Erzats Spiked Helmet Question

[Peter_Suciu]

Maybe this has been discussed before but I had a question about the felt and tin spiked helmets. I have a few helmets and have always appreciated the craftsmanship, etc.

But every source says the Germans resorted to tin and felt because of wartime shortages of leather...yet boots, belts and helmet liners continued to be made in mass and were all leather.

Having measured the helmets and studied my felt example it actually seems that less steps went into making those than the leather versions. Even the Model 1915 spiked helmets were more detailed than the felt and tin versions that came out soon after.

Any other thoughts on this? I find it difficult to believe that leather shortage could have been the only reason, especially when so many other items were leather and these helmets didn't really use that much.

[Tony & Kaiser]

Hi Peter,

The theory that the Germans resorted to tin, steel, and felt because of wartime blockade of leather is the standard "quick" response. But there may be more to this than meets the eye.

Germany was already experimenting with rabbit felt Pickelhauben for her China troops in 1901, so they had some experience in this form of manufacturing.

As you probably know, Germany imported her leather from Argentina which is a cattle producing nation. I often felt that although technically it could be classified a shortage of leather, I wonder if it was more as a result of "need" due to the complete mobilization? When the German army as a whole stood up, there must have been an incredible demand overnight for equipment. If you cannot sacrifice quality or materials on items such as footwear and belts etc, the logical place to cut corners is in headgear, especially when the horrors of head-wounds from trench warfare had not yet materialized.

What supports this somewhat, is that the tin Ersatz Hemet appeared in October 1914 by Metallwaren-Fabrik Hermann Weissenburger. Felt Ersatz helmets were also first authorized in 1914 and I suspect they were not "replaced" by the M1915 helmets with grey metal fittings, but rather, supplemented them due to demand. This seems to be supported by the fact that Ersatz felt are found with both brass M91 fittings and with grey metal M15 fittings.

Plus, you are correct, they are simpler to make than leather helmets, with the most common pattern being pressed from one piece of felt. You can see about a dozen of these on my web site.

But this is all just my opinion. Tony http://www.kaisersbunker.com