So, TAKE FIVE!
Gary asks,
"Big Red, I am a young collector and want to start collecting M-1 helmets. I have been looking at listings on the computer and sellers keep referring to liners with “Rayon” or “HBT” but I don’t understand what that is?"
No problemo Gary,
“Rayon” and “HBT” are collector terms used to describe the type of fabric used to make the suspension system inside a liner. You can see what a suspension systems looks like before they have been installed in a liner shell on Josh's website, he refers to them as “Web Kits”.
Rayon is a fabric made from wood pulp that was used to imitate other types of fabrics in clothing manufacture as early as the 1920s. White Rayon webbing was the material of choice for the manufacture of suspension systems for the earliest manufactured helmet liners.
HBT is an acronym for HerringBone Twill, which is a fabric with a distinctive V-shaped pattern to its weave. Cotton HBT dyed to olive drab shade No. 3 is the fabric that replaced Rayon around June of 1942. Initially the new cotton webbing was only made from single HBT and later from triple HBT, the single and triple being a reference to the number of V-shaped patterns present in the weave of the fabric.
Collectors Note:
From time to time you will find HBT in a liner that is of a more open weave. This HBT is more commonly found as the fabric sling in the construction of bandoleers, which has lead to the collector-myth that a liner with this HBT is a re-work or fake. Don't worry though it is 100% legit and truth be told, some bandoleers ended up with liner fabric as a sling!
Big Red Says!
FIVE'S OVER - MOVE OUT!
Leave a comment