Czech Vz-53 /M-53 Helmet
Country: Czech Republic (formally Czechoslovakia)
Manufacturer: Unknown
Model: Vz-53/80 last variant
Based on: Soviet Ssh39
A bit about the Czech Vz-53/80 (M-53)
The history of this particular piece of militaria dates back to world war two and the former Soviet union. During the war years the Russians manufactured the SSH 39 and later the SSH 40. Both were very similar in design except for a few minor tweaks here and there. Both helmets would be iconic in film and literature as the helmet of the powerful red army.
Sometime after the war the Ssh-39 and Ssh-40 found their way into the militaries of the Warsaw pact countries with Czech, Hungary and Poland being the most notable adopters. The soviet style helmets for each country were not carbon copies of the originals rather reworkings with subtle changes of each. These changes mainly involved different positionings of liner rivets or changes in liners. The basic shape of the steel shell remained the same.
This version of the Vz-53/80
It appears that the last Czech version of the Vz-53 was released in 1980 and continued for a few years afterwards. This final version did away with the usual leather chip strap and replaced it with a Nylon Y shaped affair. Presumably this was both a cost cutting exercise and a practical change as the Y Shape of the strap held the helmet more firmly on the head as opposed to the earlier two point fixing.
The helmet is made up of a handful of basic components.
Firstly and most importantly the outer metal shell is made from a standard quality of steel. Not the thickest of gages it has to be said and arguably thinner than the original soviet models. In practice it has the ability to deflect a 9mm pistol round without passing through but cannot stop a rifle bullet. However many of the contemporary helmets of the time would fair no better. It wasn't until the advent of the Kevlar helmet did the safety threshold increase.
The soviet/east european helmets had the nickname of the 'bell' due to the noise the helmet made when it was struck. This is certainly true. The helmet dings very loudly when it gets bashed.
The other remaining components of the helmet are the riveted liner band and the chin strap.
The liner is held in place by a semi adjustable steel band which is secured in place by a few rivets which run around the top of the shell. The size of the band can be altered a little but is very difficult to do as the original size fixing was clamped down in place. This particular helmet is sized at around 57cm which is a little tight on my head however with a little bit of effort is now nearer to 58cm.
Attached to the steel band is a blue strip of polystyrene foam followed by the main leather liner sitting over the top. This leather liner should be familiar to collectors are it seems to crop up on helmets from all over the place. It is quite simple in its concept. A simple draw string is used to tighten it up and thats it.
Granted, it isn't the most comfortable thing to wear but I guess it does the job.
Lastly is the Y shaped chin strap. This consists of a four point fixing system comprising a cheap nylon strap and a tiny slither of leather to cover the chin. Soviet functionality = zero comfort.
Like everything else to do with this helmet, it does the job.
This helmet is great value for the collector (or anyone else for that matter) due to their abundance on the surplus market. Some varieties are harder to find than others but they are all generally the same old soviet lid from WW2. With the original soviet models becoming scarce these cold war copies make great look-a-likes!