Ludwig Baer...buy his book

 As I've stated many times before, this blog focuses on the beginning and novice (like me) helmet collector.  Here is some valuable advice for you

Our hobby suffers a plague of highly-priced fakes and tampered-with helmets.  This is no more true than in the category of German helmets of the Third Reich.  It is a minefield for beginning and experienced collector alike.  The problem is of such magnitude that one is justified to believe that any German helmet is fake until proven otherwise.  That sounds extreme, but even some of the leading "experts" in the field have been duped by unscrupulous dealers, and more tragically, some of those trusted experts have been knowlingly dealing in fakes themselves.

That preamble leads to this:  if you are embarking on a collection that includes TR (Third Reich) helmets, proceed with great caution, the risks and the potential for financial loss are high, not to mention the regret and embarrassment you will have when holding that $2,000 fake in your hands.

Seasoned collectors have a mantra for novice collectors of TR helmets - educate yourself.  Now many of them will simply say "buy books", that may have been good advice at one time, but these days many of those lavish, large-format books with page after page of beautiful helmet photographs, are little more than helmet pornography - very little information and beautiful pictures of helmets, many of which are fake.  This leads us to ask "Whom can I trust?"  

For me, the simplest way to have confidence is to go to the back of the book and look for a bibliography and cited sources, that is the mark of a scholar and a true expert in the field, and sadly these books are very difficult to find.  Less than a third of the books on my helmet bookshelf are authored by these scholar-collectors, and that seems to be the standard today.  The self-appointed experts do not attend to the basic standards of research that any highschool freshman is accountable for using.

That leads me to the book The History of the German Steel Helmet: 1916 - 1945, published in 1985, by Ludwig Baer.

Baer has been established as the leading authority on the subject, he is totally legit and a wealth of good information.  His analysis is sound and based upon exhaustive research of primary documents - something you seldom find in other helmet books (excluding the excellent work of Mark Reynosa and others).

This book has been out of print for many years, and I have seen copies of it selling for up to two-hundred dollars.  This may seem like a lot of money, but it pales in comparison to the loss you will take by buying a very convincing fake of a TR helmet.  I cannot overstate the essential value of this book.  If you want to enter the risky area of TR collecting, you simply must get this book and do the research.

Buy it.

See you next time with another cool helmet from the collection.

Mannie

France, m.78 f1 combat helmet

In the post- WWII era, France adopted several helmets, none of which were found to be suitable to the French. They used cast-off M1s from the United States, the odd m. 41 Jeanne d' Arc (DeGualle) helmet, and the gererally unpopular m.51  which was merely a French re-design of the two-piece M1.

The utterly unique, and decidedly odd-looking, m.41

The clumsy, ill-fitting, and unatractive m.51

France was looking for a distinctly French helmet, which was wonderfully achieved in the m.78 f1.

One of the last, if not the last, steel helmets designed, and manufactured, was the French m.78 f1 helmet.  This helmet served France until the very early 1980s to the very early 2000s; and is, in my opinion, one of the most attractive and well designed helmets ever.

I find the shape of this helmet similar to many of the Eastern block countries of the Cold War era, especially the Soviet m.40 - the lines are very similar. Sorry for the soft-focus - I think I had the camera in "Joan Crawford-mode."

The camouflge is the CE (central Europe) version of the US woodland pattern, The colors are nearly the same, but the color blocks are considerably larger than the traditional woodland pattern.

Securing the cover to the shell, and integral to the camouflage cover, is a rubber bumper circling the entire lower edge of the helmet.  

Here's a tip, if you acquire this helmet, think twice about removing this cover as it comes off fairly easily, but is an absolute bear to get back on.

The cover is comprised of a rubber ring and four panels meeting at the dome.

The liner may be one of the most efficient, well-designed, and comfortable of any 20th century helmet.

The straps are synthetic. and the snaps that secure both ends of the chinstraps are very robust.  The double set of snaps allows adjustment for the use of a Gasmask.  The snaps also provide quick, and spontaneous, release when nearby explosions happen; the quick release, under -pressure, helps to prevent neck-injuries in those instances.

The comfortable, and well-fitting chincup is a combination of leather, synthetic leather, and plastic.  It also has well-placed ventilation holes.  Good ventilation and comfort are hallmarks of this helmet.

This example is the earlier of two versions of the f1 helmet.  In the second version, the dome pad is a six-fingered star, which increased both comfort and ventilation.

Sliding buckles allow for a good fit on all straps.

Sponge-rubber or neoprene spacers provide indentation protection for the head of the wearer; there is a lot of resiliance in the suspension of this helmet.

Those familiar with the US M1 helmet will recognize these "A" washers.  Connected by a screw and nut which pass through the shell, they help secure the suspension to the shell.  The screw and nut combination characterizes the earlier of two versions of the f1.

Velcro tapes secure the headband to the suspension.

The Chinstrap is of a three-point design, making this suitable for airborne troops.

Velcro allows for adjustment of the headband.  It is very easy to get a good fit with this helmet.

Removing the cover reveals United Nations livery.

Now for a few action shots of this effective, well-designed, handsome, and soldier-friendly helmet:

The m.78 f1 helmet closed out the 80-some-odd year history of the steel combat helmet.  How fitting that the nation which produced the first steel combat helmet would field the last as well.

See you next time with another cool helmet from the collection.

Sources:

"Rockymountainralph", F1 helmet, Youtube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OoFiuVUzehs&t=1271s

Camopedia, United States, https://www.camopedia.org/index.php/USA

Revuelta, Joseba. Cascos Del SigloXX, https://www.cascoscoleccion.com/francia/francia.html

Phillip's Military Helmets, Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.607122939333334&type=3&paipv=0&eav=AfYQ797lKTXEdGkUEqhOsL8smiB9fqYV0d5rpdOrOWO9t2KH-JBR7GJcOguVJgdohA4&_rdr

Peacekeepers: United Nations helmets

 

From left to right: Netherlands M1 clone liner, US-made Canadian M1, French f1.

See you next time with another cool helmet from the collection.

Peace,

Mannie

Germany (Nazi), Luftwaffe m.40 combat helmet,

Several years ago I took some photos of the helmets at our local (privately owned) museum.   The late owner had about twenty really nice helmets, five of which ended up in my collection.  This one he was hanging on to, but he generously let me photograph it in detail.  

Here is a link to the German m.42, raw-edge luft model,  that I posted back in 2015.

This is an m.40 German helmet, issued to the Luftwaffe.  The m.40 is characterized by a rolled-rim, a stamped ventilator, and corner-less steel chinstrap loops.  This is a particularly nice specimen, and a fine example to guide your collecting efforts.

It is an m.40 in superb condition.  And from this point on, it'll just be a walk-around comprised of photos.

The finish of this helmet is close to 100%.

The decal is in wonderful shape as it the entire helmet.  And the m.m40 stamped ventilator is shown to good effect.

The liner is in pretty good condition, with some flaking along the edge.

One of the few discrepencies is that the tip is missing from the chinstrap, which is unfortunate as that is where the manufacture's mark is...manufacturer of the chinstrap, that is.

A close-up of the leather flaking.  Despite the claims of many, there is no way to reverse this.

The chinstrap loops of the earlier m.35, were cast aluminum with square corners, in subsequent models, including this m.40, the loops are steel wire with rounded corners.

I think it speaks well of my collecting discipline that I didn't buy it myself;  I have a nice army m.40 as well as a Luftwaffe m.42...not to mention, there is only so much wallspace.

A very handsome helmet, indeed!

See you next time with another cool helmet from the collection.

Mannie