ww1 helmet

[calibrav6]

Managed to save it from my nans loft.
my great granddad shot a german a this was in a box the guy was carrying.
it was brand new but my uncle wrecked it when he was young.

[oradour]

calibrav6, you have a nice 1914 Ersatz (Substitute) felt Pickelhaube, made of compressed rabbit fur. Upon mobilisation, the Germans made (to meet demand, due to a shortage of leather), helmets made of all sorts of substitute materials, cotton, tin, steel, felt and fiber. These 'Ersatz' helmets can be found with a variety of fittings, either in brass, silver and the model 1915 pickelhaube phosphate grey finish. Ersatz helmets can be seen with/without front visor trim, and rear spines, and even without cockades. The felt helmets were fitted with a thin liner similar to the leather helmets but could be either sewn in or glued into the helmet !...these helmets were worn at the front line, but offered little head protection, and when sufficient supplies of the leather variety were issued they were withdrawn to rear areas where they were worn well into the war. Yours looks a little mishapen, this is common, you can reshape by 'steaming', that is ...use a boiling kettle spout and let the steam into the interior and reshape by hand, and let sit on a former or model head to keep the shape !....heres mine, appears to be never fitted with front visor trim, but has the fitting studs/brads attached !

[calibrav6]

Gutted, yours looks so nice and no damage either.
thanks for sharing the photos its nice to see what it did look like.
i will try reshaping it too.
thanks for all the info as well.
very intresting.

[oradour]

calibrav6, dont feel gutted !....dont forget your helmet is 96 years old !...you can make yours look good again, reshape, put a small single stich on the rip on the visor....get a good chinstrap and a red/white/black cocade, give it a brush to remove any dirt/fluff etc. i take it you got yours gratis....i had to pay a lot of money !.....has yours a liner ? if so still worth around $500/£300+. I would have yours in my collection, no problem.

[calibrav6]

agree for 93 its done well for its age, and im lucky to have it as my rouge uncle has stole and sold my great grandads stick that he used when leading the band, some medals and lots of very old pocket watches and lots of other antiques.
i will be looking to find bits to repair it now i have seen yours, no liner tho. yes it was free and it came from my g g dad, so im happy just to have it.
also if you would be happy to own it i am very happy going on what ive seen and you have told me.
thanks alot.

[Rob truscott]

Why dont you steam it then stick on your uncles head until re shaped !!
After all it was his fault!

[Pontiac9999]

Nice felt haube!