polish wz1967 pickup

[James C]

just to share another new lid pickup the polish wz 67 this one has a few hand written scribbling in pen and the liner date stamp is 1979 and has a cross pad similar to the british mk11 ,the most unusual thing about this lid is the fact its a lightweight version made of a composite material possible glass fibre but looks identical to the steel version and at a glance hard to tell the difference the rim has slight delamination and chipping and the texture on the insides is quite rough ,i can only guess used for peace time operations or maybe parades ,if somebody can enlighten me further then please do so ,thanks and enjoy james

[Gunny Hartmann]

Composite Helmet, Ballistic helmets, Military helmets POLAND, POLISH helmet, Kevlar helmet

Hope this helps!...

[James C]

many thanks for the link gunny ,your a star

[Opex]

Never seen or heard of such a thing prior to today James, I like it mate!

I wonder if it's made from a similar material to Iraqi M80's, Corlon or some such material?

Cool thing to own mate, I will tune in again to see your latest lids

[James C]

cheers opex and thanks for tuning in i honestly dont know the material used ,strangley though it bears the army eagle but would have hardly any ballistic qualities the link gunny provided only mentions the composite style used by police and other non combatants so its a bit of a mystery cheers james

[battle gear]

I think these were mostly used for guard duty when they didnt need a heavy steel helmet

[James C]

many thanks for your input battle gear ,guard duty makes sense to me i suppose it would be ok for bump protection and probably quite comfy over long periods purely on the lightness and also the well made leather liner cheers james

[Opex]

No worries Mate, your welcome.

This lid has caught my attention, I will carry out a bit of research myself ,and of course if I come across some juicy info I will share it with you.

[James C]

just a small update ,with net and sniper veil fitted

[Greg Pickersgill]

I keep mentioning CompoSite Composite Helmets, Ballistic helmets, Military helmets International Guide here but no-one ever seems to think to bookmark it...tell you what, here's a list (requiring update and revision) of useful websites - HELMET COLLECTION COLLECTORS HELMET BOOKS ON HELMETS Helmet collector's webpages .

Anyway, this is the wz 64-67, which is not actually featured on CompoSite but *is* on Joseba (POLACO 67 ZW) and it is, as guessed by all, a police/gendarmerie non-combat helmet. I don't have any hands-on of the later model but certainly my early version (the wz64) is light and seems fragile, and as a piece has actually scabbed off it I would be confident in saying its not especially robust. Enough to stop a thrown rock or offer some protection against a iron bar to the head, but not much more. And I would guess your man might need a new helmet as well as a quiet lie-down after either event. When I originally got mine I thought it might be made of fibreglass, but I'm easily persuaded it is some form of not very good plastic.

The liner is certainly very similar to, if not identical to, the military wz67, though I'd rather like to see both in hand for compare and contrast to be certain.

LATER ADDITION

Just been doing the Ebay round and a seller in Poland has just put up some of these - here for example Ebay item 251767688656 - including both versions mentioned here and another with prominent chinstrap rivets/pins/bolts that I have not seen before - 261711365291 - (wish I hadn't spent all my money on French mle 45s now!). Anyway, the interesting thing is he asserts that the shells are fibreglass. Now, knowing how common it is for Ebay sellers to say any damned thing that enters their head at the moment they are typing (often badly and without any thought of re-reading and correction) I took the hint provided by the sellers picture of the relevant page in Hijak's rather good book on Polish helmets and tried to work it out for myself. Now, my Polish is terrible even with the assistance of Google Translate, but I think Hijak actually says they are made of fibreglass. So the seller may well be correct! But I wouldn't bet on it. Where are the Polish helmcollectors when you need them?!?! Piotrek, where are you?

Oh, and Happy Celebrations to you all! We have a two lobsters, and, appropriately, a very good Polish vodka - happy days!