Here is another recent helmet that I acquired for my collection. It is a Swiss Army Model 71 (M71, 1971) steel helmet. This helmet completes my Swiss combat gear from the 1970's and 1980's.
In typical Swiss fashion, these helmets are built to an incredibly high standard..... heavy leather, super-heavy stitching, solid steel hardware and perfect fitting of parts and components. There is even a break-away junction fitting on the chin strap!
These helmets replaced the earlier M18, WW1 styled helmets. They are officially designated as Model 71, but were not standard issue in the Swiss Army until 1975. In 1990, a new version of the helmet came out with a hanger ring on the rear rim of the helmet shell. These helmets are designated Model 71/90 (M71/90). Many of the older M71 helmets were retrofitted at this time. The very first M71 helmets were issued in black paint, but the color was quickly changed to green. A white version of the helmet was produced for medics and a blue version for use with the United Nations detachments. The standard helmet cover for this model helmet was the distinctive Alpenflage pattern, and later the green version of camo in the 1990's. There was also a white version for winter snow camo. The Swiss Military Police had a large "P" on white, panted on the the front of the helmet and also had a unique helmet cover that was similarly marked. There were two shell sizes produced, with 5 known liner sizes: 53-54, 55-56, 57-58, 59-61, 62-63. My liner is marked as a 59-61, and uses the large sized shell. For a great bit of history and information on these helmets, you should check out this forum thread over a the The Swiss Rifles Message Board .
I have quite a few blog pages about the various Swiss Alpenflage uniforms, field gear and helmets, and even a few movies of the troops at work. Instead of listing links to all of the pages, just type in "Swiss" into the blog search bar in the upper left of the page and you will get all of the blog pages about this great gear. There are a number of pages, so be sure to hit "Next Posts" to see them all!
The helmet shell on my helmet is marked, "BT78", which indicates that the shell was manufactured by Bronzewarenfabrik Turgi, in 1978. The liner is marked on the reverse side of one of the leather pads, with "H.R.P.T. 78", indicating that it was manufactured in 1978 (unknown manufacturer). There is an original soldier ID tag tied onto the liner with the soldier's name. I can't quite make out the spelling, but the first initials are L & M. These initials are also written on one of the leather pads with ball-point pen ink.
There is one very unique feature that I have not seen on any other military helmet. One of the "Y" connector fittings on the chinstrap, is made to break away when pulled. You will notice that there is a pin-gate that snaps in place to close the fitting......... very interesting and cool!
I have fitted this helmet with an original Alpenflage helmet cover. It is held on with rim clips and is adjusted with a rear drawstring.
And now here is the photo album of my Swiss M71 helmet and Alpenflage helmet cover:
To finish things up, here are a few photos of these M71 helmets in use. The last photo shows the late model green camo:
In my quest to bring my tactical gear "up to date", I decided that I had to pick up a PASGT Kevlar helmet. I surfed the backwaters of eBay and located an overlooked and under-priced helmet that I ended up buying for a VERY affordable price.
The helmet looked a bit rough in the listing photos, but when it arrived, it turned out to be in great shape, but needed a new paint job. The exterior of the helmet had been painted in standard "SWAT - Police" black, and was quite worn. I pulled out my trusty can of Rust-Oleum Camouflage paint, in Ultra-Flat, Olive-Drab Green. Two coats later and the new helmet was good to go! I highly recommend Rust-Oleum brand camo spray paints. It covers well, sticks to everything including plastic, and after it cures, it wears like iron......... and it's "Ultra-Flat" and non-reflective. Great Paint!
This particular helmet is a size Medium and was manufactured in 1985 by the Devil's Lake Sioux Company. The date, size and makers mark are all molded into the inside helmet surface. The date is indicated as an 85 in a circle and the manufacturer's mark is a circle with a lightning bolt and horse inside. The size is indicated as M-4 (the 4 indicates the fourth run off of the mold). The number 8478 is hand inked in four places in the interior. This may be the last four digits of the prior owners Social Security Number (Used as the soldier's "Serial Number" in the US Military). You will also notice a large "+" symbol molded in. This is an alignment mark for the mold.
Sioux Manufacturing Corporation
One particularly interesting thing about this helmet is that it was manufactured by a Native American Tribe! The Devil's Lake Sioux company is owned and operated by the Spirit Lake Sioux Tribe of North Dakota.
It is more than a little ironic that a Sioux Tribe should make military gear for the US Army after all of the atrocities and war that were waged against the Sioux people by the same US Army, 100 years earlier.........
The Devil's Lake Sioux Manufacturing Corporation opened its doors for production in 1974 and they continue to this day, manufacturing Kevlar fabric and ballistic armor for the US Military and numerous other countries.
The PASGT helmets were first mass produced in 1983. They were used as the standard US Military issue helmets up until about 2004. I believe they are still used on board US Navy ships and they are widely used by US Police and various law enforcement agencies, as well as numerous armies around the world. The initials PASGT are pronounced as "Pass-Get" and mean: Personnel Armor System for Ground Troops .
The helmets are manufactured by a number of different companies, with the majority being made by Devil's Lake Sioux and Unicor. They are often referred to as "K-Pots", "Fritz Helmets" or as "Kevlar Helmets".
The different manufacturers can be identified by their maker's marks inside the PASGT helmets:
Unicor: Cluster of blocks that form an abstract "elephant".
Devil's Lake Sioux: Circle with lightning bolt and horse inside.
Specialty Plastic Products: SPP
Gentex Corps: GENTEX
Gibraltar Industries: Sometimes use the GENTEX mark.
Stemaco: STEMACO
Let's take a closer look at this helmet:
Here are a few photos of these PASGT helmets in use:
