THE HELMET THREAD

Bit of a long story regarding camera issues. Im using an old PC running XP and know nothing at all about computers,I switch it on and thats about it. Was having problems with my old trusty camera in that every time I was trying to connect it to the PC via USB was getting some error message of some sorts so thinking it was the USB cable bought another-still same error messages so lost my temper and trashed my camera and forked out on a new one-same problems. Turns out that it is some issue/bug with XP that affects the USB ports so have no use of a camera for now. A techie mate reckons he can uninstall and re install XP and that should sort the problem but doesnt know when he can do it and I will in the process lose all of my emails and contacts etc

before you do have a look here ,or at least back up your files so you dont lose all your photos music etc https://www.winhelp.us/non-destructive-reinstall-of-windows-xp.html

Will check it out now-Thank you very much for the link.

glad to help out and hope you get sorted mate

Long overdue for a newer(secondhand)PC but this one will have to soldier on a while longer.

early style east german net to compliment my first pattern liner m56

saudi m1c

thunderchild wrote:saudi m1c

Speechless

And I thought that UAE M1 couldnt be topped!!!

richard here is the helmet in its composite parts , you might see the shell is very familiar to the example we discussed a few months back ,the liner has a more subdued paint scheme and seems a different colour maybe more darker brown  than the shells tan brown ,ive heard these could be taiwanese or even chinese m1 clones ,a similar airborne liner was advertised on ebay us and it was listed as a gulf war bring back, either way our shells seem identical as also the chinstrap, helmets from the gulf states are not really my field of expertise most probably because there is so little information out there on them but i think i showed you a picture of of kuwaiti soldier wearing the helmet and choc chip bdu's ,as you know geographically the uae and kuwait share there borders with saudi arabia ,im just wondering what you thoughts are and have you done any further research yourself on the helmets 

East German M56 Shell fitted with an Airborne/Para Liner.

Am and always have been partial to the unusual,bizarre,unknown if not too expensive and this is certainly one of them!!!!!! Pics on the way.

Havent had a chance to give it a good going over as just arrived and am tempted to try and remove the liner but worried I will not be able to re fit it properly.

As both the shell and liner are in pretty mint condition,begs the question why would somebody ruin 2 perfectly good helmets to make this monstrosity or was there some form of trials helmet made like this?

Whatever it is I like it and it looks as if it was meant to be

Will try and take some better pics If I can. This was the first helmet taken from the box so no idea what condition the others are in but this one looks pretty good and complete.

richard that really is one interesting variant of the m56 and nothing of the likes ive ever seen before ,i have to agree with you it looks like a factory fitted item ,can i ask what the rivits terminations look like on the inside , great to see youve finally got your camera issues sorted ,nice topper helm ,in the not to distant future i might ask you to keep one aside for me if you still have surplus available ,im liking your background camo ,it looks like saudi 6 colour ,very nice mate ,good to have you posting pics again

Thanks James,unfortunately still havent got my camera sorted,using my phone and have 100s of pics I need to upload but its a massive ballache,have to upload them to the camera programme,then to photobucket then to here.

Havent done much probing to the helmet but the rivets looks like German WW2 type ones,would love to remove the liner but too scared to do so. Looks like it was meant to be there,doesnt look out of place and is a perfect fit.

The cammo is another new buy,a Kazak desert choc chip winter parka.

Cheers

PS,regarding the Riot helmet,no probs.

Gulf91 wrote:East German M56 Shell fitted with an Airborne/Para Liner. ... As both the shell and liner are in pretty mint condition,begs the question why would somebody ruin 2 perfectly good helmets to make this monstrosity or was there some form of trials helmet made like this? Whatever it is I like it and it looks as if it was meant to be

That's a fascinating thing, and you're more than half-right, I think, in saying "it looks as if it was meant to be". It loooked vaguely familiar to me and a bit of research (in Casques de Combat, ELMETTI, and the WWH website) shows that there is a variant of the M56 with an add-on set of neck-and-earflaps with chinstrap specifically for motorcyclists. The kit is remarkably similar to the flaps/straps of the wz63 para helmet which was of course bought in by the DDR. It seems to me that this may be either a bit of inspired conversion by someone with access to both helmets (in service, at the time, I mean), or actually an officially sanctioned upgrade. Alternatively it would have been done by some herbert who was vaguely aware of the original conversion kit and assumed it was a wz63 liner complete.

So, something at least deeply rooted in reality, possibly not a frankenhelmet at all.

Here's a somehwat computer assisted translate of the WWH writeup taken from here http://world-war-helmets.com/fiche.php?q=Casque-Est-Allemand-Mle-56-66 where you will find some pics.

