hello,

A collector friend of mine has this potential WWI German snow camo cover.  I know just enough about these to be dangerous to myself.  The collector is in his 70's and has had this for some time.  The verbal back story is that this cover was picked up at a yard sale at a retirement community in Florida in the 1970's or early 1980's.

 

The cover is worn and stained.  It appears to be made of cotton or a canvas type material.  It is made in two separate pieces stitched together joining the front and back portions.

 

On the tope it was stitched is a 'triangle' fold on each side.  The edges were folded over and stitched with the helmet clips.  The leather 'lug holes' are a type of a thick leather.

 

I found online some variant versions that were made slightly different. 

 

In hand it has the feel of being an original period piece.  But I could use the opinions of some better educated WWI gurus out there.  Thank you in advance for any help.  Cheers!

I guess my first question is will it actually fit on a steel helmet and be secured by those rather small appearing hooks?  

 

I don't dislike the cover as it appears well made and old but I am not a helmet guy.

 

Hopefully others will chime in.

 

 

thank you for the input.  I currently lack a WWI German helmet (I had a nice one 15 years ago) in my collection otherwise I would have fitted it. I should have specified that. My apologies.  But again, thanks for the input.  I lean towards it being good.  It does show quality, age, and wear.  Anyone else please feel free to add. thank you. cheers!

I have never seen one, but there is a possibility they were used on the Eastern front.  There were covers made, but I have only seen grays & browns.   It could be a total fantasy piece.

Any real ww1 helmet cover is exceedingly rare and difficult to locate. My understanding is that they rotted and fell off. I have never seen a real GERMAN cover. I have held a real AUSTRIAN one and seen photos of 2 more. For what it is worth, this does not match the AUSTRIAN manufacture in any form. The Baer (?) book shows black and white photos of a white cover that has unassailable provenance. This does not match that form.