Hi all - Absolutely no luck trying to ID these bands... I am beginning to think they were made for the film...

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A02/TQ2.0.52141E1

"Errr... Roger that's a 2-1-6..."

It maaaay exist. This image has one that looks the part. It doesnt look any larger than a modern one, however. It does have the ribs, but doesn't appear to be any bigger/wider than regular one.





Then there is this curious case. This is CLEARLY labeled as a "replica" helmet. It is NOT vintage in any way. The headband is damn close. The WRONG COLOR! But every other aspect is similar. One would assume the band is a replica of something that existed as well.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Collectable ... 58c3e00ff3

(posting of this link is within the forum rules as it is a "buy it now" auction with multiple items available).


So might be a world war 2 helmet band. If so...I would imagine time has not been kind to cotton fibers and even if we found one, it may not survive any actual use.

Hmm, that looks good!

Cheers,
Stefan

I used a old british helmet cover. I removed the elastic bands that it made about three USCM after it was removed.

here is an example. Note this is a Gulf War version but you get the idea.

https://www.varusteleka.com/pictures/1508.jpg

Here is my helmet using the banding off the cover.

https://www.yourprops.com/USCM-helmet-r ... P8027.html


Steve

I wanted to go back to this cos now I have looked at the screen used ones closer I was unhappy with mine! The one chef found on ebay is the one we have been using over here for a while, and is the one on my helmet in the avatar, it's passable but way too wide, After reading Stephen's post I got to thinking and I was at a militaria fair so I picked up a couple of Brit army desert covers, this is what I came up with. It's about the right width, right colour, and has the linear weave to it, it's slightly thin but I can live with that. good call dude!

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Pt. Graham "gunny" Green
A07/TQ2.0.12129E1
UKCM 501st Regt. 1st Batt. The Bucketheads

Nice, did you just unstitch the elastic ... erm lattice thingie from a MK6 helmet cover (or is it from a different part of the cover)?

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Cpl Aron "septic" Williams
A10/TQ0.0.82146E1

just unstiched the lattice and then shortened the longest one of the bits by about an inch or so and sewed it together, there is enough other parts to join together and make at least one more band

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Pt. Graham "gunny" Green
A07/TQ2.0.12129E1
UKCM 501st Regt. 1st Batt. The Bucketheads

The british army desert helm covers work also well for me.
I notice that Size "Small" fits well for both Spat and Rob's helmets.
Thanks.

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Sgt. Frank Peters 'reload' Smartgun Operator
A03/TQ3.0.12136E1 "It will be no picknick!"
AL Colonial Admin. - Sergeant at Arms (SgtA) -- 2020-2022
GERCM - Executive Officer (XO)
UKCM Foreign Legion: The Deviant Dragoons

Good catch. Saved to watch list. ha

Was there ever a dead on match found?

Also just noticed that the helmet camera close up shows the band details well-

No... I'm wondering if they were made for the film or a batch of non US / UK bands were used... But to my knowledge they've not been exactly matched...

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A02/TQ2.0.52141E1

"Errr... Roger that's a 2-1-6..."

Indeed. Lots of "close" but nothing 100% ID match.

I've decided to address this issue myself by going Apone/Ski style. (no band at all!)

Are we even sure they were actually helmet bands and not some other kind of strapping/fabric?

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AKA: Simon

Not that this helps much, but I just finished reorganizing all of my USCM gear and had forgotten that I had a handful of these:



I had picked these up at a military surplus store somewhere out-of-state while on vacation. They had M1 helmets as well, dating from the late 1970's to the mid 1980's. It was all from the same acquisition lot as I remember being told, so it's fair to say the helmet bands ranged from those years as well. All of which had the cats eyes sewn in back.

Although not khaki in color, I did happen to find one in the lot that appeared to have a similar ribbed pattern (9/16" or 14mm wide) as the one we are trying to identify, along with a 1979-dated M1 helmet & shin strap (3/4" or 18mm wide):



Same shot but without the flash:



The elastic band is definitely too narrow, and has too many ribs -- but aside from color, the chin strap appears to be dead-on. It even has the exact same number of stitched ribs.

Just more food for thought.

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Rick "Ripstick"
A03/TQ3.0.12142E1

1979 M1 chin strap size and pattern compared with screen-used elastic band:



Again, aside from not being khaki in color or elastic, the width and ribbing pattern is like a 95% visual match.

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Rick "Ripstick"
A03/TQ3.0.12142E1

Well, here's mine...

This is some straight elastic.



Needs a little bit of ageing, but I don't think it's all that far off. Maybe a bit wide, and too many ribs, but I'm happy enough.

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You don't have to be pitilessly sadistic to work here.... But it helps.
http://www.chefs-creations.co.uk/shop/index.php/colonial-marine

http://www.kgbairsoft.com/wordpress

After all these years did we get any further with this? Has anyone found any ground breaking stuff to identify the bands?

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A02/TQ2.0.52141E1

"Errr... Roger that's a 2-1-6..."

This recent Prop Store photo of Frost's helmet shows the band clearly.

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Lt. Melissa L. Klassen, ALG
AL Colonial Admin. - Executive Officer (XO) -- 2021-2022
RCCM | Royal Canadian Colonial Marines - Commanding Officer (CO) -- 2021-2022

Read the AL Charter Rules & Regulations: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1i3gd9QUyIqI_6rfk8kpxspbKU-JT4MBAjLPxfCkvGJ8

Thanks Moosh that is a nice image... I wonder why they put the band under the cover?

Also have you noticed... it looks like the ITEX has been sprayed green when the helmet chin strap was laid over part of it... you can see the grey colour underneath...

Has the FROST helmet been sold? Pity it didn’t have a BEYERDYNAMIC in there...

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A02/TQ2.0.52141E1

"Errr... Roger that's a 2-1-6..."

I actually had a different take on that. I agree it could be the helmet band material, but I thought it looked like they sewed up the elastic on the gap for the ear defender with the same elastic to keep it tight. I believe they just have it on the outside where it should be tucked in behind the defender. The ear defender probably came off at some point and they forgot to re-tuck it behind prior to re-installation of the ear defender.

That was my assumption anyways. If true, it could be an indication that the helmet band material was elastic off a roll, and not a found item at all (unless you consider the original roll of material, of course)

Vasquez has a very similar band around her arms (biceps), but I haven't confirmed if it is the same material or not.

Edit: Looks very close in size and knit, but different colour, more of a bone/ivory colour. But perhaps if it is the same elastic, the helmet bands could have been distressed/aged. Some do appear darker/dirtier between helmets.

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Lt. Melissa L. Klassen, ALG
AL Colonial Admin. - Executive Officer (XO) -- 2021-2022
RCCM | Royal Canadian Colonial Marines - Commanding Officer (CO) -- 2021-2022

Read the AL Charter Rules & Regulations: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1i3gd9QUyIqI_6rfk8kpxspbKU-JT4MBAjLPxfCkvGJ8

I believe that might in fact be an intentional continuation of the camo.

In Australia, I did a batch of bands made from nude braided 12mm elastic. Some batches are a bit darker but you can soak them in tea and add some weathering to darken.

https://www.spotlightstores.com/sewing- ... 41196-nude

I have this decent reference photo.

Were they not just regular Scrim Bands?

I've got one of these for my helmet, I just removed the reflective tags by unpicking the stitching....

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/283736134145 ... 420ffdd201