J. Bambus - Fittings Question

J

Jeff B.

New member
I purchased this J. Bambus Filz approximately two years ago. It has a few cracks along the bottom edges, but it has retained its shape and displays pretty well. One thing that has confused me is the fittings on this helmet. It is equipped primarily with the 1895 Brass fittings (wappen, grommets and spike) yet it has steel side posts.
I understand that there was a transition period between the 1895 and M15 fittings and that there are several Ersatz oddities out there, but this I find unusual. Could this be characteristic of Bambus running low on certain fittings during the transitional period?

What do you good people think?
 
By member Jeff B:
One thing that has confused me is the fittings on this helmet. It is equipped primarily with the 1895 Brass fittings (wappen, grommets and spike) yet it has steel side posts.
I understand that there was a transition period between the 1895 and M15 fittings and that there are several Ersatz oddities out there, but this I find unusual. Could this be characteristic of Bambus running low on certain fittings during the transitional period?
Click to expand...

Hi Jeff,

Sorry it has taken a while for any of us here to reply to your excellent question of your helmet having brass fittings except for the steel sideposts: "Could this be characteristic of Bambus running low on certain fittings during the transitional period?"

Yes it is certainly possible they used a mixture of fitting on their helmets when stocks ran low on brass fittings.

In almost 40 years of collecting, yours is the first one I have seen with steel side posts when the rest of the fittings are brass. I'm not trying to worry you. I believe that all of the Bambus helmets that I've seen over the years all have brass fittings on them. Not saying it couldn't happen to have a mixture of steel & brass parts on them, as it is certainly logically possible. Maybe some other forum members will chime in here and mention ones they have that have a mixture of brass & steel fittings on them.

Has the liner been re-stitched into the helmet shell?

I had one Bambus helmet in the past with darkened brass fittings that I unfortunately sold back in the 1980's. It was maker marked on the liner. I have another example that I bought a few years back that has non-darkened brass fittings on it, with an unmarked leather liner in it.

Best Regards,

Alan
 
I have a helmet that has a mixture of parts and colors
Even the markings are a mixture saying its marked FR90 but has a pruissian plate on it
Somewhere in the latest find section this helmet of mine is mentiont(will try to dig it up and mention it here in this post )
So in my opinion it is perfectly possible to owne a helmet with mixed parts ,it thus not have to be a bambus helmet mine is even a felt body with the surface lackered and a leather front and rear visor
I would not worry on your helmet (if possible try to take a foto on the inside of those sideposts on how they are attached to the helmet)so we can see the attachment
 
https://www.pickelhaubes.com/bb/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=10733

The link schould guide you to the helmet as mentiont above
I looked some more to your helmet so the grommets are brass the spike and the base the plate are too
Only the side posts are not
If and i say if it was a parts helmet it wold be easyer to replace the big parts instead of the sideposts
I think it is very hard to bent the little pins flush and firm onto the helmet as it was done in the factory ,compare those 2 sidepostst with eatch other

Greetings jonas
 
I believe that they did issue helmets of mixed metals. I've posted before a Pioneer helmet that was a bring back by a great uncle. It had nickel spike, wappen, and chin strap hardware (strap currently on helmet is not the original that was on it). Front visor guard, chin strap post, and rear spine are grey steel.
 
Yes, of course we have all seen wartime helmets with mixed metal fittings on them. Leather body helmets, and felt body helmets.

However, Jeff's question was: "...Could this be characteristic of Bambus running low on certain fittings during the transitional period?"

My answer from my experience of seeing dozens and dozens of Bambus felt helmets over the years was "No, it is not characteristic of Bambus to have made felt helmets with mixed brass/iron fittings on them, from my experience". In other words, from my experience, it is not characteristic of Bambus made felt helmets to have mixed fittings on them. I have never seen a Bambus felt helmet until seeing this one, that had mixed fittings on the felt helmet. All the ones I've ever seen by Bambus had only brass fittings on them. It's not to say that Bambus did not make felt helmets with mixed fittings on them. I simply meant to say that I have never seen a felt body helmet made by Bambus that had mixed fittings on it before seeing this example that Jeff owns and posted here for us to see.

Hopefully this clarifies my initial reply to Jeff B.

Best Regards,

Alan
 
My Bambus filz helme has all brass fittings including a Baden wappen. I have a Hessen M15 with all grey fittings but brass M91 posts. I think that if we have examples from other companies with a mixture of parts then finding a Bambus with the same characteristic should not be surprising. So in answer to the original question.....Yes. BTW if Jeff looks at the interior parts of his M91 posts and there are no scratches on the metal and they fit tight to the shell, then they are original to the helmet.
 
I will take some pictures of the side posts from the interior of the helmet and post them. But, from having looked at them on multiple occassions, I am positive they have never been tampered with.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top