A very very rough Heer Feldmütze alter art

[Rigormortis]

Even though its pretty beat up it's still a piece of history (granted its original), and if the price is good why not, I mean even if its gonna disintegrate from its condition it still has to disintegrate while in somebody's possession. Why not yours? Sounds like you would appreciate it in your collection and that's probably the most important thing IMO.

[Wolfe1165]

I like it Good job on bringing it back to life(or keeping it on life-support at least). I too have a soft spot for the beaten up pieces. You're happy and they say it's real, that's all that matters

[Eddie]

Hi Eddie,

There is quite a bit of the black thread from the soutache left behind.

I have about 6 cockades and have thought about replacing it, but will probably leave it as I found it in a local flea market.

Jerry, it is super cool that you still have so much thread left there, no doubt he was a Pioneer! You know, I replaced the insignia on my Schiffchen and it was pretty fun and I like it better now. But, that's me and that hat, maybe yours is better without a cockade? Thanks for showing it, I hadn't seen it before.

[Eddie]

Hey Eddie the cap looks a lot better than when you started good job on trying to bring some life back in to it
I as well have a soft spot for the salty and very probably would have done the same myself.
This kind of item if displayed properly in a shadow box with some other relics would look awsome IMO and if the price was right and you are getting some satisfaction and enjoyment from this project that to me would be well worth the price of what you paid for it .

Regards Mark K

PS. Eddie I rather like it and would display it reminds me of that good old dog you just cant bare to put down .

Ha! That dog is perfect for this cap, the old feller still has life left in him, I can't quite let it go! It may be beat to heck, but it's an Erel dang it, and it's mine! No show dogs for me, give me a mutt that needs love every day of the week. I guess I like to have a bit of both, for instance I have that great tunic that you sold me and I also have a really, really salty wool Feldbluse, and it's neat to see the difference between the wear on the nap between the two. However, it is important to be realistic about how/where that wear happened. Was it fighting on the eastern front, or did a lot of it happen after the war in a POW camp? In the case of this cap, I think the vast majority of the damage was poor storage, and then some moron not knowing what he was doing. The worst of it is really the bill, and the chunk missing, other than that it's just kinda beat up and I've seen similar items for sale on dealer sites for more. It really was there though, and at the end of the day, that's my yardstick.
Speaking of cute critters, here's our little Tank Destroyer in training(so far she's only destroyed my headphones!) that we rescued from a shelter, she took awhile to come around since she was a street cat for a bit, but she knows that we saved her and gave her a good home.

[Eddie]

Even though its pretty beat up it's still a piece of history (granted its original), and if the price is good why not, I mean even if its gonna disintegrate from its condition it still has to disintegrate while in somebody's possession. Why not yours? Sounds like you would appreciate it in your collection and that's probably the most important thing IMO.

Thanks Jeff, I do really like this cap and you're right that's the most important thing. As for disintegration, I can never understand how hard we collectors are on cloth items, but give metal items a total pass in terms of condition, I mean you can have a "relic lid" but your cap better be minty or it's nothing. You'd think that with the fragility of cloth it'd be the other way around? I've had a relic helmet before, and I couldn't get into it either, sometimes it seems like they were used as target practice or a flower/pisspot, with rust flaking all over and not much of a decal. "Not for my collection" is what I usually think, but I don't often leave comments about a rusted out hulk being used as a russian field bedpan. It's not really necessary I think. I do like seeing when someone can bring one back a little bit though, it's always neat to see a neglected item get some love, even if it'll never be perfect.

[AmericanKraut]

I like that you are holding on to the hat and restored it, it can not be replaced when its thrown away no matter how bad of shape it is. I really like that picture of your cat too lol.