British Mark 4 helmet

[Gunny Hartmann]

great looking turtle helmet opex ,i have a soft spot for these and find them strangely appealing perhaps partly its down to patriotism ,but when scrimmed up they sure do look good on the shelf ,a lot of people are not fond of them i know ,the cammo finish looks great ,i like it a lot ,cheers james

I like 'em too, but talk to any body who wore one and they reckon they're a pain in the ars*!...

[jimpy]

I like 'em too, but talk to any body who wore one and they reckon they're a pain in the ars*!...

Got it in one Gunny!!

They tipped forward if you had any type of bergan/manpack/radio frame on. You couldnt wear them with the headset for Clansman radios, so you had to wear either no head gear, your beret or combat cap, (the DPM ski-type cap), further marking you out as a prime target, along with the section gunner and his GPMG!

The only way to wear them when wearing any type of bergan or manpack frame, was to wear them backwards!

They were heavy, bloody uncomfortable when worn for any length of time, and, on regular occasions, the "spike" for the L.T.D system dug into the top of your head.

Shall we just say, I was very glad when we went over to the Mk6 ballistic nylon ones came out!

Regards etc
Ian D

AKA: Jimpy


PS: If you hadn't already guessed, I know all this from personal experience!

[James C]

opex im sorry to hear about the wife car booting the turtle and ian its always a pleasure to hear your first hand acounts of actually wearing these items ,

[jimpy]

opex im sorry to hear about the wife car booting the turtle and ian its always a pleasure to hear your first hand acounts of actually wearing these items ,

You're welcome James, and I'm sure that I am not the only member of the forums who has had personal experience of these "lids"!

They were good for showing new recruits the effects of a thunderflash when misused, (put one under a helmet and stand WELL back then pick up the bits a minute later when it has all come down to earth!!)

Like the majority of equipment in service, it was an improvement on it's predecessor, as was the subsequent Mk6 and the current Mk7 on that, but it was still bloody awful to wear for any length of time.

The Mk6 was, and is, a relatively comfortable helmet with a decent cruciform chin strap assembly, and can be worn with a radio head set etc, as can the current Mk7, (My son, who is a serving soldier, says his Mk7 is a brilliant piece of kit even when compared with his old Mk6!)

Regards etc
Ian D

AKA: Jimpy


PS: Also forgot to say, try running when wearing one and it bounced up and down like a yo-yo because of the elasticated chin-strap, you could never get it tight enough to make the helmet stable, and when you did, it was too bloody tight!

[Tinhat]

PS: Also forgot to say, try running when wearing one and it bounced up and down like a yo-yo because of the elasticated chin-strap, you could never get it tight enough to make the helmet stable, and when you did, it was too bloody tight!

Jimpy, I was just about to say that you missed the part about having Zeberdee sitting on top of your head when running, the elastic strap was good for getting it over the gas mask, which was must have accessory for any run, but it ends there. I can't belive the MoD stuck with it for 40 years.

[jimpy]

Jimpy, I was just about to say that you missed the part about having Zeberdee sitting on top of your head when running, the elastic strap was good for getting it over the gas mask, which was must have accessory for any run, but it ends there. I can't belive the MoD stuck with it for 40 years.

TinHat,

TBH mate, I was surprised that we didn't adopt the US Army's "Fritz" helmet when they brought it out instead of the turtle back, apart from the licence issues, or why we didnt adopt the para's jump helmet army-wide!

Regards etc
Ian D

AKA: Jimpy

[Opex]

Hi All, here's another one from my collection this one I assume was owned by an RAF officer( Flt Lt Hopkins 236)?

[James C]

very nice opex and great camo netting too ,was it original to the helmet ,thanks for showing

[cammobunker]

I always wondered why pictures of Brit Forces rarely showed anyone wearing a helmet. Having tried one on, I understood immediately. The old Mk II was a better design. I also seem to remember seeing one of the rare pictures with helmet showed it had been tied onto the soldiers head with paracord or something similar. Yeah, the Mk6 was a vast improvement even if id did give a rather "phallic" silhouette to the wearer.

[jimpy]

I always wondered why pictures of Brit Forces rarely showed anyone wearing a helmet. Having tried one on, I understood immediately. The old Mk II was a better design.

Actually, the MkIV was the better design from a "safety/protection" view-point! It gave better, lower head and neck protection because of it's design, the big problem was that it was a pain in the backside when worn with any sort of back pack, rucksac or man-packed radio set, whenever you went to ground, whatever you were wearing on your back, invariably tipped the helmet forward over the eyes because of the long sweep on the rear of the helmet.

Regards etc
Ian D

AKA: Jimpy