Original U.S. Vietnam War Era M1 Helmet with 1969 Mitchell Camouflage Cover Worn Brown-Side-Out, Elastic Band & Postwar Liner
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Original Item: Only One Available. This is a very interesting original U.S. Vietnam War-era M1 steel helmet fitted with a contract-dated 1969 reversible Mitchell-pattern camouflage cover, unusually worn with its brown “cloud” side facing outward. An elastic camouflage band remains fitted around the helmet and retains several small field-type personal items, while the interior is completed with a later post-Vietnam M1 helmet liner.
The M1 helmet remained the standard American combat helmet throughout the Vietnam War and continued in U.S. service into the 1980s before being replaced on a large scale by the Personnel Armor System for Ground Troops, or PASGT, helmet system.
Vietnam War era M-1 helmet shells have a set of swivel (movable) chinstrap loops called bales and a manganese steel rim. These rims had non-magnetic qualities that reduced the chance of error readings when placed around certain sensitive equipment (such as a compass). In WWII the shells had Stainless Steel rims, however these would easily lose paint, and the shine produced without paint was a liability.
This helmet is a fine Vietnam War issued example and still retains most of its original period parts, and the shell has the original Green finish. It is equipped with a standard Reversible Camouflage cover, which is contract-dated 1969 and is actually turned over to the brown-colored winter side, very rare to see as the vast majority of Vietnam War soldiers used the green side. It is held in place by the elastic band that retains the cover, along with a matchbook and two small rolls of toilet paper(?). The helmet, cover, shell, and liner are all correct for a Vietnam war helmet.
The helmet comes complete with a high pressure 1980s period liner which retains its suspension and sweatband. The liner does not have a frontal eyelet, indicating that it is a post Korean war manufacture. A new suspension system for the M1 Helmet Liner was introduced in 1964, with this one being in good service-worn condition. The nape strap is not retained, and the liner was likely added after the Vietnam War.
This example is therefore best understood as a mixed-period M1 assembly centered around a Vietnam War-era shell and a firmly dated 1969 Mitchell camouflage cover, subsequently fitted with a later liner.
The combination of the surviving green shell finish, 1969 contract-dated reversible Mitchell cover worn unusually brown-side-out, elastic camouflage band with associated personal items, and later service-type liner gives the helmet a particularly interesting layered appearance. The post-Vietnam liner should not be mistaken for an original component of the wartime configuration, but its presence illustrates the long working life of the M1 helmet and the frequent interchange of components over decades of American military service.
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