Himmler Style SA Helmet

[helmet2id]

Dave, My double decal Heer has a liner typical of Himmler style helmets, but the SA that is the subject of this thread had a different liner. The chin strap on the SA is attached to the liner band. This eliminated the need for the chin strap attachment rivets that you see on the Heer. I guess they used whatever liners they could procure during a production run, and modified the process accordingly. I would also guess that liners like the one in the Heer helmet were cheaper due to the simpler design, and that may explain why all Himmler helmets that I have seen besides the SA in this thread have the signature chin strap attachment rivets behind the lug vent. Double click on the liner pictures. The pads on the SA are on a single piece of leather, joined at a seam over the rear rivet. The pads on the liner of the Heer are separate, and each individually sewn to the leather liner band. Jim G.

PS: The Heer is also a light brown color - maybe an SA in a past life as well?

I recently showed the SA helmet to Al Barrows and he told me that the liners on EARLY Himmler style helmets had the chinstraps attached to the leather liner bands, but the straps frequently detached. To remedy this problem on the later helmets the chin strap bales were riveted to the shell like on the DD Heer.

[Dean]

My luftschutz M40 beaded helmet has the leather liner band with chins straps sewn as you describe and as others have said it is a rarely found liner.Maybe made by the same firm? Just a theory, mind you.
Dean.