U.S. M1 Helmet Identification Basics: WWII and Beyond

Hello everyone! I hope that this video is helpful, leave a comment if you have any questions. As promised, here are the links:
Heat Stamps:
www.world-war-helmets.com/doc...
Big Red’s Battle Blog:
jmurrayinc1944.com/blogs/big-...
Military Trader:
www.militarytrader.com/milita...

[@jhernandez8830]

when i was in the army in the 80s we had M1s with older chinstraps. we were issued the new clip on strap and retrofitted our helmets.

[@starioskal]

I remember some of that in 83, we still had older M1 steel helmets. I never like the clip on chin strap. We got the Fritz helmets early 85. Cheers

[@charlieghague]

They started making the flat chinstrap buckles out of brass again towards the end of the war. Brass was seen as a valuable commodity so they switched to steel. When brass reserves became better they went back. It's still the same shape as the flat steel buckle, just made of brass. You showed one at the end of the video too.

[@DJNachoslll]

My favorite part was from 0:00 to 5:46

[@bowyerbushcraft2359]

Love your channel and the stuff you’re covering.

[@averylocke6860]

M1 steel pot helmets were also produced with a ground cork texture up until the Vietnam war where they were changed to a sand texture

[@masudaharris6435]

You could get one from an army-navy store for next to nothing, but good early examples are getting expensive. One of the ones I picked up from the army-navy store had a single medic's Red Cross on the front.

[@starioskal]

I remember those days, right off post in Hop Town (Ft.Campbell) KY there were some really big pawn shops full of really cool WW2 , Korean and Vietnam uniforms, helmets etc. I used to pick up stuff for my friends back home. I got a killer 101st patch collection out of those places. A lot of times I'd find an odd eagle patch and just want it, they usually cut it off and sold me the patch hahaha 😁

[@Orca19904]

Another thing you forgot to touch on is the presence or absence of a helmet cover and what kind of camo pattern (if any) it has. Bare helmets or helmets with webbing or USMC reversible cloth covers were from WW2 through Korea, while helmets with the ERDL cloth covers were in use during Vietnam. Helmets with the M81 Woodland cover were post-Vietnam up until they were replaced by the PASGT in the 1980's.

[@ragingjaguarknight86]

I've got a stumper of an M1 helmet. Its a front seam but has a manganese steel rim with swivel bales, dark OD cork texture and sewn on chinstraps. The liner is worn but appears to be late world war 2 or korean war era. It's puzzling and different from my other m1, which was a front seam stainless steel rim Schuleter with sewn on chinstraps on its swivel bales. It had a Vietnam War era liner though.

[@chris.3711]

Could be a transitional helmet. Everything else says it's WWII. The heat stamp will really determine the date of manufacture. It's no surprise the liner is of a later era. I found a Sclueter with Vietnam cover and liner, with intact paint and replaced sewn chin straps.

[@ragingjaguarknight86]

@chris.3711 sounds about right. And my WW2 Schuleter M1 had a Vietnam era liner too, with an ERDL camo cover and dark OD green helmet band, with its original sewn on chinstraps intact but fraying.

[@starioskal]

​@@ragingjaguarknight86those older helmets were still out there in the US Army and national guard and reserve units up until the mid to late 80s. I saw a lot of older helmets in my training schools back in 83-84. M1,M1C even fixed bale. It was a mish mash with different liners. My brothers national guard unit in Michigan had 50s and 60s airborne liners which they promptly cut out the A straps because it hung down and no one had the chin straps. Some of his units M1 helmets were WW2 versions. Back then until we switched to the Fritz helmets the Army I don't think cared, it was a Steel helmet period hahaha 😁 Cheers

[@CraigWren-th6vq]

Very interesting.

[@thurin84]

awesome helmets!

[@davidschaadt3460]

Real nice program.

[@mamazerk9066]

I have a helmet that has a front seam and all the characteristics you describe of an M1 World War II helmet except the bales. The bales are swivel bales and one side looks like brass and they look like the painted steel, but the actual clip that clips them together is brass. I’d really love some help with this. Is there anyway that I can send you pictures? Thank you!

[@bretamcclanahan7920]

We see many US helmets display the badges of rank for officers with painted insignia. Often we see higher ranking officers with the actual uniform brass badge of rank attached to the front of their helmet. Most famous being General Patton. How were these brass insignia attached to the front of the helmet? Was the a glue strong enough in WW II that could attach these actual brass rank insignia to a metal helmet?

[@KJV-Bible-verses-wo3mo]

my helmet has a yellow 3 on the inside of it can someone help me figure out why?

[@jjstak98h]

Good video but it didn't get into the airborne variations, which is what I'm trying to get information on. In particular, did the paratrooper variants go away with the introduction of the new 1970s type chinstrap? Up until the post Vietnam era, the strap simply went under the jaw, not directly on the chin with a "cup" style. Therefore, these types of helmets needed an additional "cup" style strap to secure the helmet when exiting an aircraft. The latest type standard chinstrap introduced in the '70s had a chin cup style. Thus, my question that I'm in search of an answer for, did the post Vietnam era still have separate airborne variations?

[@ritchhistory1888]

The best help I can offer you is that airborne troops wearing the M1 in 1983 in Grenada seem to be wearing the standard style chinstrap, so I guess that either surplus Vietnam era jump helmets were being used (maybe for stateside training) or it was just standard 70s models being issued to airborne troops.

[@starioskal]

I served from 83-88, I was issued standard infantry model M1 steel helmets that had either older tan or o.d. chin straps and later the retro fitted clip on chin strap version in army training schools, airborne school at Benning class (10-84) wore steel pots, I had a beat up WW2 or Korean version with tan chinstrap and 5 hole chin strap connected to the liner. Upon attending Air assault school in 84, we wore retro fitted M1 helmets. The big one came just before we got the Fritz helmets, I was actually issued a brand new 67 dated airborne liners with handbook and a minty M1C. I promptly ran off post to one of the pawn shops and bought a beat up version which I wore and later turned in, this keeping my mind nam airborne helmet and liner which I still own. What I can say is, the US military retrofitted tons of M1 steel helmets in the late 70s and early 80s due to maximizing their investment in equipment but there were lots of WW2,post war and Korean/Vietnam M1 helmets floating around in a lot of units plus national guard and reserve units. The Fritz started coming on board and we in the 101st began switching out in my unit from late 84 through 85. I remember some soldiers in Egypt back in 85 still wearing M1C airborne helmets with Fritz desert 6 covers over them. So if your putting together a collection, reenactment gear, uniform etc for a certain period I would say research as many photos of the unit through the time period your looking at. You'll see we wore a mixed bag of old and new stuff. My older brother was in the national guard still when I went in, his unit was still wearing pickle suits and Mitchell helmet covers and M56 web gear. The new woodland BDU wasn't available to the public and I snagged him a used set off post at a pawn shop which were still in good condition, he was the first soldier to own a set before new enlistees started coming in all kitted out hahaha. His unit wouldn't approve jungle uniform or erdl uniform. Lol It was a trip back then. Cheers

[@jjstak98h]

@@starioskal thanx for the vignette. I went thru basic in ’93. There were some reserve drill sergeants that came in & some of those cats were still rocking steel pots.

[@ApacheWt]

Hey i have an m1 helmet (postwar) it has an number 29900 im wondering if anybody could find some information about ir