British Army MK1 helmet

[OldSteel]

Hi everyone,
I would share with you this British Army MK1, a helmet model that i love because I consider him the "father" of Western Allies helmet; it's in excellent condition for me, and it's interesting because is painted in his original color.
-Shell marked FS 169 made by "T. Firth & Sons Ltd of Sheffield"
-Liner with red stamp of War Office
It's complete of chinstrap, but the original felt was replaced with handwork, which it seems to be made a long time ago, so I decided to leave it as I found it, however there under there his rubber ring.
It seems a good helmet to me, but I'd like to know your opinions.

greetings
Roberto

[Mark Holden]

A very fine and original helmet!

[birkie]

Very nice Roberto. Great patina on the helmet. The leather portion of the liner looks like a dark brown rather than the typical lighter tan coloured leather. There also seems to be a ridged pattern on the leather that I haven't seen before. Perhaps some the brodie experts out there could comment.
cheers

[reneblacky]

Yep all good, similar paint & liner on mine

[birkie]

thanks Rene'. Super helmet Roberto.

[ynot]

Call me a weirdo but I like the replaced felt, things like that appeal to me and make me wonder if it was an official repair Couldn't have been easy to replace.

Another great helmet Roberto.

Tony

[OldSteel]

Thanks Friends,
I very much welcome your opinions.

see you soon
Roberto

[aef1917]

There also seems to be a ridged pattern on the leather that I haven't seen before.

It's actually not leather. It's an ersatz material called cordite cloth, which was used as an economy measure.

[ynot]

It's actually not leather. It's an ersatz material called cordite cloth, which was used as an economy measure.

Do you know when they started using cordite cloth as a substitute in helmets? A quick search brought up cordite clothing factories in Australia and India.

[OldSteel]

I tried to retrieve the information and it appears that the transition to cordite liner occurred in approximately June 1917.