M35 Net Sand Camo Helmet

Product Description: This M35 Net Sand Camo Helmet is a top-shelf combat helmet, with fantastic camouflage. It’s a prewar helmet that was likely depot reissued in WWII, then further enhanced by the wearer. The factory paint has been covered with a heavily textured field gray camouflage paint, with a gritty, sand camo surface. The paint shows typical oxidation and expected patina. The exterior of the helmet has been further camouflaged with natural twine netting, which has been affixed to the interior of the helmet by wrapping it around the liner band. The netting appears to be complete and shows nice age and soiling, with no indication to suggest it has ever been off the helmet. Inside, this M35 Net Sand Camo is complete with its original liner. It’s a wartime liner, with a steel band. One of the chin strap bales is missing. The liner shows age as well as wear from daily use, with slight darkening and some flaking around the lower edge. The draw string is intact. The inside of the skirt is marked with the size and maker stamp “ET62.” Helmets like this keep getting harder to find. This could be a collection highlight. The condition of this rare and extremely desirable helmet is excellent plus.

Historical Description: The helmets used by WWII German soldiers were issued with a variety of solid paint colors applied at the factory. Different units deployed to combat zones had different methods to break up the iconic German helmet silhouette, for camouflage purposes. Some units issued fabric covers or camouflage nets. In other units, helmets were painted with camouflage colors. Among the most widely utilized camouflage paint finishes were solid tan for desert environments, solid white for winter use, and the tri-color camouflage scheme known to collectors as “Normandy” pattern camouflage. This camouflage style was certainly used in Normandy, famously by Fallschirmjäger-Regiment 6, and also by many other units. But it was also used by various units in all the occupied countries along the German-fortified “Atlantic Wall.” The Normandy camouflage scheme is characterized by the use of red, green, and tan/brown/yellow paint. In some cases, the entire helmet would be over sprayed with the tan base color, and then areas would be further over sprayed with the red and green. Other helmet painters chose to simply spray areas with the various colors. These paints were, generally speaking, the same pigments supplied to units for the purposes of camouflaging vehicles. The paint was usually applied in unit workshops, using industrial type spray guns, rather than by the soldiers themselves. Every painter had his own style, and there were probably infinite variations in the way the helmets were camouflaged. Normandy camouflaged helmets were regarded by enemy GI soldiers as attractive souvenirs, and they remain very desirable collectibles today.

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