Your best helmet of 2011

**WOODSNAKE** · 12-29-2011, 06:22 AM

Nice Idea Pablo, but the Boys have said it all, no contest....

**Espenlaub Militaria** · 12-29-2011 06:22 AM

We also buy and trade your items and full collections!

**1stCTHeavyArtillery** · 12-29-2011, 01:36 PM

No reason not to keep posting great finds though, still a few days left of the year!

**1stCTHeavyArtillery** · 12-29-2011, 02:22 PM

by DougB

A wet cloth dabbed over the numbers might bring them out better. It could be at the rear of the skirt, I would expect to see something like this; ckl64

Hi Doug,
I did some looking & there is indeed a stamp a the back rim of the helmet, there are 2 sets of numbers though, I had tried the water and the mark was just visible though not readable. I took a very soft toothbrush to the rust and it revealed with a bit more water afterward lower case "ckl6" and what may be a "6" or an "8"... that upper part of the stamp was struck lightly it seems, but just under that is a clearer four digit stamp of what I believe to be "2836".

If this makes sense then great, if I need to buff out the rust a bit more I can but I i just don't want to alter it's natural aging too much.

Does this help you more in the helmets identification?

**helmet2id** · 12-29-2011, 03:13 PM

Hi Steve, I think you have enough information. The "ckl" is the maker mark, the "66" or "68" is the size of the shell, and the "2836" is the lot number. The decal looks good, especially with the crazing apparent on the close up, and is correct for this manufacturer. These are all consistent with a real SS helmet. You can determine the size now by comparing the shell to others. All in all, in my opinion it is a nice original piece that suffers from bad storage over the years, but a good one none the less. Nice pick up. Jim G.

**DougB** · 12-29-2011, 04:12 PM

I concur with Jim, I'll check my SS helmet database of lot numbers to see if there's a match in there.

**1stCTHeavyArtillery** · 12-29-2011, 06:08 PM

Thanks guys, I appreciate the experienced information. I buy what "feels" correct but on the German side of the hobby there's just so many fakes- My US collection has a lot less worry over who's trying to pull a fast one.

**1stCTHeavyArtillery** · 12-31-2011, 01:35 PM

To keep this thread going to the very last here are 2 more items to show.

M1940 single decal with Luftwaffe Eagle peaking through camo over-paint, this was brought back by a US Red Ball Express veteran who served in France and Belgium.

M1935 single decal with national colors (a very small helmet).