Iraqi (?) Helmet for Review

**GIZMO8Z** · 01-07-2014, 03:57 PM

Thanks for the kind words, gentlemen!

by Walkwolf

Interesting lid Joe. Are those teeth marks on the helmet ?
Maybe the Iraqi's didn't feed their troops !

I always add on the postage ( 'shipping' as they like
to call it ) as the actual price paid, because if you
eventually sold it for $10 you are out the $10
or $20 it cost to send it.........!

Noted, Steve! So, $17 total lol

**cammobunker** · 01-07-2014, 06:19 PM

I've seen and handled a lot of these, and the condition yours is in is pretty typical. The earlier version manufactured in South Korea wasn't actually intended to be used as a ballistic helmet, more like a civilian "bump cap" for service, supply and maintenance troops that gave a more military bearing, and as a cheap parade helmet.
Of course, the Iran Iraq war saw children charging machine guns armed with a spear and a headband with stirring religious sayings on it, so equipping troops with a hard hat for combat fits right in. Like many things Iraqi, form over function frequently was the case. Witness the Fedayeen Saddam "Darth Vader" helmets, utterly devoid of any use but fashionable.
The Iraqi made copies were, incredibly, even less protective than the Korean version. Poorly made of poor materials, the tendency to split, crack and shred at the edges indicated poor manufacture quality. The Iraqi army noted this problem and the solution of course was make a better helmet. No, wait, it was actually to add a rubber bumper to the edge, and continue making poor quality helmets that crack from being dropped on concrete. After all, they were being issued to conscripted jundies, uneducated cannon fodder unworthy of actually getting a real protective helmet. No, actual steel helmets were reserved for Special Forces and the Republican Guard units, some of them anyway.

Poorly equipped and even more poorly led, it's no wonder droves of Iraqi soldiers simply deserted and went home, or surrendered at the first available opportunity. Bad food and brutal treatment by uncaring officers led to abysmal morale. I have been told by an Iraqi army When things got tough during OIF, in many cases the officers simply abandoned their men to their fates and fled. Many units of the Iraqi army simply crumbled, and masses of leaderless soldiers simply started walking home well before coalition forces got there. (there are exceptions to this, of course, but this happened a lot).