Turtle Helmet Help ID

[Turhan98]

This helmet British Mk3 or Mk4 please help me information Can we say ww2 ?

[Greg Pickersgill]

You photos make it awkward to be certain. There are two differences between the Mk3 and Mk4. The Mk3 has side rivets for the chinstrap lugs set almost half way tp the side of the shell - approximately 5cm from the rim. In the Mk4 they are set lower down towards the rim, a change which was made for greater stability, about 2 or 3 cm.

Also the Mk3 has a drilled hole in the crown for a nut and bolt to secure the liner. The Mk4 had a small depression into which a post for a detachable liner system (the Lift The Dot liner) has been welded. (NB a few Mk4 shells had holes drilled for the earlier liner. fairly rare.)

I think I see a hole in the crown, so a Mk3 (probably - side-on photo would prove it). Very unusual 'liner'! these were produced during the later part of WW2 and quantities were used after the invasion of Europe. These usually have a makers mark and date stamped inside.

There are several threads on these helmets here - all the info you want will be there.

[Steelhead10]

As Greg states it's very difficult to tell from the photo angles, it does look like there's a hole for a bolted in liner and no dimple for the lift the dot system, however from the angles it looks like the chinstrap is lower down the sides and has defintely been replaced.

From the order I can see it in photos 2 and 3 in particular shows that there's what appears to be a Nylon chinstrap with plastic fastening bolted into where the chinstrap lug would have been. I'm not sure where this woul have been done but a large number of MK2 and Turtle (3 and 4) style helmets have been surfacing recently with various modifications from years of post war service in India. Although the sponge "liner" seems more of something to reenact or for kids to use.

Matt

[Turhan98]

If we only talk about the outer shell, do we agree that it is an MK4?

[JesperS]

My initial thought was that it's something else entirely. The metal/steel seems to be of very poor quality compared to MK3 or MK4 helmets and the holes for the liner and chinstrap don't seem to fit either. I would like to see a picture taken square from the side like this:



/Jesper

[Turhan98]

can you look again ?

[Willmore]

Hi there.

I am not a helmet collector so this is just my observation. To me it looks like it is made of fibreglass and has had the sponge padding added so it can be worn.

Kind regards,

Will.

[Turhan98]

This helmet %100 steel