Article about: The Japanese Self-Defence Force were formed July, 1, 1954 and had the dubious task of defending against a feared Soviet invasion of Northern Japan, the JSDF was originally equipped with a bl
The Japanese Self-Defence Force were formed July, 1, 1954 and had the dubious task of defending against a feared Soviet invasion of Northern Japan, the JSDF was originally equipped with a blend of home made equipment and American Military surplus...
The first domestically produced combat helmet of post war Japan were based off the American M1 helmet with a liner designed specifically for use by the Japanese people since their typical head size did not always fit well with surplus liners supplied by the US government...
The liners are manufactured from simple molded resin and or thermoplastic this particular example dates to 1987..
The earliest example used a chinstrap system that was reminiscent of the type 90 IJA helmet that seen service from 1930-1945 and later models where retrofitted and or came with a two point chinstrap...
The (66式鉄帽, Rokurokushikitetsubou) is known as Teppachi in the JSDF they have never been exported out of Japan since being adopted in 1966 so I am quite pleased to be able to add an example to the old shelf...
The total weight of the helmet body and liner is approximately 1.4 kilograms the shell is made out of manganese steel...
The Type 66 can take various helmet covers this particular example is sporting a very early camouflage pattern that was 1st introduced in 1965 and used on the Mk I Uniform.
The design, having black, brown, and medium green woodland shapes on a pale green background, was initially issued to members of the 1st Airborne Brigade and is often associated with that unit...
Some Japanese sources have referred to the design colloquially as "Hokkaido," "Northern," and "Kunai" camouflage, the latter of which may refer to a medieval trowel or hand-tool with a spike on one end..
By the early 1980s, the pattern would see use by conventional Japanese ground units. Within Western collecting circles, the pattern is sometimes referred to as "Fang" pattern. This design became outdated in 1992 with the introduction of the "dots" design....
Morning Greg give me a day or so and I will strip it down and take some comparative measurements and a few more pictures that will include the chinstrap bails, seam placement and spot welds on the rim joint and include them in the thread..
Thank you Phil, James, and Rene for the kind words so Greg has given me a little nudge so perhaps we shall spend a we bit more time and look at the helmet body, liner and chinstrap assemblies a bit more in detail some personal observations and a bit more information shared with me from a fellow collector...
As previously mentioned the liners are the most distinctive part of this particular helmet system as they had a very long life service life from the 60s up into the 90s there were many changes made over the years..
The very first model was very similar in shape to the US models of the time as were the materials and textiles that were used during production,as can been seen in the ground force and para model, the para example seems to never have been altered or modernized from the original US style.
Helmet bodies are as well different in design the one prominent detail is the more elongated shape of the shell, specially the front rim in contrast with US M-1 helmets of the same time period, the rim is narrower than it's US counterpart and manufactured from stainless steel as is the chinstrap bail, it is a rear seam with the seam being tucked under the other and welded instead of the seam being a but joint..
The manufacture marks ( heat stamp) is in the form a lotus flower followed by a number it will be found impressed in the steel under the visor extremely hard to make out in my example below but there is indeed a ( Lotus flower icon followed by a flat /\ 54 TOPY )..
The chinstrap assemblies come in different variations with the earliest examples being very reminicanent in design and concept to the type used on the Japanese war time Type 90 then there are simple cloth straps which are sewed to the bails.
The later ones are sewed with metal buttons / sewed with plastic clips / some of these examples as well came with metal hooks for attaching to the helmet body ( I am currently waiting on an older cloth strap example and a example with snap type fasteners from Japan )..
And lastly these technical design Data sheets for the JSDF T66 which shows the construction details of the Helmet Body, Liner Assembly and chinstrap assembly would appear to be for a later production non combative style of helmet, That is thought to be used by, Engineers, Drivers and Guards..
I am afraid my Japanese is a bit on the rusty side and will need to depend on a friend to do a bit of translating for me on the period these particular sheets would have been used..
Regards Mark
(66式鉄帽, Rokurokushikitetsubou)
.
love the camo cover and inner markings and as always a superb accompanying write up
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