m1915 Prussian Pickelhaube Cardboard Visors

1st Pickelhuabe, was it an ok purchase?
The Pickelhuabe has some of the threads missing on the visors so what is the best way to go about having the stitching restored? Everything is intact, only the threads are missing on half of the rear visor, and all the front visor but it is held on by the side rivets.
 

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Is the whole helmet carboard ( fiber ) or just the visors ?
Over 100 years old the visor threads do deteriorate in many climates
At first glance the visors do look to be replacements but it is hard to tell in the pictures.
If it is legit you have a standard gray metal EM pickelhaube
The most produced pickelhaube that was made.

If you check out the restoration posts our in house pickelhaube doctor has many posts on how to re-stich your visors.
 
Hello Freikorps and welcome to the Forum :)
I agree with „pickelhauben“. Hope you’ve paid not too much for it. the condition is unfortunately not very good.
Brian has made some very good restoration posts. He is the man for repairs ;)
 
Hello Freikorps and welcome to the Forum :)
I agree with „pickelhauben“. Hope you’ve paid not too much for it. the condition is unfortunately not very good.
Brian has made some very good restoration posts. He is the man for repairs ;)
Yes I paid too much I would have liked to get it lower but with tax+ship the total was $310. It has some spots where black finish is flaked away and the threads are missing on the front visor and partially on the rear visor but otherwise it doesn't have any other damage. I unfortunately have seen worse than this one.
 
I don't think $310 is too much. Actually that's not bad judging by some of the prices I've seen lately.
This is not a cheap hobby.
Get Brian's help when you think about restoring it.
Congratulations.

John
 
There are $300 in fittings alone on it not including the shell and as far as condition goes, for a 100+ year old cardboard hat, it looks pretty darn good. You will have to spend more though on getting a chinstrap and cockades to complete it. If you were to go for originals of these, you would have to pay more than you did for the actual hat itself, so look for some good quality repros. Our members should be able to help when you want to source these. Last, I would like to point out just how rare this helmet is, yes an ordinary M15 the most common helmet going. However, I have only seen 3-4 of these cardboard versions, in 40 years of collecting. They just did not survive....so take good care of it. :)
 
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There are $300 in fittings alone on it not including the shell and as far as condition goes, for a 100+ year old cardboard hat, it looks pretty darn good. You will have to spend more though on getting a chinstrap and cockades to complete it. If you were to go for originals of these, you would have to pay more than you did for the actual hat itself, so look for some good quality repros. Our members should be able to help when you want to source these. Last, I would like to point out just how rare this helmet is, yes an ordinary M15 the most common helmet going. However, I have only seen 3-4 of these cardboard versions, in 40 years of collecting. They just did not survive....so take good care of it. :)
Seriously, only 4!?
 
I like the fiber helmets as they hold their shape, if taken care of. Did I see a 1914 date in this one?
 
Nice looking helmet! I agree with the statements above: 1, Talk to Brian before you do any clean-up or restoration. 2, Don't wear these things, especially the gas mask! (For the reasons mentioned and I have one that still has 'mustard' residue in it.) 3, This isn't a cheap hobby. ;)

:D Ron
 
I restitched the visors on this helmet. Just to clarify, the shell is leather and dated 1914. Both visors and side re enforcements are in fact cardboard. The piece has been repaired during the war and reissued. It would have originally been an M95 with brass fittings. The brass grommets were removed and all fittings replaced with M15’s.
 
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