Wire Helmet on Facebook

[RichieC]

This is not a troll post.

I would think that most of you know me better after all these years and that I would never like to start any trouble, anywhere.

In any case:

I asked about this helmet on a Facebook page that I subscribe to, and my question seemed to have been ignored.

German Helmets of the Second World War Public Group | Facebook

It seems to me that the wire basket embellishment on this helmet has not been, well, "an embellishment" for seventy plus years. Or has it?

I'm just curious to know.

Thanks gents.

Cheers,
Richie

[MAP]

I always struggle with facebook and navigating it (I hate FB btw...LoL)

Anyway, I can't see to find the helmet in question.

For what it is worth, I do know that the Admins I know of (Randy and Todd {MD Helmets here} ) are well respected. The others I don't know but have seen Sean over on other forums and he seems like a stand up guy as well. Maybe a message to them would kick start it?

[Schwerpunkt]

Photos would be great , I even thought it was a forum rule to post them ;-)

[RichieC]

Frank,

I figured that the link would work and show the photos/posts, but then again I believe the FB group is closed, so only subscribers can view them.

Also, I was concerned that the images may be copyrighted, but after a second thought, it IS FB - and this post is not intended to discredit anyone or anything. It is, however, intended to assist in enlightening me, and perhaps a few others on our forum.

So:

[MAP]

I've been trained by some wise collectors to stay away from wire helmets (without rock solid provenance)

On my cell phone now, but I see no evidence that this wire has been on the helmet for a long time. No wear or bedding down.

So that makes me a skeptic or at least cautious enough to pass in it.

[FALLSCHIRMJAGER]

Hi Richie, wires are a tough call! From what I can see, there are aspects that I really like, it does not fit to tightly to the steel unlike most fake baskets and there do seem to be some consistent ( if faint ) contact marks. My only concern is that it does appear to be very clean!! No real patina at all and that would concern me. Leon.

[Schwerpunkt]

Frank,

I figured that the link would work and show the photos/posts, but then again I believe the FB group is closed, so only subscribers can view them.

Also, I was concerned that the images may be copyrighted, but after a second thought, it IS FB - and this post is not intended to discredit anyone or anything. It is, however, intended to assist in enlightening me, and perhaps a few others on our forum.

So:

I think there are lot of us also not on Facebook like myself :-)
Unfortunately there is no real guide on how wire helmets should look , thousands of soldiers just made it as they went along.

The helmet is not your typical candidate for an upgrade , usually it is the damaged ones with bad decals you need to look out for.
However to get a complete picture a liner photo is also important to see how it is attached.

[RichieC]

[MAP]

From this new photo I still don't see any tell tale signs of the wire being on the helmet for a period of time in the field. I would hope to see some contact wear where the wire wraps around the rim of the helmet (that said, resolution is low and photo can not be expanded to provide much clarity). Leon notes he can see light wear. He has much better eyes than I so I will defer to him but I still don't see any.

I would love to see really nice macro shots of the wire itself. There appears to be nice build up of dirt / dust / patina in the twists but inconclusive.

So, my view is that is not worth the gamble.