Swedish Helmets

[reneblacky]

if that is a big problem for you , send the helmets in Romania at my adress.

haha come and visit here in Aussie we'll accommodate ya, but The Wife Is on All cases

[reneblacky]

Just a couple of extra shots, looks like the original owner liked to keep a band aid on board

[reneblacky]

G'day All,

Found another M26 today, pictured left with my two others.

[Engman]

Nice that you found one in size 69. The most common sizes are 66 and 72. (Because 69 is for normal size heads (56-59) more of them have been worn out)

Nice clear stamp. As previously said in this thread LI is for Luftskyddsinspektionen. This means it's from 1944 or earlier. Likely to have been made sometime between 42 and 44.

They're nice helmets even though they're very common and cheap. In the future René you should try to get a military m/26 with decals.

[Brusilov]

I walked into an antique shop today and found one of their shelves loaded with about 30-40 of these M21-16, M21-18, and M26 Swede helmets. I was pretty enthralled when I found them and decided to buy one for my Swedish teacher since it was only fifteen bucks.





It seems like the real deal, it's made of steel, the crest looks accurate and typical, and the leather was sufficiently old and cracked when I picked it up. Thing is though, it doesn't have any markings on it at all, save for something penned into the leather liner;



It appears to be an "O.P." Is this legitimate and just featureless, or some sort of reproduction? I'm curious before I decide to pick up any more.

Also, I had given the leather a bath in hot water and olive oil to soften it up, but left it attached to the helmet. The result was that the paint became discolored on the inside of the shell, and in some streams where it leaked through the helmet rivets. I imagine this damage is irreversible, but given that most of the helmets there were in pretty bad condition as far as paint goes, is there any way that I can do a repair without redoing the entire helmet for this and any others? And does this give any hint to its authenticity?

What would you guys suggest I do now that I've damaged the helmet, anyway?

[battle gear]

olive oil or vegetable oil is not good for leather, I heard it gums up and becomes rancid, you should have used a little warm soapy water and gently wiped clean the leather then let it dry and apply some leather conditioner instead

[marksharky]

I am wondering if anyone could help me out with the meaning of the stamps inside my model 37/65 helmet. I have also noticed that some helmets have the 3-crown decals on the side and some do not. Is there any rule as to which helmets get the decals? I have a page on my blog that has more info and photos of this helmet as well as many of the other items in my collection:
Thanks for the help!

Four Bees: Svenska M 37 Stålhjälm, Swedish M 37 Steel Helmet M37/65

[battle gear]

5 New Swedish Helmet Covers, Military Surplus, Brand Not Specified, Five New Swedish Helmet Covers Netted Top Olive Drab Cotton Fabric Materials at Sportsman's Guide

Sportsman's Guide has the Swedish helmet covers for your helmet 5 new helmet covers for $14.97 !

the helmets without the 3 crown decal could be for export to other countries

[marksharky]

Thanks for the heads up on the helmet covers that the Sportsman's Guide has for sale. I was actually going to put an order in this afternoon for them......... even though I only need one. I guess it never hurts to have spares
I've actually been doing a bit of research on Swedish gear lately and have a number of pages posted on various items (Mauser Carbine, bayonets, pack, canteens, helmets, bicycle gear......etc.) on my blog. I have a great photo of some Swedish Cavalry soldiers, on horseback in 1965, wearing M37/65 helmets with these same helmet covers. I believe that the covers are model 1960, and they came with button closures or Velcro. I'll dig out the photo and post it here as well as on my blog when I receive the covers.

Four Bees

[marksharky]

Here is the photo of the Swedish cavalry soldiers wearing the helmet covers. These are troopers from Norrland Dragoon Regiment, now disbanded (2004, I believe). The photo was taken in 1965 during trials that were conducted comparing horse troops to mechanized troops.