Viet Cong pith Helmet

[PlaceOfBayonets]

I picked up a Cong Pith helmet on ebay as a gift for my step Dad who is a Nam Vet, 68-69.

Opinions on this helmet please?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...MEWN:IT&ih=015

Also another issue is the helmet I got in the mail does not seem to be the same one in the photos. It has the hand painted flags and words but the inside is not the same and it came with a badge on the front. Part of the helmet I got is cracked and the edging around the visor had come off about a 3rd of the helmet. The band at the place where the visor meets the dome was detatched in the back. I fixed both problems with hot glue so as to make it presentable.

How bent should a guy be with getting a helmet that is close but not really the same in the photos?

Compare the auction photos with mine below,

Wilhelm...

Oh ya, this guy shipped it in a nice new priority mail box but added no padding other then a used and empty dog food bag. Classy

[PlaceOfBayonets]

outside

[PlaceOfBayonets]

last

[Bob Chatt]

You should definately be concerned not just with way it was shipped, but everything this guys sells is made in Vietnam today.

[nguoi tien su]

Due to the sensitive nature of collecting some VietnamWar Militaria in certain parts of the Country, Your Bidder ID kept Private for your protection

Hmmm... So cute...

NTS

[McCulloh]

uh oh

Upon the reccommendation of some fellow forum members here I bought a belt from this guy @ 4 years ago. The belt turned up-in pristine condition- and with a convenient waist size of @ 40 inches.
In my brief, but vivid, connection with Vietnam before Spring of 1975, I NEVER, EVER saw any local person who could pad out a waist belt at above 30 inches-EVER!
This is almost certainly tourist stuff.

[PlaceOfBayonets]

It seems to me that in the least he is selling original helmets recently painted up the exact same way in some sweat shop?
But the helmet is self, or the one I got has a lot of age to it. It sure looks 30 plus years old. When I presented it to my Nam Vet Step Dad he recognized it right away as a Viet Cong Helmet.

W.

[bolo]

fake vn sun helmet

I bought from that guy before, he is an idiot ! he forgot to ship my order
and when I asked about it he said "BOO HOO, too BAD! ,why dont you Complain to EBAY !

he is one of the main sellers of FAKE VIETNAM militaria

I would never do business with him again

---------------

thats wrong to send a different helmet from the one pictured, especially if he doesnt tell you.

[Hawkers]

The first thing I would say is: any Viet Cong wearing a helmet painted up like that would have made an outstanding target!

From the photos, the helmet appears to have a plastic chinstrap - this would date it back to 1972 at the earliest.

The painted decoration is a tourist gimmick - the helmet may be 30 years old, but the finish was probably done last week.

A nice enough souvenir, but 68/69 vintage it ain't.

Hawkers

[MikeP]

"Viet Cong" did not generally wear those. They were civilian guerillas.

They were pretty much annihilated during Tet '68.

This is NVA issue with the flags added for flavor.

Commonly seen in use today as well.

You did not get what you paid for.

[McCulloh]

Well, to round off this thread-
The NVA wore tonnes of these for well over 35 years and they were VERY common during the Cambodian invasion (1978-88) and occupation. They were even for sale in Thailand's markets in the mid 1980s.
The Viet Cong painted-on flag is something I've never, ever seen before and in thinking back on it, I don't ever remember seeing VC insignia on any helmets at all.
Does anyone have any photos of such a thing?
Certainly after May, 1975 the VC were quickly done away with by the North Vietnamese as part of "unity and harmonization" efforts, which is why so many VC commanders later turned up in Paris and even California!

[Hawkers]

There's an often-published propaganda photo of VC Main Force soldiers wearing this type of sun helmet, but in reality many Main Force VC preferred the boonie hat to the sun helmet (for obvious reasons) as their standard headgear in the field, and VC militia/irregulars never wore this type of headgear.

It's hard to believe that the VC (who were masters of camouflage) would have painted up their helmets in this way (at least in the field of operations) - it defies military sense. My guess is that decoration of this kind may have started in 1975 to celebrate the Liberation - but I've never seen any pictures from the period to support it.

The NVA wore tonnes of these for well over 35 years and they were VERY common during the Cambodian invasion (1978-88) and occupation.

I concur - the plastic strap makes it Cambodian vintage.

Hawkers

[bolo]

propaganda photo VC wearing sun helmet

[express06snail]

The pith helmet is a standard issue piece of the NVA. That's why while the NVA started the invasion to the south in Divisions level along the Ho Chi Minh trail, there was an order from Hanoi that Pith Helmet not to be wear in some battles, due to conceal the truth that the NVA invaded the south, Not the National Front who want to liberate the South, thats the same reason NVA personels never have Patches etc on their uniform... one more thing, VC or Guerrillas was farmer by day, vc by night, and the National Front flag on the pith helmet is simply plain ridiculous... the star badge as well, painted for tourist, the faker have huge stock of brand new pith helmet plastic chinstrap from 70 75 era which was Chi-Com supplied, and they know well how to aged it artificially. So with Pith Helmet, when your gonna deal with it, please be very very careful.

[danangdave]

hi

just found something i copied of the net some years ago i didn't have a copier then so wrote it down on some paper it might be of interest to enyone collecting vc and nva gear it sayes
wartime nva helmetswhere made from 100% cotten covers which fade over time many post war helmets have a synthetic and cotten blend and therefor a sheen
one can often see a purplish glue stain in theexterior seamsof wartime covers were the cover was glued on this staining is not found onpost war helmets
wartime helmets always have a leather chinstrap post war helmets have a plastic chin strap wartime chinstraps have the edges stained the same color as the top of chin strap postwar chinstraps have the edges unstained

the aluminium chinstrap buckel on wartime helmets are substantial postwar ones often have a very thin buckel that could easily bend

wartime headbands are made of a green vinyl front with a white cotten twill backing postwar headbands are made of plastic
wartime headbands have a curled edges consistent with the material aging postwar helmets do not have this curling
in wartime helmets the semi curved washer that holds the domed vent to the helmet is made of aluminium some postwar helmets have a plastic washer

postwar helmets have a paper label inside

wartime helmets have a flat dark olive green paint inside most postwar helmets have a lighter olive green interior

also some misinformed collerctors have advanced the idea that the shape of the helmet can be used to distinguish a wartime from a postwar helmet however i have been a collector since 1978 (not me) and have seen both highdome and widebrim helmets

nva boonie hats
most nva issue boonies one finds a thin plastic sheeting between the exterior and interior crown this plastic rain shield crinckels when touched vc boonie hats did not have this feature

i cant remember where i copied this from so if the person who wrote it sees this i hope he doesn't mind or take offence i thought it might help nva collector on the forum