Plastic FJ Helmet- replica?

Hi all.

I always worry that I post things which are more inane than interesting as what tends to attract my attention seems to be the truly bizarre and unidentified- i.e., the things that nobody's bothered with because they're uninteresting. So, at the risk of boring everyone further, I submit something that has been kicking around in my collection for a while.

I ordered this helmet off eBay.de decades ago, back when I was more actively into reenacting and looking for something better than the Chinese and Indian-made copies of the M38 (which were only ever available in a shell-size of 71, in any case). It was thus a great surprise to me when it arrived that I discovered the helmet was actually plastic (or fiberglass?)! It would have cost more to return it than what I paid for it in the first place, so I tossed it into a box and tried to actively forget about my mistake. Having rediscovered it a few months ago, I am now noticing that some things just don't seem to add up...

1. It is a hard plastic, closer to some of the Rhodesian-made 'disposable' jump helmets than some child's toy (though possibly for theater use?)
2. It is in an 'adult' size
3. The hardware is European (I mean, duh, it did come from Germany; but it seems older, and I wouldn't really expect WWII reenacting to be prolific enough to warrant a replica such as this back then)
4. The liner is marked (mostly illegibly), with a date of 1971

It just seems odd to me that IF it were a reenactor's special, that someone would bother to get some details so correct, and others wildly wrong- why make it out of plastic at all, when there are probably REAL FJ helmets rolling around still? I guess if it were for theater production it would make sense- especially with the Swazi very carefully edited out. But was there really a play or film back in the 70's that featured Fallschirmjaer (and specifically with the early-war apple-green paint and spanner-bolts)? And I realize that the date I interpret on the helmet is an earliest-possible year, but why use a vintage liner like that when other things are available?

And while I know there were numerous trial helmets for the Early BW paratroopers, I have never seen nor heard of one in plastic like this (and 1971 ought to be too late for the trials, right?) I'm stumped!

















Liner is marked in two places; in both, only the date is legible.

not a BW trial model and not really look sturdy enough for military use, at least from the photos (even if better made than a toy helmet). The liner look like fake leather? Underside appear to be fabric. Chinstrap look like the 3 point type used in 70s fire helmets.

Replica helmets were also produced for other purposes than reenactment like cheap collectables/novelty items sold in magazine ads. Market was small at the time, but existed. If prop helmet, then more likely film prop for background extras rather than for a play. Decal look like what would expect for an older replica. The mix of details can probably be explained easily - maker had only access to a real M35 for reference, so used as a base for the pattern and worked only from period photos of FJ helmets without understanding all the differences, which would explain odd things like the vents and M31 style liner.

Good points and observations- I should have thought of the fireman's helmet for the chinstrap. Thanks for the opinion.

I haven't seen this specific type before, but yeah... there were a lot of people making their own from whatever was handy. To me this looks like a M43 style helmet that was cut down to make it look like a FJ helmet. I have one similar to this, but without the vent holes and made of thinner plastic.

Like yours, the liner in mine is incorrect and was probably taken from some other helmet as this style of liner is not hard to find. Doesn't have to be German, but if it is this is the first brown synthetic material liner I've ever come upon. Though I don't know much about the Feuerwehr helmets at all, not to mention from 1971 My guess is it came from some non military, non police use (could be disaster response).

Steve

Coincidentally, while looking for pictures of something else I found pics of my plastic FJ type helmet:




Steve