Ord Mantell
Well-Known Hunter
UPDATE 10/5/2023: the following research and information was a big step in the right direction but fell short of the correct conclusion. For the final conclusion as to where all the Fett helmet chin straps came from, go here
Let’s take a stupid deep dive into helmet chin straps…
For at least a decade, the British police riot helmet and the army mk.V anti-riot helmet have been identified as a likely source of the interior helmet chin straps and cup. I’m not even sure where this originated but it always made sense (perhaps with Bobamaker’s post here?). They have the correct chin cup and the army version additionally has the double D-ring. They seemed to be missing some details, namely the snap on the right strap, but I assumed as I think most people, that the snap must have been a modification made by the prop makers.
Earlier this year, I noticed Jojofett95 posted pictures of his chin strap he got from a helmet on ebay. He didn’t give any details on the helmet, so I assumed he got lucky and scored an anti-riot helmet or some other similar helmet. I noticed the snap on his strap was spot on. I’d seen others make modifications to their straps to include the snap before, but his looked far superior to other efforts — too good, in fact. So I asked him what size snap he used, how he measured its placement, etc. I was assuming he had made an expert modification to match the ESB straps. He very kindly sent me more pictures to look at, but it made me more confused. The snap hardware looked vintage. It didn’t seem contemporary or done by a hobbyist. Same for his picture of the extra D-ring at the end of the middle strap that sits at the end of the chin cup.
It all looked period authentic to me. When I asked him about the snap and third D-ring looking vintage, he explained that’s simply how the strap came from the helmet. That was the moment I finally understood he had chanced upon something important not identified before. I can let JojoFett95 tell his story of how he found the helmet, but I can say he got a fantastic deal.
When I asked him what helmet they came from, he explained the helmet was in such bad condition nothing of the interior besides the straps survived. He saw no maker label. Just a bunch of stickers on the outside of the helmet. He let me look at pictures of the helmet and I saw what he meant. There was no obvious maker’s mark. Or at least that’s what we thought. It did have an odd, curious sticker on the front with a British flag, but I was unsure if that was added by the previous owner or what it was. I went into overdrive looking at vintage helmets on google and it didn’t take long for me to realize the flag sticker on the front was in fact the logo of the maker. So then we knew….
JoJoFett had happened upon a helmet made by Everoak, one of the leading makers of racing helmets from the earliest days of the UK helmet manufacturing boom following WWII. JojoFett’s find was a Grand Prix model, a top of the line racing helmet. We know it was a 1977 or later helmet because of the British Standard BS2495:77 sticker on the helmet, a safety standard set in 1977.
The straps on this helmet are a dead ringer for the complicated straps on the ESB interior. They have the double D-rings, the floating strap across the middle which holds the chin cup and has a D-ring attached at one end which hitches to the right strap via a loop closed with a button snap, while threading through the double D-rings on the left.
This is an Everoak Grand Prix of unspecified year (early to mid 1970’s):
The chin cup in the pictures above was added to the ensemble from another source, and it’s rare to find an Everoak with one. However, we know the Everoaks did come with an option to add a chin cup because of this ad found by boba87fett which shows the correct chin cup (“ventilated chin guard”) on an Everoak Clubmaster helmet illustration (though the helmet in the ad is from the 60’s not the 70’s).
Below left is a 60’s Everoak Clubmaster with correct chin guard as in the ad above, but incorrect straps. The black Grand Prix, middle, has the correct straps and chin guard, but with the chin guard on an extra strap. On the far right is an early 70’s Grand Prix with correct straps but slightly different chin guard.
There are many models of Everoaks. Most models prior to 1970 (and also sometime after 1980) have a different style strap rings, either squared, or a funky wavy square design that goes all the way back to the early 1950’s models, none of them are D-rings. At some point between 1962 and 1968 they switched from leather chin straps to terylene (dacron) straps with leather guards. They did not begin using modern D-rings on the straps until either 1969 or 1970 and stayed that style until the 80's. Fortunately, ESB style straps were present in several models through the 1970’s.
Unfortunately, these helmets are rarely dated prior to the mid-80’s making it difficult to date them. Usually the only clue for the date is the shell style, suspension, strap material, and the British Safety Standard designations. The top BSI standard for race helmets used from 1977 to 1984 was ‘BS2495:1977'. Occasionally helmets might also have Snell certification which gives a year for the Snell safety standard the helmet qualified for. (Info on the history of the Snell Memorial Foundation and its safety testing).
What the Snell certification tags look like: Left, a 1968-69 Grand Prix. Middle, a 1970-1974 Grand Prix. Right 1975-1979 sticker in a Bell:
The certifications for non-racing helmet models are different. They simply have the BS:2001 standard and are therefore very tough to date with any precision, as that generic standard covered several decades. This will matter later at the end, where it turns out a non-racing model is the one we’ve been looking for.
Like the other major helmet makers Everoak also made other types of helmets, including equestrian, jockey, scooter, safety and even jet pilot helmets. Some of these could potentially be a source of correct straps, although I haven’t seen any yet. The other big UK helmet makers of the era were Kangol, Cromwell, and Stadium. None have the ESB style chin straps.
This 70’s helmet by Centurion, below, shows a strap with snap, but nothing else matches up. For one, the cut on the end of the strap is angled. The ESB strap is a straight cut.
There is another brand, Aviakit (short for “Aviation kit”), owned by the legendary high-end motor clothier company Lewis Leathers which rebranded Everoak helmets as a value-added reseller under their own label known as the Super Jet. These helmets are even harder to find than Everoaks, probably because they were at the top end of the price range and out of reach of most buyers.
picture limit reached. end post #1 of 3
New Found Part?
