East German NVA M56 helmets

[Watchdog]

There three visible heads on the outside that I can see peeking through the thick exterior paint but I'm sure there are 3 more there somewhere. I found it locally, which was a nice surprise!

As I say I couldn't see the rivets. If there are three on the outside and it has the later plastic cradle liner that makes it M56/66 sometimes called "transitional and it is an early shell with the rivets "blinded" and six new fixing nipples spot welelded to the inside. This is probably what gives the impression that you expect to see six on the outside but the rivet heads on the outside are not related to the fixing nipples on the inside. This is due to the use of earlier shells which had already been bored for the three rivets when the new liner came into use. Spot welding the nipples does not cause the heat issues affecting the ballistic quality of the steel in the same way that welding up the pre-bored holes would do. Hence the "blind" rivet heads on the outside. This ties in with the idea of this being one of the earliest plastic cradle helmets.

Regards

Mark

[JustAGuy1250]

Hey all, i was wondering

how do i keep the sponges in the M56 nice and soft?
I now own 2 M56's of which one came with dried up sponges but the other one has nice soft sponges.
after a day in my (really) dry room, i've noticed it has gotten quite a bit harder (still fairly soft compared to the other one) and i want to prevent it from drying up and breaking.
what is the best way to do this?

cheers

[HARRY THE MOLE]

I don't know of any way that you can keep the sponges soft. Like everything else, they deteriorate with age - although there always some that stand the test of time better than others.

Cheers,
Steve

[Tinhat]

The sponge in these helmets is polyurethane based I don't believe there is any way you can bring it back to life. Preventing further degradation is different subject though. If you have noticed a difference in a day, because it was in a dry room, then I would suggest you remove it from that room or put a humidifier in there.

This comes with a warning that I have never tried it - steaming (holding it over boiling water) it may help, for flattened cushions or mattresses this is a method to bring the shape back. I'm not trying to convince you to do that, but it may bring other comments positive or negative in this regard.

Steve.

[JustAGuy1250]

I have used steaming to make old newpapers that were dried out and brittle, sort of soft and unfoldable again so i could open them up and see where it was from..
with that logic, i would assume the same goes for sponges? it works for leather too!

wont try it just yet though, will wait for some more responses before i accidently destroy it

[Watchdog]

how do i keep the sponges in the M56 nice and soft?

The short answer is that you don't. As stated further up the thread these are early synthetic material and the hardening is a natural degredation that is a symptom of age. Storage in neutral temperature and humidity wil prevent acceleration of the process but will not stop it. The material is similar to that in the British airborne steel helmet and though it becomes hard with age it remains stable and does not crumble.
If you have noticed deterioration in just one day I would be a bit more concerned about the atmoshere in which it is kept. If it is doing that to synthetic sponge it can't be beneficial to carbon based life forms

Using steam or other source of water is not a good idea because if it is left damp you may well encourage mould.

It just occurs to me to ask whether you are talking about the early M56 or the much later M56/66 and M56/74 which have the plastic cradle liner? The sponge in these types is light yellow, much less dense than in the M56 an very similar to modern bath sponge unlike the dark grey/black items in the original M56.

I have not yet seen the yellow lightweight sponge turn hard with age but I am sure that when it does degrade it will likely fall apart and you can't stop that either.However, that type of sponge is very easy to obtain and should be replaceable.

As always, pictures are a good idea when asking "how to" type questions but either way you can't recondition synthetic sponge at all.



Regards

Mark

[JustAGuy1250]

Ah yes, should have been specific

It is a refurbished early model M56, has rivets but also a plastic liner with yellow sponges.

Here some pictures of the liner and sponges.
It isn't gone too much yet to warrant a replacement, so I won't touch it.

Just trying to find a way to stop it from degrading even further

Here some pictures

[Watchdog]

Ah yes, should have been specific

It is a refurbished early model M56, has rivets but also a plastic liner with yellow sponges.

Here some pictures of the liner and sponges.
It isn't gone too much yet to warrant a replacement, so I won't touch it.

Just trying to find a way to stop it from degrading even further

Here some pictures

Sometimes referred to as "transitional" this is the M56 shell with "blind" rivets in the pre-drilled holes in the shell and six new fixing nipples spot welded to the inside on which the plastic cradle liner is mounted. This is the M56/66. Later shells simply missed out the boring of holes for rivets during the manufacturing process and replaced it with the welding of fixing nipples. Thus that is M56/74.

So, as for storage. Dry but neutral humidity and temperature. Do not apply water as it will take ages to dry off and may cause other issues.

Regards

Mark

[battle gear]

to preserve the old sponge you could wrap the helmet in a plastic bag, this will help make it last longer in storage

I examined the sponge and it looks the same as the type you can buy in hardware or furniture upholstry shop, you could get scrap pieces and easily replace your old dried out pieces, just cut them to the same size.

[JustAGuy1250]

I'll just keep it where it is, if it indeed does get worse I'll move it.

But I won't replace it just yet as it doesn't need it.
Did however, replace the sponges of another M56 I have of which the old sponges quite litteraly crumbled apart and made a huge mess in the room each time you handled it.

Was easier than expected