A
Anonymous
Guest
In September 2000, when I was just breaking into this hobby, I purchased the following item through an eBay auction for $382.00. Don't ask me what I thought I was doing, but I half believed this was an M15 some vet had supercharged by slapping on a cavalry eagle. Below are the eBay pictures.
The following is a verbatim transcription of the seller's description:
VENTAGE WW I OFFICER SPIKE HELMET THERE IS NO LINER OR COVER AND THERE IS SOME CRAYZING ON THE LATHER BUT ALL IN ALL A GOOD EXAMPLE
Believe it or not, Randy Trawnik was also bidding on this (solely for the Dragoner/JzP Wappen).
When it arrived, I removed the Wappen (M95, by the way) and regarded my folly. The party responsible for affixing the Dragoner Adler made the Wappen fit by punching two more holes in the shell. The shell itself resembled alligator hide, and the front visor was loose. The visors were Vulkanfibre; therefore, I assumed the entire helmet was also. Certainly, it was the ugliest helmet I had purchased to date. The seller was wrong about one thing, though. The helmet had a liner, in fact quite a good one.
Furthermore, it was also an M95 Pionier helmet. Despite this revelation, the helmet soon came to repose in a forgotten corner of the basement. It's primary function: to occasionally model Überzug for the camera.
One day, while procrastinating, I decided to clean the Helm up a bit with a new polish I was experimenting with, Simichrome. I polished the spike cone and visor trim, but that was about all. Back it went to the basement. Below is how it appeared at the time
In the process of fiddling with it, I took a closer look at the linen tag inside. This was the first time I noticed the GP (Garde Pionier?). The distance between the remaining grommet and the larger hole seemed to suport this theory; appropriate spacing for a Garde Adler!
Years passed. In January 2005, I decided I was sick of having this thing on my hands and thought I might sell it for parts. However, the spectre of taking a loss on my "investment" eventually prompted me in a different direction, to restore the Helm to some semblance of its former glory.
I took the helmet with me on a visit to Brian and left it with him to have the extra holes filled and the visor restitched. While he worked on it, I set about locating a silver Garde Adler, which proved easier than expected. Helmut Weitze had three to choose from. The one I purchased did not come cheaply though, and cost almost as much as the helmet had. I mailed the Adler to Brian so he could fit it to the helmet before patching the shell.
When Brian was stitching the visor, he made an interesting discovery. As mentioned previously, the visors were Vulkanfibre; however, the shell turned out to be lacquered felt. Small wonder the surface was so crazed. Think of it, a prewar M95 Garde helmet made of felt and celluloid. As Joe might say, conventional wisdom regarding Ersatz was turned on its ear.
Today was a good day for photography, and I decided to post these new pictures of the revamped helmet (though it is still not complete). Unfortunately, the spike managed to break away from its base and is due to be resoldered. I also need to find a Pionier chinstrap or flat chinscales. I'm going to hold out for the real thing; no compromises now. Dave Mosher was kind enough to give me a pair of original Pionier Knopf 91 hooks, so at least the helmet can be displayed with Kokarden.
Here it is; my folly.
Chas.
The following is a verbatim transcription of the seller's description:
VENTAGE WW I OFFICER SPIKE HELMET THERE IS NO LINER OR COVER AND THERE IS SOME CRAYZING ON THE LATHER BUT ALL IN ALL A GOOD EXAMPLE
Believe it or not, Randy Trawnik was also bidding on this (solely for the Dragoner/JzP Wappen).
When it arrived, I removed the Wappen (M95, by the way) and regarded my folly. The party responsible for affixing the Dragoner Adler made the Wappen fit by punching two more holes in the shell. The shell itself resembled alligator hide, and the front visor was loose. The visors were Vulkanfibre; therefore, I assumed the entire helmet was also. Certainly, it was the ugliest helmet I had purchased to date. The seller was wrong about one thing, though. The helmet had a liner, in fact quite a good one.
Furthermore, it was also an M95 Pionier helmet. Despite this revelation, the helmet soon came to repose in a forgotten corner of the basement. It's primary function: to occasionally model Überzug for the camera.
One day, while procrastinating, I decided to clean the Helm up a bit with a new polish I was experimenting with, Simichrome. I polished the spike cone and visor trim, but that was about all. Back it went to the basement. Below is how it appeared at the time
In the process of fiddling with it, I took a closer look at the linen tag inside. This was the first time I noticed the GP (Garde Pionier?). The distance between the remaining grommet and the larger hole seemed to suport this theory; appropriate spacing for a Garde Adler!
Years passed. In January 2005, I decided I was sick of having this thing on my hands and thought I might sell it for parts. However, the spectre of taking a loss on my "investment" eventually prompted me in a different direction, to restore the Helm to some semblance of its former glory.
I took the helmet with me on a visit to Brian and left it with him to have the extra holes filled and the visor restitched. While he worked on it, I set about locating a silver Garde Adler, which proved easier than expected. Helmut Weitze had three to choose from. The one I purchased did not come cheaply though, and cost almost as much as the helmet had. I mailed the Adler to Brian so he could fit it to the helmet before patching the shell.
When Brian was stitching the visor, he made an interesting discovery. As mentioned previously, the visors were Vulkanfibre; however, the shell turned out to be lacquered felt. Small wonder the surface was so crazed. Think of it, a prewar M95 Garde helmet made of felt and celluloid. As Joe might say, conventional wisdom regarding Ersatz was turned on its ear.
Today was a good day for photography, and I decided to post these new pictures of the revamped helmet (though it is still not complete). Unfortunately, the spike managed to break away from its base and is due to be resoldered. I also need to find a Pionier chinstrap or flat chinscales. I'm going to hold out for the real thing; no compromises now. Dave Mosher was kind enough to give me a pair of original Pionier Knopf 91 hooks, so at least the helmet can be displayed with Kokarden.
Here it is; my folly.
Chas.
