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The leather wedges that hold the wappen on seem to have been from leftovers that was used to make ammo belt pouches. The back of the wappen is in magnificent condition. A good amount of shine with little to no tarnish!

The underside of the pickelhaube, like on the outside, is in fantastic shape. Sometimes on the liner of these particular felt models, you’ll find the name J.Bambus & Co, with its unique star shape stitching that ties the liner ends together. This one was much harder to make out, but thanks to...

Coming on the heels of my last ersatz post, here my recent addition from AoK. It’s a rolled edge felt model, in amazing condition. Rolled edges tend to be very sturdy due to the sown edge around the circumference. The design negates the need for a brass visor trim or rear spines.

Thank you for those answers!

Hey guys. First off, big thank you to AOK and responding to my questions about shipping. I had to hold my breath a bit, but it finally arrived yesterday. I’ll definitely post this in my ersatz thread soon. So onto the topic at hand. This rolled edge thread has a very unique makers mark in the...

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There is a show in Leavenworth that goes on around November. Mostly general militaria though, but you’d find a few imperial items here and there.

Thank you! Sorry this one got away from you, but I just couldn’t let this slip away.

One final note on this unique piece is a crease in the felt that runs from the front to back along the wearer’s right side. It seems the felt didn’t set quite perfectly on the wiring but as this wouldn’t have been noticeable, was left as is. Most likely crafted by people that weren’t use to...

There does seem to be signs that this pickelhaube was tampered with by a previous owner. There’s no support plate for the spike base and one of the brass pins is missing from the base. Also, there is a string or cord that’s in one of the retaining loops for the wappen. The cord has stiffened...

Some up close shots of the chinstrap. It looks nearly identical to the example in Feldzug. The strap itself is still very flexible and strong even after over 100 years. It doesn’t seem to be made of leather and could be made of another felt like material. Like in the book, this chinstrap is also...

The leather trim has unfortunately rotted away pretty good, but you can see a great look of the metal wiring poking through

Some up close shots of the wire mesh lining. The covering is black felt, where due to a combination of how thin the felt is and wear from age, you can see the cross hatching pattern

When I saw the inside of the pickelhaube, I noticed the cross hatching pattern and realized that this was a “wire ersatz” variant! I have only seen one example of this in the book Feldzug 1914

Back here again with one I’d never thought I find. At first glance, this appears to be a regular M95, but like a previous ersatz example, this one has the visors and cap made into one piece. In addition, there’s also a leather trim that lines the bottom of the pickelhaube from where the front...

Made my first big purchase from AoK today (not the Bavarian General’s one). Can’t wait for it to arrive

A really nice been there helmet! Thank you for sharing and looking forward to the next helmets

It’s also very interesting to note the segmented cloth one has a very similar ersatz chinstrap compared to mine.

So jealous of you! Fantastic collection of ersatz pickelhauben!!

Hi Josh. Any GBN (aka Bing brothers) are known as the duck bill helmets by collectors due to the gentle angle of the brim to the skirt that results in the bill looking very large and flat. This was a manufacturing preference by them. They only made them in size 64