Original SS Oak "A" Helmet Cover 2nd Pattern

A textbook example of a Waffen-SS 2nd pattern Oakleaf "A" camouflage helmet cover Stahlhelmbezüge in lightly used condition. Visually, a great looking cover in good condition, but with some age related damage, a few small rust stains, and 2 detached springs. I guess you could describe it best as being a tiny bit salty. More details below. The helmet is not included!

I have taken a lot of pictures and I will lay out my thoughts, but if you are considering buying this, you should be able to get what you need from the photos, my ramblings are probably of little value in your decision making process. 

What I can tell you about this cover: The material is 100% original very standard Oak A with good color, although not exactly vibrant. The construction is absolutely typical (within normal variations) and it has all the little details you should look for. The markings on this one were new to me when I first got it, but are found on other known originals that also have provenance. It really is a textbook example. This is both good and just slightly boring, personally, I prefer a few little oddities in my SS camo. The rocker clips again are very typical and match the numerous other examples out there. I believe this was an unissued helmet cover as it has remarkably little wear from use and what I do see just looks like it was stored with several others in a slightly less than ideal climate.

Issues: This helmet cover is a tiny bit faded but not too much. The zelt in the background is a near mint example so you can compare how vibrant this is against that. The cover does actually have better color than most. There are some small rust stains visible in photos and there is one small hole that is about big enough to put a pencil through. Two of the springs have detached, I believe they likely rusted and broke, although they do still feel like they are basically in one piece under the fabric. The damaged springs are the primary reason why this cover isn't $7k+. I also know I am not one of the "big kid" sellers that can get whatever price they ask for their items, so I priced this to be more realistic. If the right person bought this they could probably easily ask an extra $1,500 to $2,000 and get it. It fits a size 64 shell rather tightly. As far as the springs are concerned, you do not notice the springs once its on a helmet. They normally stretch pretty tight anyway and if your intention is to put this on a helmet, it is probably better to use one like this that has already popped some of the springs than to risk stretching one of your minty examples over a helmet.

Here is a link to a very similar cover which also features the same markings which are just a little bit hard to make out on my cover. They appear to say...

"something something something / 44"   

"3"

I have held off on listing these sorts of items as I know how difficult it can be for someone that is not well known for a subject like SS helmet covers (or SS cloth in general) to offer anything original up for sale. If you go ask the collecting community, there is always some "expert" playing devils advocate about basically anything remotely connected with the SS. It can be a heated topic. I am sure there are experts out there that would condemn this cover for one thing or another but there is absolutely nothing unprecedented about this helmet cover, it has so few oddities so as to be a textbook example in my opinion. 

This will ship with insurance and may need to be signed for.