Iraqi m80 - battle-scarred and personalized

[Perspectivist]

I just received this helmet as a gift and am pretty excited to finally have an Iraqi helmet with markings on it. I was wondering if anyone knows what they might mean. In addition to the painted white lettering, there is Arabic text carved into it.

This helmet has definitely seen a LOT of use. The edges are rounded exposing the layers of composite material, and the paint is faded on the inside exposing it as well. The liner from my other m80 actually looks like it belongs in this one, and vice versa.

It looks like a bullet went through the letter "O" on one side and exited leaving a small chunk missing on the other on the helmet's brim. The liner is untouched, but it wasn't snapped in completely when I got it, so I could see a projectile going through and leaving the liner intact like it is now.

It was purchased at an antique/craft mall, so I'm not sure I can get any more info on it. It had a tag that said "Desert Storm Helmet," so I might be able to get some info from the vendor and see where he got it from.

I hope you guys like it as much as I do!

[battle gear]

nice finds, if it was brought back from Desert Storm in that condition, it was most likely also used in the IRAN / IRAQ WAR just a few years earlier.

I agree it's definitely seen action and shows original field use, no two Iraqi helmets are alike.

[James C]

Very nice gift indeed id hang onto that one if i was you ,out of all of my example's i only have one bearing the same triangle stamp ,my own thoughts are these are iraqi made copies of the south korean composite but yet to hear that confirmed but could well be a rare item to have ,all i do know is the triangle appears on other iraqi issue helmets too but in sticker form ,its hard to tell from your picture but can confirm mine has H H D embossed below the triangle ,ive done a comparrison between the HHD example i have and the other SK m80's and noticed the liner placements are much lower down on the shell ,if fact i can see the differance looking at your side profile's of the two example's you show straight away ,i like the way you have used a rod to highlight the bullet trajectory too ,it blew that chinstrap bail clean off

[Perspectivist]

Thanks for the interesting info, James! I took another look, and my example does have "HHD" under the triangle.

[James C]

Thats good to know ,i just couldn't make it out on your original pictures ,i notice the composite weave differs greatly from the SK example's