"Other than the Polish Wz 63, originally intended for paratroopers of the NVA, and used by some motorcyclists units, no helmet was not designed to equip the couriers of the NVA, who then used the M56 and M56/66 model.
In order to best protect motorcyclists, an accessory was created to complement the helmet model 56 and model 56/66 to adapt for use on two wheels.
Made of leather with a glossy black outside, this accessory is lined with cloth inside, sewn along the entire edge. The closure consists of snaps, spread among three left (male) and two right side (female). This complete closing the strap of the helmet, which can be inserted in two leather loops sewn on the sides.
The front edge of this accessory is lined with two strips of felt to ensure fitting against the cheek of the wearer and thereby prevent the air ingress. The sides have two pieces of leather sewn with an open edge to allow for adequate hearing.
The part covering the neck is lined with a rubber band to ensure close fitting. A tongue of leather, resealable with a snap, stabilises goggles, necessary for riding a motorcycle.
The attachment of this assembly to the helmet is done by inserting the existing chinstrap loops, which are inserted in four slots of the accessory and the fixing is through four tabs, riveted to the edge."

Either way, you have a genuinely unusual and possibly quite rare helmet.

Thanks Greg,very interesting.

Hate to do it as one of my nicest helmets but needs must,have just listed a superb Falklands era British Para helmet on Ebay,the type with the green PVC neck/chin straps.

Gulf91 wrote:Hate to do it as one of my nicest helmets but needs must,have just listed a superb Falklands era British Para helmet on Ebay,the type with the green PVC neck/chin straps.

Well, at least you got a decent price for it. I had to drop out around a hundred-and-a-bit. Fortunately for you there were three characters (wonder if we know any of them?) who were more determined and with more disposable cash. It was the 'disposable cash' bit that let me down, otherwise I really wanted it!

I actually have four of these but am always interested in getting more; I have these little 'things', like with the Portuguese M40 and the French mle45 - I'll just buy any that I can afford. Does anyone else here have a 'must-have' type that they will buy any available and affordable example of? I know a man with over 300 British Mk2s, for example... And of course TR collectors have rows and rows of essentially similar (but not identical, oh no) helmets.

At long last a helmet I have sold on Ebay got the price it deserved as every time I list a helmet on there they go for peanuts.

Greg,4 of these,a bit cheeky!!!!!

Only joking.

Anybody got any ideas as to why this relic M1 made such a high price??

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/321937527863?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

Gulf91 wrote:Anybody got any ideas as to why this relic M1 made such a high price??

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/321937527863?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

Well, I have to agree, that's completely baffling. I've looked at it four or five times now and nothing unusual seems to leap out. Mind you I'm no expert on US M1s, but having said that I can see that's a fairly ordinary late liner, and there's nothing special about the shell or chinstraps. Or anything really. And its not even that there was some kind of macho bidding war - the bids just leaped from not much to rather a lot pretty quickly.

Remember the good old days when it was possible to contact winners directly via Ebay? I'd love to ask this character why he paid so much for a not-much helmet. Maybe we'd all learn something! Or then again maybe not... You know, I met a couple of very handy and pleasant characters via Ebay contacts - this was well before the days of militaria forums on every street corner - some of them are people I still know via email today. It all seemed a bit 'special' then, somehow, finding someone out of millions who was interested in the same things as yourself.

The liner appears to be green plastic, so it is probably some type of foreign clone. The chin-strap also looks to be a clone. I would guess that someone recognized it for what it was (ie, some obscure clone version of the M1), and bid accordingly.

Wolverine wrote:The liner appears to be green plastic, so it is probably some type of foreign clone. The chin-strap also looks to be a clone. I would guess that someone recognized it for what it was (ie, some obscure clone version of the M1), and bid accordingly.

Well, they know more than I do then, and I'm usually pretty good on M1 clones. I was specifically looking for clues in that direction and found none. It certainly isn't one of the European M1s, nor is it obviously Japanese, Singaporean, or anything else I know about. But then there's always more... I remain keen to learn, so if anyone can suggest anything more I'd be delighted to know. Its the detective stories that keep helmet-collecting interesting.

(The green plastic liner - which seems a very bright green - would usually imply a Danish-made Dansk Kunstoffindustrie liner, but neither the Danes nor Norwegians used that type of interleaved liner cradle, sticking with the original Riddel type of three loops tied with a bootlace or whatever).

Hi Guys
I was watching this one.... and like yourselves also wondered as to the final price!!
but on closer inspection of the liner, would seem to point to some kind of strange green fibreglass construction.... that and the unusual chinstrap fastening!! looks alloy to me!!! that I suppose all adds to something perhaps a little different to the norm!!
still no clue as to what though I'm afraid!! interesting!!!