

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