M42 relic.

[Pieter W]

Another M42.
This was my first dug up helmet. Not cleaned by me, but by an another relic hunter. The helmet had an single decal.

[LAS VEGAS]

I THINK THERE IS A FEELING TAHT WHEN A RELIC CONDITION HELMET IS AROUND THEY ARE all automatically dug ups.I dont think the leather would have survived if this was in the ground covered in wet mud for decades.Therefore in an article on german relic helmets it goes on to say they can be found in a variety of places .yes the old trusty barn ,old celars , and old junk yards ect.my guess is the thin leather of the liner would rot away easily underground ,am i right or?

[stuka f]

It is in the air that something would rot!

[Adrian Stevenson]

Depending on the type of ground, some leather liners will survive. Thick heavy blue clay mud is actually a good preserver of leather.

Cheers, Ade.

[LAS VEGAS]

THats interesting and iv learned something ,thankyou.

[Pieter W]

It is also the PH condition of the ground where the helmet was found, and how many years the helmet located in the ground.
The pH is an expression for the acidity of an aqueous solution

How was the helmet into the ground, on which way the helmet was in the grond lay how deep located the helmet, was the helm located in water? how react the decal in water mud sand, how react the ground on the helmet decal.

What was the PH, sandy or muddy.
I've seen relics from Poland and Russia where the decal is still looking great, this is the another basic structure of ground PH
If you find a relic here in the Netherlands this is usually in very bad with rotten codition, mud conserveerd better
It would be impossible to apply a modern decal over the pitting and achieve these results it is not possible.. This pitting in this decal pitting come by ground water, PH of the ground, and for so many long years in the ground located.

[lelechera]

I have a ground dug helmets and conserve the leather, depend of the sand,weather and lot of diferents things.
But not impossible....

[Pieter W]

I have a ground dug helmets and conserve the leather, depend of the sand,weather and lot of diferents things.
But not impossible....

Nice Relic lelechera

[airwarrior]

I am a member of the b.a.a.c and have been on quite a few aircraft digs now i personally havent but i know people that have found leather fling helmets in not too bad condition obviously very dry and shrunken but the reason for this is the air has not got to it.I have found bits of flying jacket from crashes that have disentigrated almost immediately i have somewhere an American leather strap i found on a B17 crash site 10 years ago and its still quite soft that was found in clay.I really think it depends on the soil type the more acidity the more likely rot and air exposure how close to the surface etc!

[airwarrior]

This is a ground dug helmet from St lo several were found during a road widening scheme by a french digger driver the leather is really stiff i tried to treat it but its too far gone.