Amazing collection!
Made a couple more additions to the collection over the Thanksgiving Holiday and I'm finally getting around to posting them.
First off is a USMC mosquito net cover. I scored this cover out of a bin of mosquito net covers in surplus shop on a recent trip to Billings, MT. USMC mosquito net covers typically aren't anything highly sought after since they were made by the truckloads and can still be purchased for less than $20 on eBay (versions with OD green solid foliage bands). Most of these covers with the solid OD bands were likely produced very late or post-WWII and saw use post-WWII through Vietnam. However, this version, with the split khaki foliage band is rare as it is the earliest variant that saw use during WWII on Tarawa and Iwo Jima. I can honestly count on one hand the number of examples that I have seen online and I've never encountered another one of these covers in person.
Here's a shot of the more common cover with the solid OD band...
And another shot of this cover in use on Tarawa...
First off is a USMC mosquito net cover. I scored this cover out of a bin of mosquito net covers in surplus shop on a recent trip to Billings, MT. USMC mosquito net covers typically aren't anything highly sought after since they were made by the truckloads and can still be purchased for less than $20 on eBay (versions with OD green solid foliage bands). Most of these covers with the solid OD bands were likely produced very late or post-WWII and saw use post-WWII through Vietnam. However, this version, with the split khaki foliage band is rare as it is the earliest variant that saw use during WWII on Tarawa and Iwo Jima. I can honestly count on one hand the number of examples that I have seen online and I've never encountered another one of these covers in person.
Here's a shot of the more common cover with the solid OD band...
And another shot of this cover in use on Tarawa...
You give collectors a good name.
Next up is a 2005 contract BAE Systems ACH with Crye ballistic nape pad and Norotos NVG mount.
I picked this helmet up off of Craigslist in trade for a couple bricks of 22LR and replaced the cover, NVG mount, chinstrap, nape pad, and interior pads. The ACU cover ('09 contract with deleted comm flap) itself was given to me by an acquaintance and I have basically set up the helmet exactly as the one that he was issued at CIF.
I picked this helmet up off of Craigslist in trade for a couple bricks of 22LR and replaced the cover, NVG mount, chinstrap, nape pad, and interior pads. The ACU cover ('09 contract with deleted comm flap) itself was given to me by an acquaintance and I have basically set up the helmet exactly as the one that he was issued at CIF.
Thanks Ronny
Just trying to preserve these items and their history for the next generation.
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Added a few more to the stable...
Picked this set up off of eBay in a BIN listing last week and it arrived in the mail on Monday. The auction photos weren't overly detailed so it was tough to tell exactly what I was getting other than a rear seam shell with crimp on chinstraps and painted second lieutenants insignia. I figured the BIN price was safe enough that it would at least cover the sum of parts that I was receiving if it didn't end up being anything particularly special. After receiving the helmet, I was pleased to find a final contract McCord with brass buckle and keeper along with a brush painted follow me stripe and soap or shaving cream residue inside (M1 shells were commonly used as basins for washing or shaving by servicemen). The matching liner was a Westinghouse with a '52 dated Micarta tag, '53 dated sweatband, WWII era non-adjustable nape strap, and blackened brass buckle chinstrap with United Carr rivets. The butter bar was missing on the liner, but the pin holes where it had previously been placed were evident so I installed a period correct replacement from the insignia bin. The listing also included a second liner...a very nice '51 camouflage painted Capac with '51 dated Enger-Kress sweatband and a KW era nape strap.
The helmet was listed by the owner's daughter's sister-in-law. The late owner himself did not serve, but his late brother was an intelligence officer stationed in Stuttgard, Germany until 1966. I believe that the helmet may possibly have belonged to him, but unfortunately the name is not a match for the one painted in the interior of the shell.
Picked this set up off of eBay in a BIN listing last week and it arrived in the mail on Monday. The auction photos weren't overly detailed so it was tough to tell exactly what I was getting other than a rear seam shell with crimp on chinstraps and painted second lieutenants insignia. I figured the BIN price was safe enough that it would at least cover the sum of parts that I was receiving if it didn't end up being anything particularly special. After receiving the helmet, I was pleased to find a final contract McCord with brass buckle and keeper along with a brush painted follow me stripe and soap or shaving cream residue inside (M1 shells were commonly used as basins for washing or shaving by servicemen). The matching liner was a Westinghouse with a '52 dated Micarta tag, '53 dated sweatband, WWII era non-adjustable nape strap, and blackened brass buckle chinstrap with United Carr rivets. The butter bar was missing on the liner, but the pin holes where it had previously been placed were evident so I installed a period correct replacement from the insignia bin. The listing also included a second liner...a very nice '51 camouflage painted Capac with '51 dated Enger-Kress sweatband and a KW era nape strap.
The helmet was listed by the owner's daughter's sister-in-law. The late owner himself did not serve, but his late brother was an intelligence officer stationed in Stuttgard, Germany until 1966. I believe that the helmet may possibly have belonged to him, but unfortunately the name is not a match for the one painted in the interior of the shell.
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A nice late Vietnam war USMC lid...note the para liner and inner tube band with the P38 and spare grenade ring.
...and lastly, a nice 1965 timeframe Army Infantry helmet with twill cover:
" P38 and spare grenade ring."
Very Nice.....who would go without theyre "spare"....
Very Nice.....who would go without theyre "spare"....
