Mannie Gentile: Combat Helmets of the 20th Century: South Korea m. 76 combat helmet

South Korea is a country on the brink.

To the north lies its traditional and seemingly eternal enemy - The People's Democratic Socialist Republic of Spiders and Flies - ruled by a hare-trigger nutcase with a whacked-out haircut named Kim Jong Un. Un, like his father before him, has found a way for his people to live on a diet of nothing more than twigs and meth-amphetamines, thus allowing him to pump all of the nation's meager resources into offensive weaponry.

Whether feeding relatives to dogs or firing ballistic missiles in all directions like your uncle Elmer on the Fourth of July with a fist of bottle rockets in one hand and a cold Budweiser in the other. Kim is nuts and unpredictable.

Neighbored by a heavily-armed man with bugs in his brain, South Koreans are keenly aware of the precarious armistice that has been holding since the end of the Korean war in July of 1953. South Korea's capital city, Seoul, is only 31 miles from the border with N. Korea - within easy range of Kim's long-range artillery...of which he has an abundance.

South Korea has relied, in varying degrees, on the assistance of the United States to maintain the balance of power and keep the armistice intact. Indeed, since the nearly the birth of the new nation the South Korean forces have been almost entirely equipped with American materiel including the standard US M1 helmet.

The M1 was the front-line helmet for S. Korean forces until 1976 when the new composite helmet was introduced. Although different in most ways from the venerable M1, the m. 76 still retains the distinctive profile of it's American progenitor.

Here's the walk-around:

Only the external rivets and the squared-edge of the brim distinguish the outward appearance of this helmet from the American M1.

The chinstrap is a near-twin to the final generation American M1 version.

Made of a synthetic material called corlon, this helmet has ballistic capabilities that are superior to the Hadfield manganese steel of the American M1.

The m. 76 entered service in 1976 and is still the front-line helmet of S. Korean military forces.

The distinctive pyramid-pattern of rivets at the brim secure the chinstrap-bail bracket.

This helmet does not have a separate liner as did the US M1. Although the suspension is a near dead-ringer for the M1, it is connected directly to the shell.

The top view demonstrates the least imaginative photo I have ever shot.

Chinstrap brackets are riveted to the shell.

The sweatband, like the M1, is leather, and the clips that secure it are the same spring-loaded type as found on the M1

The m.76 also has the same nape-strap as the final generation M1.

Also identical to the M1 is the chinstrap.

The manner in which the strap is fastened to the bail makes it easy to replace.

It fastens with a robust snap.

The only markings reside in the dome of the shell.

South Korea also manufactures the m.76 for export, including to Iraq.

The Iraqi m. 80 is on the left.

The suspension is very similar to the m.76 although the material is comparatively flimsy. Note the attachment of the simple chinstrap. The manner in which it is affixed makes it impossible to replace.