Condition: Excellent
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Product Description: This Helmet Chin Strap Aluminum is a use, all-original prewar example. It is complete, full length, with all 13 holes still present. The leather surface shows age and wear, with some surface flaking on the smooth inner side. There is no discernible manufacture date or marking. This early helmet chin strap aluminum is complete with its original, early type buckle, as well as both aluminum studs that would allow it to be affixed to the bales of a helmet liner. The buckle is functional, with some built up patination. These early chin straps with aluminum hardware are harder to find loose, than wartime examples. This one would be ideal for completing a worn M35 steel helmet. It’s complete and sound, very displayable on a helmet, and is in excellent condition overall.
Historical Description: The German military introduced a new pattern of helmet liner in 1931 and with it, a new pattern of chin strap. The earliest chin straps used a roller buckle. By the mid-1930s, a new and simplified buckle was in use. These buckles, which were being installed on German chinstraps at the outbreak of WWII, were made of aluminum, and featured a stamped rectangular body and single prong. In 1940, production of aluminum helmet chin strap buckles ceased, and buckles began to be made of steel. The steel buckles were coated with gray or field gray paint, to prevent rust. Originally, many chin straps were unmarked. Starting in 1937, all manufacturers were required to mark their chin straps to ensure quality. Originally, these were commercial type manufacture markings and dates. Late in 1942, the Germans introduced a numeric code for factories, to conceal the locations where equipment was being produced. This “RB number” code system remained in use until the end of the war. The chin strap used on WWII German military helmets was removable, held in place by two studs that affixed the strap to two bales on the helmet liner. There was no hard and fast rule about what chin strap variation would be used with what helmet. Early helmets that were reissued during the war could be found with late chin straps. Decades after the war, many original helmets are found missing the chin straps; the loose straps, when they can be found, are desirable replacement parts.
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