Engineering for engineerings' sake..

There seems to be a pre-determined generalism of the idiosyncrasies of many nations around the world, aided perhaps by history (it is the victors who write history after all) the movie industry and perhaps the exaggerations of the press over the years.
However, if you look, there are little wonderful details that only add to the myths regarding each nation, and add a wry humour to reputations...

Here we have a British 2nd World War paratrooper helmet, note the simple screw on the side to attach the liner and adjust the chin strap...

Here is the German equivalent...

Note the screw in the side....a normal screw? Far from it - for apparently no reason at all it is a special screw, that needs a special tool....beautifully engineered and packaged of course...

 

The bolt in my own Nut and Bolt sculpture is from a German Mauser, I had a choice of that one or one from a .303 Lee Enfield, but somehow the Mauser was more attractively engineered.
So perhaps the myth has some truth, Germans do like to excel at their engineering (clearly contrary to the myth they have a dry sense of humour too, what do you do if you lose the tool?)

I love it so much I've bought a tool (and I don't even own a helmet)....in this modern world of throw away plastic, there is something very comforting about engineering just for the sake of it, let's hope someone somewhere keeps doing it...

Photos courtesy of War Hats