Research Project #3: The Probable Source of the ESB Helmet Chin Straps
First, all credit for this find goes to JojoFett95. His eagle eyes spotted what appears to be the correct straps in a trashed and unmarked motorbike helmet he bought off ebay. My involvement was simply to recognize it’s importance and then to identify the maker, research the most likely model, and lay out the following evidence.Let’s take a stupid deep dive into helmet chin straps…
For at least a decade, the British police riot helmet and the army mk.V anti-riot helmet have been identified as a likely source of the interior helmet chin straps and cup. I’m not even sure where this originated but it always made sense (perhaps with Bobamaker’s post here?). They have the correct chin cup and the army version additionally has the double D-ring. They seemed to be missing some details, namely the snap on the right strap, but I assumed as I think most people, that the snap must have been a modification made by the prop makers.
Earlier this year, I noticed Jojofett95 posted pictures of his chin strap he got from a helmet on ebay. He didn’t give any details on the helmet, so I assumed he got lucky and scored an anti-riot helmet or some other similar helmet. I noticed the snap on his strap was spot on. I’d seen others make modifications to their straps to include the snap before, but his looked far superior to other efforts — too good, in fact. So I asked him what size snap he used, how he measured its placement, etc. I was assuming he had made an expert modification to match the ESB straps. He very kindly sent me more pictures to look at, but it made me more confused. The snap hardware looked vintage. It didn’t seem contemporary or done by a hobbyist. Same for his picture of the extra D-ring at the end of the middle strap that sits at the end of the chin cup.
It all looked period authentic to me. When I asked him about the snap and third D-ring looking vintage, he explained that’s simply how the strap came from the helmet. That was the moment I finally understood he had chanced upon something important not identified before. I can let JojoFett95 tell his story of how he found the helmet, but I can say he got a fantastic deal.
When I asked him what helmet they came from, he explained the helmet was in such bad condition nothing of the interior besides the straps survived. He saw no maker label. Just a bunch of stickers on the outside of the helmet. He let me look at pictures of the helmet and I saw what he meant. There was no obvious maker’s mark. Or at least that’s what we thought. It did have an odd, curious sticker on the front with a British flag, but I was unsure if that was added by the previous owner or what it was. I went into overdrive looking at vintage helmets on google and it didn’t take long for me to realize the flag sticker on the front was in fact the logo of the maker. So then we knew….
The Case for the Everoak
JoJoFett had happened upon a helmet made by Everoak, one of the leading makers of racing helmets from the earliest days of the UK helmet manufacturing boom following WWII. JojoFett’s find was a Grand Prix model, a top of the line racing helmet. We know it was a 1977 or later helmet because of the British Standard BS2495:77 sticker on the helmet, a safety standard set in 1977.
The straps on this helmet are a dead ringer for the complicated straps on the ESB interior. They have the double D-rings, the floating strap across the middle which holds the chin cup and has a D-ring attached at one end which hitches to the right strap via a loop closed with a button snap, while threading through the double D-rings on the left.
This is an Everoak Grand Prix of unspecified year (early to mid 1970’s):
The chin cup in the pictures above was added to the ensemble from another source, and it’s rare to find an Everoak with one. However, we know the Everoaks did come with an option to add a chin cup because of this ad found by boba87fett which shows the correct chin cup (“ventilated chin guard”) on an Everoak Clubmaster helmet illustration (though the helmet in the ad is from the 60’s not the 70’s).
Below left is a 60’s Everoak Clubmaster with correct chin guard as in the ad above, but incorrect straps. The black Grand Prix, middle, has the correct straps and chin guard, but with the chin guard on an extra strap. On the far right is an early 70’s Grand Prix with correct straps but slightly different chin guard.
There are many models of Everoaks. Most models prior to 1970 (and also sometime after 1980) have a different style strap rings, either squared, or a funky wavy square design that goes all the way back to the early 1950’s models, none of them are D-rings. At some point between 1962 and 1968 they switched from leather chin straps to terylene (dacron) straps with leather guards. They did not begin using modern D-rings on the straps until either 1969 or 1970 and stayed that style until the 80's. Fortunately, ESB style straps were present in several models through the 1970’s.
Unfortunately, these helmets are rarely dated prior to the mid-80’s making it difficult to date them. Usually the only clue for the date is the shell style, suspension, strap material, and the British Safety Standard designations. The top BSI standard for race helmets used from 1977 to 1984 was ‘BS2495:1977'. Occasionally helmets might also have Snell certification which gives a year for the Snell safety standard the helmet qualified for. (Info on the history of the Snell Memorial Foundation and its safety testing).
What the Snell certification tags look like: Left, a 1968-69 Grand Prix. Middle, a 1970-1974 Grand Prix. Right 1975-1979 sticker in a Bell:
The certifications for non-racing helmet models are different. They simply have the BS:2001 standard and are therefore very tough to date with any precision, as that generic standard covered several decades. This will matter later at the end, where it turns out a non-racing model is the one we’ve been looking for.
Like the other major helmet makers Everoak also made other types of helmets, including equestrian, jockey, scooter, safety and even jet pilot helmets. Some of these could potentially be a source of correct straps, although I haven’t seen any yet. The other big UK helmet makers of the era were Kangol, Cromwell, and Stadium. None have the ESB style chin straps.
This 70’s helmet by Centurion, below, shows a strap with snap, but nothing else matches up. For one, the cut on the end of the strap is angled. The ESB strap is a straight cut.
There is another brand, Aviakit (short for “Aviation kit”), owned by the legendary high-end motor clothier company Lewis Leathers which rebranded Everoak helmets as a value-added reseller under their own label known as the Super Jet. These helmets are even harder to find than Everoaks, probably because they were at the top end of the price range and out of reach of most buyers.
picture limit reached. end post #1 of 3
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