The M36 Paratrooper Helmet

[Rich G]

Eric

Many thanks for sharing your pictures and your extremely rare FJ helmet with us. I can only guess how many of these exist now and appreciate the rarity and your reasons for keeping secrets secret.

Rich

[JoeW]

Was the liner material identical in the M36 and subsequent designs? The suspension obviously changed.

[Rob Brown]

So what was the reason that M36 was then evolved into the M38? I take it that the M36 didnt sit properly with the chinstraps round the rim of the helmet?

[Ben]

Eric,

fantastic piece!
Does anyone recall the DD M37 with the corossion on it and the hairline crack that was sold on eBay Germany a few years ago? It still had the majority of the liner in it. The general consensus was that it was original and it went as I recall for something like 3000 Euro. Anyone still has a picture of that one?

Anyway, here's my contribution to this thread. Two very cool pictures of modified M36 and M37 helmets.

[Ben]

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[Ben]

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[Ben]

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[Willi Z.]

Great photos Ben! Note that most have been upgraded by the addition of the M38 liner and straps.

Joe, both the M36 and M37 used a modified M31 liner.

Rob, no one knows for sure. Both the M36 and M37 were cutdown from M35s. The liner system was a modified M31. The straps used for jumping were different than the strap worn in the field. The M38 was just a more advanced design regarding straps, shell and liner. The M36/37s were probably just modified from M35s to offer a quick solution for a jump helmet for the early Heer and Luftwaffe FJs.