Detecting the Fakes 101

[stonemint]

I have been asked what I look for in trying to determine whether or not a visor is pre-1945 and in its original state. For our beginning visor collectors, I will give the basics (all you advanced collectors, feel free to chime in).

Anyway, these are the "absolutes":
1. Plastic Sweatdiamonds (they should always be celluloid, which has the same feel as 35mm film negatives)
2. Plastic visors (and generally, these won't be crosshatched like a Vulcanfiber original)
3. Plastic sweatbands (they should be leather, paper, or oilcloth)
4. No synthetic threads (except celleon). If you burn a thread, and it melts (leaving a hard core) it is synthetic--natural fibers turn to ash.
5. Black-light test: For best results, use a fluorescent black light bulb.
What you are looking for is a glow--use a modern t-shirt to be able to compare. Look at the "core" of the bullion piping, and the chin-cord.
The most important place to look is at the padding behind the front lining---a lot of fakers use a refined cotton for padding. However, you have to be careful not to break the stitiching--most effective are the penlite LED keychain blacklights they sell now.
6. Machine-stitching of the lining on the LOWER edge of the lining. (J. Sperb and Pekuro both used it on the upper edge, but not the lower.)
7. Plastic inserts in the chinstrap knots--these are postwar (but do not automatically mean the entire hat is bad.)

I'm sure the rest of the gang will have other tips, but these are all I can think of right now while under the influence of muscle relaxers!

[stonemint]

This is the type of blacklite I use to look inside (we use them here in Arizona in the summer to detect scorpions at night--yes, even inside the house!):

[stonemint]

OK, now for the next part of the thread. These are things that cause me to look at a hat all the more intensely, but in and of themselves are NOT an indicator that the hat is fake:

1. Removed sweatdiamonds without the stitching for the name slot.
2. Overlapping (instead of butting) of the piping.
3. Vent holes (these are common on civil/political visors, but are suspect on WH hats).
4. Thick cowhide leather sweatbands (like the American visors)
5. Chincords with twists that point Northwest.
6. Pleats to the lining which are not compressed by the sweatband (ie, flat from 60 years of pressure).
7. Restitching of visor/sweatband, etc--hand re-sewn cannot match a sewing machine.
8. Empty stitch holes in the silk lining (indicating it has been re-used).
9. New pleats in the silk lining (once again, indicating a re-used lining).
10.Spurious EM/NCO "upgrades"--look for the tell-tale mark from the leather chinstrap and buckles--50-60 years in place will leave a sign. Also, The chinstrap buttons should (but not always) be in line with the side-panel seams. The bottom line is that an EM/NCO upgrade shouldn't cost any more just because of a chinstrap.

Guys, please add to this...

[schirmmutze]

Very good thread for the new collectors !!!
I want to add one more thing....
Maybe this sounds like I´m a psycho...
The first thing I do when I want to buy a visorcap or helmet ....I hold it in my hands,close my eyes and put my lovely nose in it and smell the thing !!!
There IS a difference between the smell of a 70 years old cap or helmet and a cap that was made some 10 years ago....
Please guys,DO NOT call a doctor,I´m o.k

Regards,

Theo

[Kreager]

The first thing I do when I want to buy a visorcap or helmet ....I hold it in my hands,close my eyes and put my lovely nose in it and smell the thing !!!

I do the same thing .

btw. This is a great thread, Thanks Stonemint

[Arran]

I swear by the smell test when dealing with textiles. It can also be helpful to blow a hot hair dryer on the fabric, as this will temproarily release any odour in the fabric- when you're looking at something 60+ years old, you'll know!

Cheers,
Arran.

[NTZ]

I swear by the smell test when dealing with textiles. It can also be helpful to blow a hot hair dryer on the fabric, as this will temproarily release any odour in the fabric- when you're looking at something 60+ years old, you'll know!

Cheers,
Arran.

I never thought of that one. I hit it with a hand steamer for a few seconds. All the beautiful smell will come rushing out.

Let us not forget how the German craftsman inserted the linings. There is such an art with the folds. It can not be duplicated. The first thing I check on every visor is the pleats. Make sure they are still sitting the way they were 60+ years ago. Next I check the stitching on the sweatband. A reattached sweatband is not the end of the world but it better be the original one to the cap and/or the cap should be priced accordingly. I always check the pasteboard too. I look to see if insignia has been messed with. There are a few materials that can not be duplicated with post war fakes either. The proper pasteboards, the correct lining materials with the correct weave the correct exterior materials like doeskin and aged celluloid. I have seen a few fakes with celluloid shields but they are generally much thicker and not correctly yellowed. This brings me to the next check. Take a piece of white paper and slip it under the cello shield. It better have some yellowing or it is not 60 years old. Also check the weight. Fakes are either very light or very heavy. The heavy fakes seem to be more prevalent at least from the ones I handled. I guess to a faker the heavier the better.

[stonemint]

The smell test is legit--but don't forget, odors can be masked!
The other thing I forgot to mention is that for suspect officer upgrades, any officer hat with an acceptance stamp ("Gepruft") is an NCO upgrade.

The other minefield is white-top frankensteins--as we all know, loose white-tops are commonly available. A general rule of thumb is that white-tops for political/police/civil should be (but this is not an absolute) wool or linen--watch for cotton LW-style waffle-pattern tops on these, and check for fit and finish.

[stonemint]

This is a great example of the "overlapping" piping (on a repro)--this is extremely rare on wartime originals, and in fact, I had never seen it on an original until one was posted here several months ago:

[espenlaub]

I think now the fakers got better education, and it is in past- syntetic liners,threads etc. Now you can buy a nice item artificially aged and constructed from original materials- for example: I've saw a couple of SS visors, which was re-made of WH an Fire... How to do then?
Only item with spirit( if you take the item to your hand and feel something) can be good.

[espenlaub]

This is a great example of the "overlapping" piping (on a repro)--this is extremely rare on wartime originals, and in fact, I had never seen it on an original until one was posted here several months ago:

This is not a rare variation, and this can't tell you that overlapping is fake. It's very usual- shown cap has a silk piping, and you have'nt other way to stitch the edges without overlapping- in other way the edge from the piping will lose thread.