Opinions please ND M42 helmet.

[KrikoT]

Hi Guys,

I have a chance to buy this late M42 helmet. The shell looks ok to me, but I need some opinions about the liner. What do you think of that?

Thank you in advance.

[Giants77]

I do not like the liner, Nor do I like the fact he took it out of the helmet you will never know if that liner ever belonged to that helmet now even if it’s a real liner. I would wait to find one where you can tell the split pins and washers are un-messed with. That’s just my opinion though of coarse wait for the others opinions.

[MAP]

Who took the liner out? That right there would make me pass unless this was really cheap.

That is a very late war liner band by Werner Zahn (45's are almost unheard of). The chin strap is not standard (or at least I'm not aware of "official" chinstraps with rivets. Liner looks to be a late war pig skin but happy to stand corrected on originality.

Maker is HKP (SE). Can't make out the size but looks like a 64. Lot number (while not fully legible 53?0 or 53?6) puts in the 1944 range which matches the age of the liner band.

That said...with the liner out (and assuming the leather is real [hard to tell for me given the pictures]) we will never know if it is original to the helmet.

[HoundsTooth]

I like the shell, later war ND M42s are quite cool, but the liner issues mean it would have to be pretty cheap to make it worthwhile.
Nick

[Schwerpunkt]

not something I would invest in.
First the liner looks messed with and the chinstrap suspect , then the liner was taken out which is a big no no and on top of that the shell looks overly cleaned.
Get yourself a nice untouched one.

[KrikoT]

Thank you. It is on the auction site, so it still cheap. But i will see how much will be on the end. And what do you think? How much is the helmet itself worth?

[Schwerpunkt]

Thank you. It is on the auction site, so it still cheap. But i will see how much will be on the end. And what do you think? How much is the helmet itself worth?

You can buy 1000 helmets like this cheap so I can’t imagine why you would pay money for it.
Collector value is zero really.

[KrikoT]

You can buy 1000 helmets like this cheap so I can’t imagine why you would pay money for it.
Collector value is zero really.

Because it still affordable for me. And depend of the collectors what they are collecting ( relics, semi relics...). But thanks for the advice.

[Schwerpunkt]

Because it still affordable for me. And depend of the collectors what they are collecting ( relics, semi relics...). But thanks for the advice.

Even relics or semi relics have grades. A unmessed with ground find is much more interesting that a cleaned shell with a dubious liner.
But in the end it is your money :-)

[BrodieBartfast]

Really, you should collect what makes you happy. Other people will give their opinions, but at the end of the day if it'll float your boat, go for it.

I would echo the words of others and say it would be far better to save and get an example that hasn't been messed with. I have two non-relic helmets. A crappy messed-with piece that I bought at a fair last year, and an untouched late war M42 located by another forum member and good friend. Guess which one I'm happier with?

I say this not to brag, but to impart my own experience in the world of steel helmet collecting, so that it might improve your own. A helmet like this will give you short-term gratification, whereas a decent, unmessed-with example will keep you happy for years to come.

Regards, B.B.