Article about: I pulled this one out this morning. I used to remember where, when and from whom I bought a helmet. I have no recollection of any of that with this one. Truth be told, when I opened the box
I pulled this one out this morning. I used to remember where, when and from whom I bought a helmet. I have no recollection of any of that with this one. Truth be told, when I opened the box and saw this one I was surprised - I didn’t remember ever seeing this one before! It is an early tranny, an SI66 with a single banded aluminum liner. The leather is embossed, and it has a carbine clip chinstrap, which, unfortunately, is broken and has evidence of at least one repair. The liner, a size 56, is undersized for the shell but I have no doubt it has been in place since the early ‘30’s - the early flat head split pins all have their washers, haven’t been molested, and are as tight as a drum. The smooth green paint is brush applied. The decals are HEAVILY lacquered, and the Adler is probably a heavily toned Heer, but it IS very golden. A KM? No, not a KM - too bad. Anyway, here it is. Hope you like it. Jim G.
I think when you forget you have helmets …. Your collection is in good shape haha. Nice one Jim. Never touch these early Stahlhelms but doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate their beauty
Z
Really interesting early helmet Jim. Is the incised liner stamp showing the leather size 56? Just wondered because the photo of the liner band marking shows the band is 66. I have seen some real early 1931 dated liners that have the incised stamp varied from what you would expect based on the liner band size so it is probably all original regardless.
Do you think the decals might have been lacquered by the vet long ago? Whenever I see a sloppy lacquer job it makes me think that. No way to know of course and even the Germans may not have been super careful how they did it, especially early on. Anyway, a quality helmet and thanks for showing.
Yes Terry, the leather has a “56” size mark and the liner band says “66” - I have no explanation! I do think this one is untouched though. I never thought of a vet laquering the decal. It makes sense, it is heavily and sloppily applied. Cheers, Jim G,
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