Israel began production of its own variation of the " Kasda " M-1 sometime in the late 1960's these helmets remained in service until gradually being phased out by the M-76 Orlite ballistic composite helmet...
They are produced in one size and weigh in at approximately 1530 grams and are manufactured from " Hadfield " manganese steel, one thing that immediately catches your attention with these M-1 helmets is the fact that a three point chinstrap system was employed with the addition of a slider type buckle that has been added to the rear of the helmet body to thread the webbing through, and two claw foot slider buckles added to the sides Although offering much better support while wearing this helmet this in my opinion would make for a time consuming and problematic venture every time the helmet had to be adjusted, taken off or put back on as the webbing would have to be re threaded through the buckles on either side of the helmet body and or released on the harness so one could slip his head in and out as there is no quick release system...
The liners were modelled after the US P-64 M-1 liner system and are produced by the Tama company and are manufactured from nylon fabric impregnated with phenolic resin / Polyvinyl butyral ( PVB ) shaped in a high pressure mold The Israeli M-1 ( Kasda ) are most commonly seen adorned with camouflage nets, hessian covers and an assortments of bands were employed to keep the covers on tight and close to the helmet shell most frequently seen are inner tube bands, With a small number of factory produced wide tan helmet bands that are seen from time to time...
Regards Mark
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