BW Para Helmet for opinions please

[Watchdog]

Good afternoon gents,

I'm not a helmet collector per se but this "side ward" of my collection has recently taken a bit of a turn up in activity.

I have just received this BW para lid and would appreciate any comments / input on it.

It is of course the steel pre-kevlar / composite type but I am unsure beyond that of the actual period. I guess there were variations and that this is probably the later rather than earlier but I would like to learn a little more than just "it's a para helmet".

Regards

Mark

[Watchdog]

Bump!
Anybody have any knowledge of variants / time periods?

[ruddersrangers44]

Noop not my thing Mark however hopefully someone will be along soon,all I know it as is the M71 B/W Airborne Helmet also used by Belgium Paratroopers,flecktarn covers for B/W and Jigsaw pattern for Belgium,its production at a guess mid 1960's mid 1970's but could be wrong....

[Watchdog]

Thanks for the reply Jake. That fits with what I was thinking and this is what BW troops were using when I was "interacting" with them in the late 70's / early 80's before the composite Gefectshelm was introduced. I only recall helmet nets rather than covers as at that time they were still wearing the older all green uniforms. I never saw the flecktarn gear in use until the 90's and we didn't see many BW in my area at that time (Bergen Hohne/ Fallingbostel) and I had been in Berlin before that (no BW but loads of Soviet and DDR uniforms about!) which explains the gap in my "eyes on" with BW gear.
I think I am correct in the belief that before the M71 was introduced the BW were using US M1C but I am not certain so I hope we have someone here who is!

Regards

Mark
PS. I assume the flecktarn cover for the M71 is quite different from the later / current item?

[Gunny Hartmann]

.: World War Helmets - Casque Modell 1A1 LL :.
This site will answer most of your questions!....

[James C]

very nice addition to your collection mark i have one of these too ,it was the only genuine german paratrooper helmet i could afford a shame it wasnt the ww2 version though but the chinstraps are often found on reproductions as they are similar to there ww2 counterpart and as luck would have it ive just found a picture of my bw and belgium pairing and also the flectarn covers you mention ,one for the stahlhelm and one for the gefechtshelm, looks like your rear lining bolt has been replaced at some stage ,thanks for sharing ,have a look on the liner in greater detail ,mine had a number of jumps penned in

[Watchdog]

Thanks Gunny, I knew about this site but for some reason I keep forgetting about it must be an age (or beer) thing

Mark

[Watchdog]

very nice addition to your collection mark i have one of these too ,it was the only genuine german paratrooper helmet i could afford a shame it wasnt the ww2 version though but the chinstraps are often found on reproductions as they are simmilar to there ww2 counterpart and as luck would have it ive just found a picture of my bw and belgium pairing and also the flectarn covers you mention ,one for the stahlhelm and one for the gefechtshelm, looks like your rear lining bolt has been replaced at some stage ,thanks for sharing ,have a look on the liner in greater detail ,mine had a number of jumps penned in

Thanks James, I now think I have the clarification I wanted about the flecktarn cover in that there are two distinct types. Yes the liner bolts display differences in my helmet but I am aware of the two types (with hole and without hole) In this case there are two of each so I wonder if originally two were at the front and two at the rear in matching pairs and a previous owner has mixed them up? I suppose the at the right time during the manufacturing process they may have had both types fitted as one superceeded the other. It does seem likely to me though that these may have been service replacements as the two with holes are one colour and the two without are another! What I need to find now is a period net or cover depending on any date marking under the liner.

Regards

Mark
PS I need to be careful as steel helmets are getting under my skin!

[James C]

hi mark i am in agreement with you on the bolts i would think simply period replaced as required ,perhaps they were prone to rattling loose ,i doubt very much anybody sane collector would want to remove the liner completely then for some reason lose the bolts and nuts but hey you never know ,there are a lot of strange people out there ,the correct nets can be found here ASMC Bundeswehr Shop - Ausrüstung Sicherheit Militär Camping highly likely a cover too ,i used an offcut of ameoba tarn material from a zelt hood ,the flectarn cover you see on my picture is on my m1a1 modified or m85 ,these have a 3 point chinstrap similar to your model 59 Luftlandetruppen para helmet im sure this type was used untill the fall of the wall so using flectarn material might be feasible if you none to fussed ,i think there look pretty good just with the tarnetz ,regards james

[Watchdog]

HI James, thanks for the reply and the link is very useful too!

Mark