Not seen one without the band before, are you sure it has not just been lost? Looks tidy though
Thanks.No definitely not lost.There never was a rim, close up you can see the original paint around the edges and there is no shadow of the rim if there once was one..no spot weld marks...
There was another in shop where i got this but that one had slightly glossy drab paint.Mine has a gritty matt finish.
I've seen about 2 this year on ebay without the rim, 1 was sold last week I think it was. All the BMB ones I've seen in the hand have always had the rim so it can't be down to maker, maybe they just slipped through the quality control net. Thanks for showing.
I have a raw edge one as well and I started a debate some years ago on another forum about it and it turned out that several other people also had one and they were all made by Briggs motor bodies and dated 1953 so ether as tinlid says its a quality control problem or could it be an economy measure the same as they did in in 1941? The red star painted on mine has always been a bit of a puzzle Its been suggested that during war games the ones with the red stars played the enemy? The enemy in 1953 being the Chinese and north Koreans.
My Mk IV is also a raw edge version BMB dated 1953, the liner is FFL dated 1945, lift the dot version. Didn't realise until now that this is a rarer version. It also had a sand coating when I bought which I chipped off. In my defence these helmets were still standard issue at the time I got mine.
Interestingly when as a serving reservist with the Irish army in 1981. I was issued with a Mk IV helmet while on duty at a border barracks. It was noticeable to me how much lighter that helmet was compared to my own. The Irish army version had the banding.
I wonder was the raw edge version actually heavier or was it my imagination. I've just weighed mine and it comes out at 2lbs 4ozs, just over a kilo. Could anyone who has a banded version weigh theirs? It would be interesting to check.
The raw edge MKIV is an excepted variant, only made by BMB for the one year, possibly for the same reason (as already mentioned above) as that for the raw edge MKII made by them in 1941, though I am not exactly sure why they did it on either occasion.
They do seem to attract a slightly higher price than the normal type with edge trim. They obviously lasted in use into the 1980's as I have one with a "sock" liner dated 1980 which is a Veterans helmet from the Falklands.
Regards,
Jerry
Whatever its just an opinion.
In WW2 BMB were permitted to produce non-edged MkIIs for Home Front usage for a short period.....my understanding was it permitted a more speedy production. A lot ended up with the NFS
The Korean war was still ongoing in 53 and I assume the same sort of demands resulted in a similar action being taken.
Regards,
Jerry
Whatever its just an opinion.
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