Hat & Headwear Definitions — hats, caps, helmets and headwear terms from Apparel Search
The M1 steel helmet was used by the United States military for over 40 years. It was introduced officially during the Second World War in 1941 to replace the M1917A Brodie or doughboy helmet, saw little action until 1942, and was phased out during the 1980s in favour of the PASGT Kevlar helmet. The M1 is made from two separate parts, the steel pot shell and the liner that fits inside it.
The M1 is made from two separate parts, the "steel pot" and the liner. The "steel pot" or shell is the metal outer part of the helmet. The liner fits inside the shell. The liner contains the suspension that ensures the helmet fits comfortably to the wearer's head. Worn alone, the liner can look very much like a full helmet. The liner is much lighter in weight and more flimsy than the outer shell. During the service life of the M1 helmet, the steel pot changed in size and the liner was constantly evolving.
The design of the M1 led to some novel uses. When the pot was separated from the liner it became a useful cooking pot, washbasin, bucket, shovel, seat and even a latrine.
The M1 helmet is extremely popular with collectors, particularly WWII collectors, and helmets from this period are generally more valuable. Vast quantities of M1 helmets (approximately 22 million) were produced during the war though they are getting harder to find. Helmets with rare or unusual markings or some kind of documented history tend to be more expensive. This is particularly true of paratroopers' helmets, whose modified jump helmets are known as the M1C and M2 Helmet.
elements of the suspension system are riveted inside it. The suspension is made from strips of webbing material stretching around and across the inside of the liner. A sweatband is mounted onto these, which is adjusted to fit around the head of the wearer. Liners also have their own chinstrap made from brown leather. The liner chinstrap is snapped or rivetted directly to the inside of the liner and does not have bales like the shell chinstrap. The liner chinstrap is usually seen looped over the brim of the shell and helps to keep the shell in place when its own chinstraps aren't in use. The first liners were made from compressed paper fibers. These proved much too fragile in combat and were replaced by plastic liners. During the same period the original silver Rayon suspension material was phased out in favour of khaki cotton. After WWII the cotton was changed from khaki or Olive Drab #3 to green known as Olive Drab #7. Much later, liners switched to using stronger synthetic webbing and had improved neck support.
Some soldiers, specifically those taking part in an invasion, wore a helmet net, or a cover, stretched over the helmet. The net was usually khaki or olive drab in appearance, and was made of cotton. The infantry typically used 1/2 inch (13 mm) spaced netting, while the airborne forces typically wore 2 inch (51 mm) spaced netting, although, of course, this was not the rule, and different soldiers used different types. The net has some practical usages. When it is put on the helmet, it effectively reduces the glare and/or reflection that the helmet would give in broad daylight. As well, the net can be used by soldiers to attach small foliage onto the helmet, thus giving them some degree of camouflage when fighting in a forested area. The net had a tendency to wear through on the top, from being placed upon the ground, top down. Some sources say that this was the mark of an experienced soldier, but this comment is not to be taken as fact.
In the latter years of the war, the United States Marine Corps used a camouflage-patterned cover for their helmets. The cover was made from Herringbone Twill fabric. It had a "forest green" pattern on one side and a "brown coral island" pattern on the other. The United States Army performed unsuccessful field tests in the European Theatre of Operations where the camouflaged cover proved confusingly similar to the helmet colors of the Waffen-SS.
| The above article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/m1_helmet 6/12/05 |
|
The M1 is made from two separate parts, and understanding them explains almost everything about the helmet. The steel pot, or shell, is the metal outer part, the bulk of it constructed from a single piece of pressed steel. Around its rim edge runs a crimped metal band, usually known as the rim, providing a clean edge, with a seam where the ends of the strip meet: on the earliest shells the seam meets at the front, and this was moved to the back in 1944. On each side are rectangular metal chinstrap loops known as bales, originally fixed and unable to move, replaced in 1943 by hinged or swivel bales when the fixed bales were found to break off easily. Chinstraps were attached to the bales by a variety of methods, beginning in the Second World War with a simple sewn-on strap and later using metal clips, and soldiers often looped the webbing straps around the back of the helmet and clipped them together rather than wearing them under the chin.
Inside the shell fits the liner, much lighter and more flimsy than the outer shell, yet complete in itself: worn alone, the liner can look very much like a full helmet. The liner contains the suspension that ensures the helmet fits comfortably to the wearer's head, made from strips of webbing stretching around and across the inside, with a sweatband mounted onto them and adjusted to fit. Liners also have their own chinstrap made from brown leather, snapped or rivetted directly inside the liner, usually seen looped over the brim of the shell. Materials evolved steadily: the first liners were made from compressed paper fibres, proved much too fragile in combat and were replaced by plastic liners; silver rayon suspension gave way to khaki cotton, then after the war to Olive Drab No. 7 green, and much later to stronger synthetic webbing with improved neck support. During its service life the steel pot changed in size and the liner was constantly evolving, so an M1 is best identified as a system of shell and liner together, not as a single unchanging object.
The M1 was introduced officially during the Second World War in 1941 to replace the M1917A Brodie or doughboy helmet, but saw little action until 1942. It was used by the United States military for over 40 years and was phased out during the 1980s, in 1988, in favour of the PASGT Kevlar helmet. During that long service it became one of the most iconic symbols of the American soldier. Vast quantities were produced during the war, approximately 22 million, though they are getting harder to find. Soldiers added nets or covers over the shell: a cotton net, usually khaki or olive drab, reduced glare and reflection in daylight and could hold foliage for camouflage, with infantry typically using half-inch spaced netting and airborne forces typically two-inch spaced netting, while in the latter war years the Marine Corps used a reversible camouflage cover in herringbone twill, forest green pattern on one side and brown coral island pattern on the other.
When the pot was separated from the liner it became a useful cooking pot, washbasin, bucket, shovel, seat and even a latrine, uses possible only because the shell is a single strong piece of pressed steel. Today the M1 is extremely popular with collectors, particularly Second World War collectors, and helmets from this period are generally more valuable. Examples with rare or unusual markings or documented history tend to be more expensive, particularly paratroopers' helmets, whose modified jump helmets are known as the M1C and M2. Rim seam position, fixed or swivel bales, liner material and suspension colour, and any net, cover or markings date and place an individual helmet within the M1's forty-year story.
The M1 is made from two separate parts: the steel pot, the metal outer shell, and the liner, which fits inside the shell. The liner contains the suspension that ensures the helmet fits comfortably to the wearer's head.
Vast quantities were produced during the war, approximately 22 million. Helmets from the Second World War period are generally more valuable to collectors, especially paratroopers' M1C and M2 helmets.
When the steel pot was separated from the liner it became a useful cooking pot, washbasin, bucket, shovel, seat and even a latrine. The two-part design made those improvised uses possible.