Interwar produced M18 by Et

[Adravor]

Hello Forum,
I already posted this helmet before I bought it, asking about its originality, as I originally thought it was something different, I chose to post the new pictures of it separately, so the post has the correct name.

The helmet was found in an old Fire Station, and it has a name written in it, wich i sadly can’t really read anymore.

I did not find much information on these online, so will I describe everything about this helmet as good as I can, for further reference.

The helmet is a civil Version of the normal M18, that can be distinguished by the missing Lotnr, the special Stamp wich consists of the typical Et stamp and Shell size, but with an extra lying lion and an extra number, supposedly for the steel sheet it was made out of (a alternative Lotn. of some sort?) and also the different Vent holes, as there was no need for a Stirnpanzer on these helmets, they all have the same size.

The helmet also has an special modified M34 liner and a special chinstrap, the chinstrap seems to consist of 3 parts, with the middle part missing on my example.
The liner is made out of leather like almost all German liners of that time, but it also has another material covering the complete inside of the helmet, with a pad for the head in the middle, and 2 extra holes on the sides that lead to the ventholes.

The helmet itself feels lighter then the Wartime examples I have (My Luftwaffe M40 in Size 62 weigths 1.310 Kg and the M18 - while being definitly bigger although having also Size 62 weights about 1.200 Kg), that could be the liner, my feeling or because a lighter steel was used, which would make sense, as it’s not a combat helmet.

All examples I have seen have had 2 decals, an swastika and an National shield.
My example has what seems to be the faint remains of an (early) Swastika Decal, but no remains at all of an National shield, I have no idea if I just can’t see it, or it never had one in the first place.

The paint seems original to me, but it could have also been overpainted by the fire police... I’m not sure about that yet, but the tone certainly looks correct for a helmet like this.


Thanks for reading, any additional information would be greatly appreciated!

Here are a few pictures, I will add better outside pictures tomorrow.




Here My M40 Size 62 in comparison:

[PaddyD00]

Hi Adravor. Congrats on the new helm. I don’t know much about these guys to add much here but always good to have a new example in the house . I Like the old ET font as well
Z

[sysyphus]

Beautiful example of an early polizei feuerhelm. Color is correct since they were issued this way.
They had canted swastika and canted pointed bottom tricolor.

here is my example with insignias removed as well. the removal had nothing to do with denazification.
don't want to hijack your topic. i will in case post the helmet with more pictures into another new one

[AndyM35]

Nice pickup Adravor!
Andy

[Adravor]

I know the forum is not the place to talk about prices, but i am thinking about selling this one, and i have absolutely no idea about fair prices as these are so rare (Only Example i was able to find was a complete one with 2 Decals for 1.800 USD). If anyone has Ideas on value i would be very greatful if you could give me a private message.

Regards,
Adravor

[Schwerpunkt]

I know the forum is not the place to talk about prices, but i am thinking about selling this one, and i have absolutely no idea about fair prices as these are so rare (Only Example i was able to find was a complete one with 2 Decals for 1.800 USD). If anyone has Ideas on value i would be very greatful if you could give me a private message.

Regards,
Adravor

There are many variants of fire brigade helmets , some obscure or less seen but unless you come across a civic collector looking for the tenth variant of a firebrigade helmet which is a common unit the price will be like many other non decalled ones.

[RustyRelics]

A beautiful piece, but a tad out of my price range.

I like that Luftwaffe helmet you have pictured... Is it really that black, or is that the lighting?

[Adravor]

I like that one too, my first non relic helmet... still a fantastic purchase. It is indeed pretty black, it may be because the paint darkend over the decades, or simply because it was made that way, here is the Original post of it with more pictures:

Opinions on this Luftwaffe M40

[helmet2id]

Here is one of mine with both decals intact. These have an interesting feature, the split pins have some sort of synthetic spacer/washer between the head of the pin and the shell. Jim G.