German helmet given to me by a friend

[thunderbird39]

Hi All

I am a newcomer to the forum which I have found fascinating. My main interest is ww2 Britiish Airborne medal groups but I do also collect other items outside of my main collection.

Some time ago a friend of mine said that an Uncle of his had a German steel helmet in his shed at his allotment which I said I'd be interested to see.

I didn't hear any more for a year or so until he phoned and said his Uncle had died and would I like the helmet, if I wanted it I could collect it from his house which I did.

I don't know a lot about the various helmets and camoflage patterns on them but here it is exactly as I was given it apart from me putting some leater soap on the liner which was very dry.

Hope you like it.

[davejb]

If all opinions are in the positive re this helmet, and i like it also, you may well have struck it lucky with a very desirable , wire camo M42, what markings are there on the rear skirt,

[davejb]

BTW leather soap wasnt exactly a good idea, you should have left it alone until shown on the forum, this way a more precise opinion could be given

[Schwerpunkt]

I'd like to know the stamping at the back on the inside as well , looks like a CKL helmet with a 3000 batchnr. Is there a decal visible under the camo paint ?
Are all the rivet heads as flat as the one in the front (pic 1)

Let me say at this moment I'm strongly leaning towards it being a post war camouflaged helmet.

[davejb]

Frank, Pic 2 right hand rivet as you look at the photo is missing its dome, im wondering if these haver been flattened or the left one has been replaced at some time

[thunderbird39]

Hi All

Thanks for the quick replies. Firstly I apologise for the leather soap I thought I was doing the right thing.
All the rivets are flat the same as the one you can see in the photo.
I never knew there were numbers stamped in the back but they are as follows
Top line C 1 then either a 3 or 8 this number is very faint followed by a 4
Bottom line 3 1 followed by a 9 or 0 again this number is very faint then a 7
As I said I was given the helmet and my friend told me his Uncle brought it back after the war and he had seen it sitting on a shelf in the shed for as far as he can remember about 30 years so I would have thought it would be original. Anyhow if its not no problem as it was a gift so I'm not exactly out of pocket.

Cheers

[thunderbird39]

Just a follow up looking at the rivet's two of them are very tight and the third which is the front right as you look at the helmet is looser. The back rivet has camoflage paint on it as does the loose one. The one on the other side has very slight traces of paint.

[thunderbird39]

Just to follow on no trace of a decal

[Schwerpunkt]

I'm guessing it's stamped CKL 64 and batchnr 3190
The rivet heads look completely wrong to me which is a huge red flag. Originals are domed. Can you also shoot the backside of the helmet ?

[thunderbird39]

Here are some additional photos hope they help. Let me know what you think.