My favorite Steel Pot

[FarmallH]

Is this old Fixed Bale Macord Steel Pot with an early war Firestone Liner. The washers are unpainted. Just thought I'd share.

[John Sukey]

be careful how you move your head when you take it off after a day of wearing one

[Dan Shapiro]

Yeah, I can remember that. 1st couple days of Basic were a $%&# getting used to the weight. And then you'd take it off and almost give yourself whiplash.

[Michaelp]

I've observed that very few folks who collect that stuff ever bothered to serve their own time.

[Ron James]

Just for information, the Kevlar helmet cost the government 300 dollars each. A new improved helmet, which has already been contracted for will cost 600 dollars. However, the new helmet will stop a rifle bullet and under test condition they have been unable to generate enough force to penetrate the helmet with shrapnel.

[androck14]

I've observed that very few folks who collect that stuff ever bothered to serve their own time.

I've observed that most people who collect baseball cards never played in the big leagues, and most people who collect prehistoric arrowheads never bothered to hunt a mastadon with one.

[Michael Tompkins]

I remember once while wearing mine, I was pulling perimeter guard around a heli-pad. A Chinook was due to come in and remove a Nike-Herc warhead from our facility. They told us to make sure our chinstraps were fastened on our steel pots when it comes in. I thought to myself, "There's no way this heavy bast**d is coming off my head." I was wrong. I didn't use my chinstrap and sure enough, it levitated right off my head as he passed over. I put my hand up and caught it just in time to bring it back down.

[usmctop]

The good thing about the old steel pots vs the kevlar is the ability to bath/shave out of the helmet.

[Nick Riviezzo]

And a place to sit in the "outback"!Nick

[BEAR]

Made a great windmeter too. At Ft. Bragg if the DZ saftey officer thought the wind was too high, he would draw a 10 ft. diameter circle in the sand and then holding the steel pot chest high he would drop it in the center of the circle. If the wind blew the falling helmet outside the circle the jump would be called off.
Sometimes they would go ahead and drop the wind dummy just to make certain. As the wind dummy (cherry 2nd Lt.) disappeared over the horizon they would then call off the jump. Good training for the second looey.
BEAR

[androck14]

That's a hell of a breeze to blow a steel helmet five feet laterally while it's falling five feet!

[BEAR]

Yep, not many jumps called off at Ft. Bragg.
Of course that technique couldn't be used with the K-pot because it was sooo much "lighter".
BEAR

[androck14]

O, right. I got it. I catch on pretty quick if you just give me enough time.

[BEAR]

I've observed that very few folks who collect that stuff ever bothered to serve their own time.

I collect helmets because some were mine, some my dad brought back from WWII and the others were cheaper than buying guns.
I think my avatar tells my service, my dad's service and my son's service.
FarmallH that is one good looking fixed bale M1. You make me jealous.
BEAR

[snakehunter]

Made a great windmeter too. At Ft. Bragg if the DZ saftey officer thought the wind was too high, he would draw a 10 ft. diameter circle in the sand and then holding the steel pot chest high he would drop it in the center of the circle. If the wind blew the falling helmet outside the circle the jump would be called off.
Sometimes they would go ahead and drop the wind dummy just to make certain. As the wind dummy (cherry 2nd Lt.) disappeared over the horizon they would then call off the jump. Good training for the second looey.
BEAR

At Ft Campbell the wind on the DZ was _always_ 4-8 knots, regardless.