Cold War Crap
Hungarian M-76 Gas Mask
Manufacturer: ?
Model: M-76
Country: Hungary
Year: ?
Production Run: 1970's -1990's
Price: £6.50 + £2.85 postage
Vendor: private eBay seller
Shipped From: UK
First impressions
Whilst late night eBay surfing recently I came across this rather creepy looking M-76 from Hungary.
I hadnt seen these before on eBay, certainly not in the usual places anyway. This mask was on 'Buy it now' and had a price of £8.00 + £2.95 postage.
Although £8.00 is a great price I thought I might push the seller a little and make an offer of £6.50 to which he accepted.
Details of the item were sketchy but what was clear was that it came with just the filter and not the haversack. I can live with that.
The M-76 is a very distinctive looking gas mask. I'm not sure if it's the large round eye pieces or the weird canvas face piece that attracts me to it.
The mask looked quite familiar to me, I was sure it looked like something I had seen in a movie but I couldn't quite place what it was? .....
That's it! Greedo the bounty hunter from Star Wars!
Greedo-ish?
Alright, not quite the same as greedo but almost!
More crap from behind the Iron Curtain
I somehow get the feeling that Hungary was the poor relation of the soviet pact. Certainly in terms of gas masks Hungary seems to have missed out on the great masks of the Soviet union. Other countries tied to the Soviets such as Czechoslovakia had a good range of copied masks. Poland had a few good ones too. So what was going on with Hungary? As far as I can make out Hungary only made the M-67, M-76, 70M and that's about it.
The Face piece
Although it's clear that this mask was made to a tight budget, it's actually rather appealing.
Ok, so the rear harness is made from cheap crap elasticated cotton and has a weird leather fixing point (it's not the best design) but the main face piece is interesting in looks and feel.
Interesting because it's made from rubber with a green canvas covering. The same canvas they use to make the haversacks. I quite like the look of the face piece.
Unlike my other half face masks this model sits right at the front of your face, just enough to cover your eyes, nose and mouth. As a result of this the mask doesn't feel restrictive in any way. It doesn't feel claustrophobic.
The inhale and exhale ports are identical to that of the polish MC-1 and Czech model Z masks.
Made from black plastic this part has the inhale port above the exhale port.
The Eye pieces are fascinating. The steel rims are crimped on differently to other round lens masks. An outer steel ring is fitted before the main ring which makes a better seal and improve its looks. A nice feature on this mask is the subtle tinted glass. It looks great.
The eye pieces are quite large and offer a great field of vision. Similar to the GP-5 style.
It's quite easy to overlook the cheap quality when you try the mask on.
Inside the mask everything is basic and done on the cheap.
You won't find any anti-fogging tubes here!
Despite its very simple appearance the mask does the job.
The fitting of the mask is easy and the mask makes a great air tight seal.
One strange feature of the mask is the strip of lambs suede that runs around the rim of the inside of the mask. It's about an inch or so wide and very soft to the touch. I have no idea why using sheep would be a good substitute for rubber? It works though!
The multi-point harness features a rat's nest of straps.
When it comes to fastening the mask to your face the M-76 has an ingenious strap system.
In addition to the normal overhead and side straps this mask also has a curious neck strap which passes around the back and hitches to a clip. Another curious strap is the large elasticated piece which runs over the head from left to right taking in the other head strap on the way. I'm not sure what you are meant to do with this thing? It just sits there loose?
Overall the mask is easy to fit and reasonably comfortable to wear
The Filter
I have no idea what the hell happened to this filter?
Its as rotten as a box of frogs.
Looking around the outside of the canister patches of rust were visible in more than one place. The inside of the filter was a complete catastrophe.
Rust, crud, crap and chud were everywhere inside. It was disgusting.
The last thing I needed was a hazardous rusty filter to contend with.
Look at the state of that!
What the hell is that?!
There is no way I'm going to use this filter. It's horrible!
God knows what's lurking beneath the wadding.
Definitely a health risk.
They dig up WWII mortar bombs in better shape than this!
The filter is a filthy rotten pile of shit so it's going to the local hazchem waste facility as soon as possible.
Finding a safe new replacement for this filter shouldn't be too much trouble. I think I can get 3 for £9.99 if need be.
No Haversack
Unfortunately for me I only received the face piece and filter. The original haversack was nowhere to be seen.
To be fair, the seller never promised a bag in his listing so I can't complain.
Locating the correct haversack off eBay might prove to be tricky should I decide to get one. Buying the bag on its own hasnt been very successful so far. Looks like I would need to buy another mask to get the bag I need - and that's a stupid idea! :)
Who were these issued to?
Originally these were issued to the general population, civil defense personnel or anyone tasked with NBC clean up.
Millions of these masks were made between the 1970's and the 1990's making them the most widely. distributed fallout mask in Hungary.
I like the M-76, it's strong, lightweight and looks a little different to all the usual masks. The sheep's suede strap thing was a little weird at first but I got used to it. Only little gripes with this mask. It's pretty good 👍👍👍👍
Rating ✅✅✅ 3 out of 5
Trust that grotty filter to let it down in the rating. No matter though, it's still a great mask, I was unlucky with the filter. (and the missing haversack!) Definitely a nice mask for the collector and quite cheap to buy. Not many canvas gas masks about. Worth a punt.
