Prussian Ersatz Felt Pickelhaube

J

JohnS3rd

Well-known member
Hi Folks, this post is mainly for Zebedeus, a.k.a. Zeb, and his love of Ersatz Pickelhauben. My latest addition is a near-mint Prussian Ersatz Felt Pickelhaube; the Olive Drab paint on it motivated me to purchase it. The color on it looks better in person than it did on BSM. The main drawback for me is that the chinstrap is as tight as a banjo string on this helmet. The previous owner had repaired a brake on one side and reinforced the other end, something not mentioned. I have since taken the chinstrap off and put on another haube to prevent it from breaking. The helmet is rather large as it fits on my watermelon head.

Prussian Ersatz Felt Pickelhaube f.jpeg
Prussian Ersatz Felt Pickelhaube l s.jpeg
Prussian Ersatz Felt Pickelhaube back.jpeg
Prussian Ersatz Felt Pickelhaube r s Nat cockade.jpeg
Prussian Ersatz Felt Pickelhaube Top Spike.jpeg
Prussian Ersatz Felt Pickelhaube Top Spike 2.jpeg
Prussian Ersatz Felt Pickelhaube liner.jpeg
Best regards,
John
 
JohnS3rd said:
Hi Folks, this post is mainly for Zebedeus, a.k.a. Zeb, and his love of Ersatz Pickelhauben. My latest addition is a near-mint Prussian Ersatz Felt Pickelhaube; the Olive Drab paint on it motivated me to purchase it. The color on it looks better in person than it did on BSM. The main drawback for me is that the chinstrap is as tight as a banjo string on this helmet. The previous owner had repaired a brake on one side and reinforced the other end, something not mentioned. I have since taken the chinstrap off and put on another haube to prevent it from breaking. The helmet is rather large as it fits on my watermelon head.

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Best regards,
John
Click to expand...
Dear John thank you very much for your kindness.
What should I say? A beautiful Prussian ersatz helmet.
The feldgrau color of the eagle and the spike give it a very "wartime" look. You were right to put it in the collection.
Keep it up my friend.
Zeb
 
Great helmet.
I know a little about felts.
Depending were the break is you can loosen the buckles just a bit to take the tension off.
The liner has been resown using a whitish thread.
You could get some markers and with the color selections now touch up the thread so as to blend them in to the helmet shell.
 
pickelhauben said:
Great helmet.
I know a little about felts.
Depending were the break is you can loosen the buckles just a bit to take the tension off.
The liner has been resown using a whitish thread.
You could get some markers and with the color selections now touch up the thread so as to blend them in to the helmet shell.
Click to expand...
Pickelhauben,
The repair is on the backside next to one of the buckles. Therefore, I will leave it well enough alone.

Concerning your thoughts about the liner being restitched, I examined the stitching. It looks like it was original to the liner, as I cannot see any other holes from any previous sewing. But, I am not an expert on these ersatz items, and the liner is a bit stiff with salt accumulated during wear from its original owner one hundred-plus years ago. So, I may try and use a cloth damped with a 20:80 ration of vinegar and water on a small portion of the liner to see if I can remove some salt stainings and soften the leather. Then, I will leave the cleaned area alone and after a few days note if the cleaning helped.

Thanks for your input.
Best regards,
John
 
Hi again,
I recently popped the wappen off my ersatz to see how faded it is compared to the area behind the wappen. I noted that the holes made for the wappen are oblong instead of round. The hole variation gives the wappen a better fit. Any opinions out there? Thanks in advance for looking and for your thoughts.
Best regards,
John

Ersatz Pickelhaube holes for wappen.jpg
 
No John, those "slit" holes are fine, I have seen them, before especially on helmets like this where we have no front visor trim. The shadow of the eagle wappen does give you a good look at the original colour of the felt when it was new.
 
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