WW2 British Para Helmet MkII

[Pilgrim]

[B]Accessory/Make:IMA (International Military Antiques US)
[B]Condition:New, Reproduction
Size: Medium (one size)
[B]Splits/Swaps/Part Exchange:N/A
[B]Price/Payment: £109.77 (£47.98+£36.79 shipping+£25 customs)
[B]Pictures:
Hi folks
just a quick review of the para helmet I bought from IMA in the US. http://www.ima-usa.com/british-wwii-...er-helmet.html
Just got it in after paying a £25 customs fee. Got it out the box and tbh a bit of a disappointment...
The build quality is pretty bad although I think they were using a postwar model as the template http://www.ima-usa.com/british-wwii-...er-helmet.html which looks a bit shonky too so maybe they were going for accuracy rather than quality. The inside padding is terrible but again, kind of reflects the original. The leather was folded over on the inside so i just flipped it over and glued it down. The loops on the inside of the helmet to stop your skull impacting on the inside werent connected so I put a bit of twine through them.
The other thing is they mounted the chin straps immediately above and in front of the wearers temples, which means your field of view is restricted to a certain extent. I'm going to be drilling new mounting holes and packing the hole with metal putty. The paint is the wrong colour and kind of stands out when your trying to hide in the undergrowth even with scrimming so its getting a bit of a respray anyway.
Anyway, definitely not worth the money or effort. Steer away!
Regards
Pilgrim

[Terry Mcann]

Re: WW2 British Para Helmet MkII

When I saw the pics on their website I thought it looked TERRIBLE so was dreading to see pics of the actual helmet and while its pretty bad,was expecting worse. The main issue seems to be the liner and padding etc,no idea whats going on with the leather sweatband as it looks inside out?. As for the position of the chinstrap hangers,without digging out my original dont do anything drastic as pretty sure they are in the correct place,its the guys who have the converted RAC shells that have the hangers in the wrong place(if all they have done is drilled out and used the original RAC chinstrap holes).

My initial thoughts were that they used post war Belgian helmets that maybe had trashed liners and while the chinstrap is the wrong colour it isnt a Belgian one as they are made of narrower webbing.

Scrimmed up it doesnt look that bad,just need to do something with the terrible liner.

Regarding repro Airborne helmets,have heard a lot of bad press about the repro SOF ones but like this one(until now) have only seen the pics on their website and it doesnt look that bad in all honesty and a safer bet than one of these so if anybody owns one,any chance please they could post a review as Ewan has done as sure a lot of people would find it useful.

[Gadge Europa]

Re: WW2 British Para Helmet MkII

Equally that is a MKIII helmet not a II.

Web chin straps came in (in quantity) around the Arnhem drop.

- - - Updated - - -

Easiest way to make a serviceable MKII (you can battle in it, you cant jump in it) and WITHOUT wrecking an RAC lid is to get an RAC shell,put a repro liner in and attach new repro leather chinstraps to the liner itself.

Few of us in PBI did this, unless you take the helmet off and look inside it's near impossible to tell. I've took part in some very 'high standard' living history events with mine and no one has ever noticed.

[diggerrigby]

Re: WW2 British Para Helmet MkII

Hi all, I'm in a ww2 reenactment group and all of my group use helmets made by Pegasus Militaria. Here's a link http://www.pegasusmilitaria.com/products.html - hope this helps!

[YOZZER]

Re: WW2 British Para Helmet MkII

Agree with diggerrigby, pegasus militaria every time and the only ones as far I know that re-enactment groups allow you to jump with in Holland.

[Gadge Europa]

Re: WW2 British Para Helmet MkII

Having looked at the original site, i have to say i'm suspicious of any militaria dealer under the impression that Switzerland were in the Warsaw Pact!

[Gaffa]

Re: WW2 British Para Helmet MkII

Think some of us forgot the forum rules re: retailers.

Thread closed. Be fortunate it's not simply deleted. You can create a new one if you wish, but omit all hints and links to any retailer other than ZeroOne.