M1 Helmet, Kit Questions

Post war helmets work fine. The colour can be slightly off if you want to get picky and they dont have a cork texture but you can easily paint it over and add cork to it at the same time. I use a post war one thats had that done to it.

The pistol belt and suspenders look fine too. Make sure you get ones that will fit you as the originals can be a little tight for the "larger" gentleman

Well I'm not "larger" so thats fine. Someone on Arnies told me the suspenders weren't accurate, but I'd take your advice first, Diggah. Mostly because you like Russian stuff, and so do I.

Ah right I've just had a closer look. They're not the same as the period pair I have ( I do US stuff as well you see) but would pass for airsofting purposes. If you want to get more accurate ones you'll need something that looks like this : (middle of page) http://www.sofmilitary.co.uk/products.a ... &offset=30
. Mind you what you linked to was far cheaper

The pair you linked to would have problems should you want to fit the musette bag to the back as its missing the D rings it attaches to.

One thing with repo pistol belts is the eyelet's come out in a short time if you hang a holster on it, try & get an origional belt if you can, un issued tan belts are still obtainable if you look about, my repo one lasted 15 miniuts, real one has been going string for a few years now,

Steve.D

My repro one from Sof lasted Sundays gaming without a hitch. And that was after it hanging outside for 3 weeks to weather it. My previous repro belt lasted 2 years without problems either. I suspect you got a duff one there mate.

My helmet is a Korean-Vietnam helmet, when you cover it with a net its hard to tell (unless you're a proper stitch counter) whether its right or not!

Belt wise, I would spend the bit extra £ to get an original 1 if you can, the eyelets around my water canteen came out within the 1st few times on my repro. When Ive used my original Garand belt like yesterday, they dont fall out.

The suspenders look like the straps off a doughboy pack, but in the suspenders style like the airborne 1s. 1 might assume they were the late war 1s intended for use with the M45 pack rather than the musette pack. Either way, suspenders are suspenders, the straps on the link you posted look nice and wide, so may be more comfortable than the M1936 suspenders

Well I was carrying a real 1911 on it, they are pretty heavy, the repo washers on the back of the eyelet's was the problem I think, the real one has bigger eyelet washers, was only £25 compared to SOFs £15 for the repo,

Steve.D

I'll look around for a cheaper real one...I'm hanging a US 1911 leather holster and my 1911 and I don't want it to get damaged by my cheapness.
I'm staying away from uniforms and boots because I've got a few years before I'm considering fully doing a total WWII loadout, and it'll be for reenactment also.

Original US webbing can normaly be had cheaply on Ebay US-its the shipping prices that kill the bargain price for us in the UK

To eBay!

Sorry for the double post, but heres another "is this accurate/good?" question.
http://shop.sportsmansguide.com/net/cb/cb.aspx?a=235053

You'd be better with the M43 sets from At the Front or WPG [where they are on sale] esp. if you plan on branching out into re-enacting. Buy once, buy the best you can. Standards are not the same, good enough isnt in re-enacting.

Again,why bother buying repros while in the uS you can buy original M43s cheaper than repros

When there was still US surface mail you could get serious bargains from the US even with the shipping costs but no more im afraid

Hey guys apologies for resurrecting a dead thread but thought this was the relevant place for it.

Im in the middle of putting together my M1 Helmet. Its an original ww2 reconditioned tin top but i believe it has accurate new internals.

Is it correct to have 3 chin straps in total? At the moment mine has 2 canvas one that fits snug at the rear, and jump chin strap but doesn't come with the thin leather chin strap.

Would it be correct to add this. If so where does it attach to?

im tring to make it as accurate as possible.

my SOF repro pistol belt lasted 2 games, the eyelets started to pull out as i was putting the holster on straight out of the box, i have managed to get 2 uk made U.S. stamped unissued originals cheaper than the crappy SOF repros.

Is it correct to have 3 chin straps in total? At the moment mine has 2 canvas one that fits snug at the rear, and jump chin strap but doesn't come with the thin leather chin strap.

Would it be correct to add this. If so where does it attach to?

You won't go far wrong following this link: http://www.toppots.net/main.php?do=clie ... ink_id=142

Essentially you have the chin cup which is a leather buckled affair that connects to two A-straps in the liner, a webbed chin strap that is sewn (if it's WW2) onto the 'bails' of the outer shell, and the thin leather strap that connects to two rivets inside the liner then straps over the front of the outer shell two hold it all in place.

Post a pic of your helmet if you want specific advice.

S

Got ya...I think. Right i'll see what i can do

Also see this: http://www.m-1helmet.com/suspension.html

I've posted this elsewhere but here we are again, take a look at Josh Murray 1944 Inc. here:- http://www.jmurrayinc1944.com/

In comparison to Top Pots I've found the suspension webbing from Josh to be much better, especially the nape strap poppers. Even so both Nick at Top Pots and Josh Murray have great reputations for being very helpful where questions are concerned.