Jump Helmet with Old School Camouflage Cover

Here is my new BW para helmet with a camo cover that has been sewn together from three pieces of Liebermuster (if that is the right term).

Nice. These helmets come up fairly frequently, as opposed to the earlier WW2 type. They were also exported to Belgium and (IIRC) South Africa. Some were further modified by police forces (in particular Baden-Württemberg) for their special operations units (SEK).

The cover is made from shelter half material, known as either M56 or Amoebatarn. Leibermuster was developed at the end of WW2 and was used briefly by the Bundeswehr. The Swiss "Alpenflage" is almost a straight copy of Leibermuster. So when you think Leibermuster, think Swiss.

The helmet net was standard issue and can be found on BW helmets in general.

Steve

Nice helmet. Could you please Show a Photo from the interior?

I have a nice one(no cover) for sale if anyone interested.

Gulf91 wrote:I have a nice one(no cover) for sale if anyone interested.

Hi Gulf Do you still have it and what are you asking for it

I do Graham, will be in touch when I get home from work. Thanks.

CollectinSteve wrote:Nice.  These helmets come up fairly frequently, as opposed to the earlier WW2 type.  They were also exported to Belgium and (IIRC) South Africa.  Some were further modified by police forces (in particular Baden-Württemberg) for their special operations units (SEK).

The cover is made from shelter half material, known as either M56 or Amoebatarn.  Leibermuster was developed at the end of WW2 and was used briefly by the Bundeswehr.  The Swiss "Alpenflage" is almost a straight copy of Leibermuster.  So when you think Leibermuster, think Swiss.

The helmet net was standard issue and can be found on BW helmets in general.

Steve

Yes, I also have a Belgian example, which has a Belgian NSN.

I was uncertain about the correct name for the camouflage pattern - I know the story about the late-war Liebermuster, but when I referred to the BW shelter halves as amoeba, I was once corrected by a German who said that everyone he knew also referred to amoeba as Liebermuster.

masive wrote:Nice helmet. Could you please Show a Photo from the interior?

Here is the interior of the BW helmet:


And here is the Belgian one, showing the Belgian NSN:

Thank you.

Wolverine wrote:halves as amoeba, I was once corrected by a German who said that everyone he knew also referred to amoeba as Liebermuster.

Heh... well, in my time (and eBay pretty much any day of the week) I've never known any German collector who refers to it as Leibermuster (note the ei ie difference).  I know you aren't the one claiming "everybody says it's this way", so what I'm about to write is a challenge to whomever told you that Amoebatarn = Leibermuster.

Leibermuster is an established pattern name that shouldn't be subjected to collector renaming whims, but there's no naming police and therefore it does happen.  It's like some British collectors who insist on calling every green camouflage pattern "DPM".  Sure, they can do that without fear of fines or incarceration, but they should not do it  It also is confusing because of the experimental uniform the BW used which was Leibermuster based.

Whatever one wants to call the shelter half pattern, it's not Leibermuster by virtue of it not being Leibermuster  I'm not sure that M56 is it's official designation, though it is used by many and at least it doesn't confuse anything since there was no other shelter half made in 1956 other than this type.

Wolverine wrote:And here is the Belgian one, showing the Belgian NSN:

Nice!  I am not sure I have seen a Belgian NSN for this helmet type before.  I presumed that Belgium just got a bunch of surplus helmets from the BW, however this seems to indicate that Belgium placed an order directly from the manufacturer (IIRC Schuthbert).  Though if you find a German NSN somewhere that would put me back to my original assumption.

Steve

I hear you Steve - no arguments here. And yes, I am embarrassed that I spelled Leibermuster incorrectly.

About the Belgian jump helmet, I strongly suspect that these were ordered through a proper contract from one of the three or four manufacturers that made them in Germany. Two of the German makers were Schuberth and Vereinigte Deutsche Nikkelwerke - Belgium ordered M51 helmets from VDN for sure, so they might also have ordered the jump helmets. I think PSL and possibly one other company also made the jump helmets in Germany. In any case, BW examples are normally marked with German NSNs, in contrast to the Belgian ones like mine that has a factory-applied Belgian NSN. Without removing the liner, I cannot read the maker's name.

Wolverine wrote:I hear you Steve - no arguments here. And yes, I am embarrassed that I spelled Leibermuster incorrectly.

I just butchered Schuberth's name, so I think we're even

About the Belgian jump helmet, I strongly suspect that these were ordered through a proper contract from one of the three or four manufacturers that made them in Germany. Two of the German makers were Schuberth and Vereinigte Deutsche Nikkelwerke - Belgium ordered M51 helmets from VDN for sure, so they might also have ordered the jump helmets. I think PSL and possibly one other company also made the jump helmets in Germany. In any case, BW examples are normally marked with German NSNs, in contrast to the Belgian ones like mine that has a factory-applied Belgian NSN. Without removing the liner, I cannot read the maker's name.

Thinking about it now, that makes far more sense that these helmets were direct purchase vs. surplus. Germany used their own helmets for a very long time and I doubt they had large enough surplus for such use and handing over to Belgium. And as you say, there's a long history of Belgium acquiring items from foreign contractors, so there's that as well.

Steve

Belgium Hybrid para helmet  made for a short time, limited production

some time in the mid 1980s? the Belgians bought in an unusual hybrid helmet, which had the M1A1LL shell and the liner of the French F1 series 2.