M40 Heer, with net!

[Eddie]

Just got this on Thursday, very happy with it. Got a good deal on it, and I'm happy that it seems to be a complete battle worn Helm! The net is really well stuck up in the liner band, and after a little bit of careful poking around, I also noticed an inkstamp that says "11" and a wheat(?) kernel!
Here's some pics:

[Eddie]

Sorry about the jumble of pics earlier guys. Hope this is nicer to read!

[Sir Payne]

Not only was it battle worn, but it looks like a KIA with traces of blood stains.

Corey

[Eddie]

Thanks Corey, definitely KIA.

[mistervanels]

I doubt that ... Leather changes with time ,,, i have seen a lot of helmets like that. Imagine yourself what they did with their helmet in those times. They drunk out of rivers with it, used it for endless things. When it comes wet and become dry it changes color. Thats only my point of view about that, but respect ! its a nice helmet for sure !!!
Many greetings and thanks for sharing
mistervanels

[Danmark]

Whether KIA or not, it's a nice M40 SD - interesting green colour, or is it just the photo?
Dan

[Sir Payne]

I doubt that ... Leather changes with time ,,, i have seen a lot of helmets like that.

My judgement of the helmet being a KIA is mostly taken from the uneven rust inside the shell beneath the liner. The liner is also blackened, I think it is blood rather then rotting. 70 year old leather only changes if something is done to it. Time alone does nothing, so you can't honestly say that leather changes with time. I have a liner in one of my helmets that is 70 years old and it is just as supple as the day it came out of the factory. Most of the liners you have seen like that were probably due to rotting because of poor storage.

Regards,
Corey

[Eddie]

I doubt that ... Leather changes with time ,,, i have seen a lot of helmets like that. Imagine yourself what they did with their helmet in those times. They drunk out of rivers with it, used it for endless things.

Hi Mistervanels, thanks for the compliments on the helmet! This is my first "un-messed with" helmet so, I don't know a ton about helmets. I thought it was probably KIA because it looked like the darkening of the leather was done relatively all at once, and the surrounding leather isn't as dark, like you'd think if there was water, or something else in the helmet and covered the whole of the leather. I haven't seen a ton of these in hand though. Without getting too gruesome the dark part is very brittle like something fairly thick drenched it,(thicker than water anyway) and weakened the leather and then age finally cracked and broke it. Maybe I've been watching too many CSI shows though!

[Eddie]

Whether KIA or not, it's a nice M40 SD - interesting green colour, or is it just the photo?
Dan

Hey, thanks Dan! Good eye, I hadn't really noticed the color difference! I have a SE64 M40 that I can compare this ET64 M40 to, so I'll take some pics in the morning. The weather has been weird here in NY, so I had a hard time getting a good pic in my apt. It is sort of a lighter color, more like a "apple green" than the SE64, which is sort of "hunter green".

[Eddie]

Here's some more pics in (maybe) better daylight. The top pic is the ET64 that I started this thread for, and the one next to it is the SE64, and the last pic is another shot of what I think is a KIA liner.