COMPOSITE website updated - at last!

[Greg Pickersgill]

You may like to know - indeed, you may even be *overjoyed* to read - that after a period roughly equivalent to the time it takes one hippopotamus to make another hippopotamus COMPOSITE has been updated. Yes!

I don't know why its taken me so long. Well, I do, but I will not burden you with the details. Suffice to say the regular complaints were of enormous help. Oh yes they were.

Anyway, goto Composite Helmets, Ballistic helmets, Military helmets International Guide and find *new stuff* about helmets not made of steel. Well, not much steel anyway. And if you have anything you can contribute, be it a whole new picture layout, a missed detail, or even better a correction of some misaligned factoid, please do so, contacting me either via the website or at this address - helmets@gostak.demon.co.uk.

[Opex]

Fantastic Greg, I have just saved the link into my favourites, I am convinced this will be a very beneficial source of information for all.

Great work deserves great praise, and thanks for sharing.

Regards

Opex.

[JBR]

Very useful resource, Greg! Well done. As it happened, I've been thinking of selling my Danish issue 826 (reluctant thinning out) so took a look at your section on that. You mention a degree of uncertainty in attribution. I bought mine 2 or 3 years ago from a Danish surplus dealer at the War & Peace Show in Kent. His large stall was overflowing with Danish army and civil defence webbing, helmets and related gear, mostly at very reasonable prices (I also purchased from him an unissued M48, complete with net for £8!). I spotted the 826 among a few Spectras and he explained they were used for a short time and to a limited extent by Denmark. I bought it for £30 - one of his more expensive items but the first time I'd had a chance to examine an 826 and it is in very good lightly used condition. In every respect it seems identical to the one in your pictures - ie markings, colour/texture, strap detail, even size:'M'. It also has a marking in the crown, which perhaps yours does too although it's not visible in the pictures: '95/067 within a circle'. I know it's only circumstantial but I feel confident mine is Danish issue. Unfortunately, the dealer (a very nice chap, by the way) didn't have one of the rare-as-rockinghorse-droppings camo covers! I hope my story goes just a little way to adding confidence to your attribution. Best Regards, John

[Greg Pickersgill]

Thank you, John. That's very useful knowledge. I will add your information to the webpage.

I know the Danish stall you're talking about, on on the two occasions I've been to W&P they were actually the first stall I checked! Certainly bought a few things, including an interesting Danish Civil defence refurbishment of the British Zuckerman, with the liner from a Mk 2 in it, crown-drilled for a nut&bolt.. You don't see those every day.

Anyway, good to know from you and Opex that CompoSite is being a useful addition to the sum of human knowledge. I must make more of an effort to improve&update. Contributions always happily receieved!

[JBR]

Glad the info was useful, Greg. I've decided to list the helmet on eBay, so you can see it for yourself if you're interested. I've put it on for what I paid and we'll see what happens. Might be too much for the present market. However, apart from all that, I thought I should mention that I added links to your website for anyone wishing to know more about 826s on the assumption you wouldn't mind. Was my assumption correct? If not, I will remove them. I'd also be interested to know what you and others think about adding site and forum links to online sales generally. I've thought until now that, on balance, spreading the word was justification even though the links are added in support of an item offered for sale. I don't think I've put a forum link on anything yet (but I might have) but I have linked Cascoscollecion and World War Helmets - and now yours! Best Regards, John

[Greg Pickersgill]

I've been doing an update for CompoSite - Composite Helmets, Ballistic helmets, Military helmets International Guide - and about time too as its nearly 18 months since the last one. I blame me.

Actually I blame you too (you know who you are). Contributions of photographs and facts are required. If you are a compo collector you really should do the decent - and right - thing and send them in. Remember, CompoSite is possibly the only website devoted to composites on the entire internet and is therefore making a small but useful contribution to the sum of human knowledge available on the web.

At the moment its only CZECH REPUBLIC, INDIA and the UK that have had substantial additions, but various tweaks, tidies, and improvements have been done throughout. More material will be added over the next few days.

[James C]

congratulations greg such a huge undertaking must be very time consuming but thanks to your huge effort the site is looking real good ,its very easy to navigate ,ive just had a quick scan through and have spotted some of your more recent aquisitions too ,when you say photo contributions are these sent via email or do you ask for the more traditional roll of film ?

[Greg Pickersgill]

Well, yeah, contributions are extremely important, the webpage is not and never has been supposed to be just a show&tell about my own collection. Apart from anything else a good input of material from other people excites me and keeps *my* enthusiasm going and I am more likely to update frequently.

Obviously you send in stuff by email (roll of film? so 20th century...) - use this address - helmets@gostak.demon.co.uk - or one of the contact links on the webpage.

Stuff to consider -

1 - do you have something new that is NOT already featured - this is EXCITING, send it in pronto!
2 - do you have better, more detailed, more interesting, more useful pictures of something already featured - always good, especially of little-known examples or unusual variants
3 - do you have actual facts and information that can be added in - the more the better

and

4 - photographs taken against a neutral background are by far preferable, it is the helmet we want to see, not someone's kitchen or garden!
5 - take OFF any camo covers whenever possible - again, its the *helmet* we're dealing with, lots of other websites specialise in camouflage, but not this one
6 - the various electronics and other kit christmas-treed onto helmets today are of no importance to Composite - no need to include them - it's the helmet, see?

There have been a number of postings here on Warrelics that could be converted into CompoSite entries. Obviously I'm reluctant to lift material without specific permissions, so if anyone reading this has posted anything that fits the bill then please PM or email me and we'll sort it out.

[austromunga]

Great job on the site Greg very informative.... to add to your experience at the War and peace show I picked up and viewed the said 826 and at that early stage of my collection had no idea what I was looking at!!!! ... just thought it would serve as an Austrian M92 stand in under the cover!!! (similar shape)!! but I did see an M92 with the M84 camo cover!!! he wanted £60 for just the cover!!... which in hind sight considering the rarity!!!! was actually perhaps very reasonable!!!! yet another opportunity missed!!!! went back the next day and ...yes you've guessed it ...gone!!! I don't really have much to offer in the way of contributions...so far anyway!!!! ...(you have probably already seen my mere handful of Compo's) but i will keep an eye out....and let you know if I come across any thing out of the ordinary in my travels!!! and hopefully get some good pics too!!!

[ruddersrangers44]

I was just wondering how many US companies in total made the early PASGT,I know there's Sioux/unicor/gibraltar,also when did the 2 piece chinstrap get changed to the three/four type?last question whats the earliest dated PASGT?thanks..............
just found SPP,who also happen to be the last M1 helmet combat liner maker,having contracts in 1983/86.