1982 Falklands War Era British '76 Pattern Paratrooper Helmet

Issued from around 1976 the ' Helmet, Lightweight , Parachutists ' was worn by most major fighting units during the fighting to retake the Falklands in 1982 & is quite difficult to find today.
Initially issued without a helmet cover improvisation was applied by the Airborne soldiers who wore them with nets , hessian or various DPM covers as seen here. Made from resin impregnated nylon fibre this helmet has the second generation chinstrap system much used , amongst others, in the South Atlantic war. Originally designed for use with the vinyl & nylon chinstrap system this was found to be inadequate due to being hot , uncomfortable & insecure. The next generation of webbing chinstraps, as here , were in fact already in production by the time the South Atlantic campaign started & were seen in use as well as the tan webbing chinstraps from the earlier HSAT MKII helmet . So , in all , at least three different types of chinstrap were seen in use with this helmet in the Falklands campaign. This excellent example has a typically seen black rubber band holding the DPM camouflage cover in place. Showing heavy wear the white kid leather to forehead area is indicative of this Falklands period issue.
Iconic & difficult to find item of Falklands war paratrooper kit .
See the excellent reference work by Oliver Lock ' British Airborne Headdress ' for more information on the '76 Pattern helmet in the Falklands.

Code: 13307