M17 S.i.66 - Near Mint and Complete

[C. Roelens]

The paint rates an easy 90%-95% inside and out. No damage at all to the shell. The M17 liner system is one of the best I've ever encountered... Complete with original drawstring. The drawstring is fraying a little bit on both ends, otherwise, it is full lenght. The three liner pads are near mint, and each has original cushions in their pouches. All six liner pad tie-strings are full lenght. I untied one to get a better photo of the maker. The maker mark appears to read - E.G. Leuner (R?)AUTZE(R?)... The first and last letter are a guess. The steel liner band has the name "Vielz" scratched into it. All three liner pins are very tight. The way the liner pads stick out, and seeing that the cushions have never been compressed leads me to believe that this helmet has never rested on a Soldier's head for any great lenght of time. The chinstrap is in excellent-outstanding condition... It has brass hardware, and is riveted.

I'm not sure what material the liner pads are made of... Goat skin, Pig skin, etc. Can anybody tell just by looking at my pictures? Does anybody have any information on the maker of this liner?

The last thing that puzzle's me is the hook placed near the left side M91 chinstrap lug. It is hooked through the M91 chinstrap fitting as well. This side of the chinstrap will not come off. I've never seen this on an M16 before. Your thoughts on this are much appreciated also.

Chuck

[C. Roelens]

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last pics...

[Gustaf B]

The hook on the chin strap is very interesting, I would bet that this helmet was issued to a farmer who got feed up with the chin strap fitting falliing off the post, a pair of pliers and a bit of wire (sans barbs) and it is fixed. I would guess that the other side fits better, or there would have been a hook on it too. Nice helmet.
Best
Gus

[Hoss]

Hi Chuck
Is this yours?
Nice, never seen that done before with the chinstrap. I used to call this type of pad skin Hog and the white pads we see Goat. But since moving to the US I,ve become confused.
Interesting name on the liner, cant you find anything on the net? I,ll look too.

Cheers
Eric

[C. Roelens]

The hook on the chin strap is very interesting, I would bet that this helmet was issued to a farmer who got feed up with the chin strap fitting falliing off the post, a pair of pliers and a bit of wire (sans barbs) and it is fixed. I would guess that the other side fits better, or there would have been a hook on it too. Nice helmet.
Best
Gus

Thanks Gus. I don't think this helmet was worn enough for the chinstrap to become an issue.

Chuck

[Hans K.]

Nice one Chuck. The paint is well preserved and I especially love the chinstrap. The hook looks like it was an effective way to keep the one end from slipping off the lug.

The liner pads look very unusual, especially the colour, but they do remind me of the regular 'white' sheepskin pads with the exception that these look dyed and not chrome tanned. I haven't seen anything quite like these yet. Regarding the ink stamp, the only name that came to mind is Bautzen, which is a town in Saxony.

Hans