Kelly Hicks grew up in central Ohio, during a time when the WWII veterans were in their late 30s, and all of the sons played “Army” with real US and German helmets and gear. Kelly purchased his first German helmet in 1964, and by 1967 had over 20 of them, including an early spanner FJ from the local antique shop (cost $8.00). In the ensuing 50 years, including a 21-year career as a Special Forces Officer, Kelly has collected WWII artifacts and has written five original works and many contributions toward other books regarding the collecting of helmets of the German Wehrmacht and SS. Kelly’s most notable contribution to the study of helmets was his being the first to officially identify the SS decal patterns and which helmet maker they corresponded with, in the book “SS-Steel” (2004)  from Bender Publishing. From this code-breaking ensued a host of analysis and writings by other collectors to firm up the correlations across the vast variety of Heer, Luft, KM and other emblems, makers and origins.    His offerings in these pages include the sharing of important information regarding SS and other helmets, especially providing in-depth knowledge of the characteristics of original helmets and what to look for in the latest fakes. Armed with the right information, especially in today’s collector market, collectors can make quality decisions about what they purchase, at the same time protect themselves from becoming victims of fraud.

“SS STEEL, LLC.” Offers collectors the opportunity to protect the value of their helmet collections or individual pieces through an array of authentication services. These services are addressed on the “Authentications” page.