Iraq Republic Guard M80/03

Hi Guys.

I picked up this lid recently..intially I thought it was a M90.
After some research I have found out it's an M80/03.

It's Iraqi produced which was issued from 2000 onwards. The Lid is made of Corlon Ballistic fibre composite..what ever that is!!

This lid would have been used by the Republic Guard...and was only issued in this sand coloured paint.

The removable US M72 Riddell-style cradle is made of very cheap and sub-standard materials- in stark contrast to the M80 which was of South Korean origin and is made of superior quality materials!!

As a complete self confessed lid geek I'm really surprised at the poor quality and finish of this lid...but at the same time really chuffed to finally have this M80/03 in my collection...

Anyway enough of my thoughts ...Check out www.cascoscoleccion.com for more juicy details.

Here it is enjoy

Note the poor qaulity M72 style cradle..and pink plastic headband which is made of leather.

Lid without camo cover

Very faint ink stamp on top of the lid crown.....I guess it's a manafacturers mark or something..Iraqi Army Property mark's are Triangle..so I'm not 100% what this mark represents....any ideas

Another marking inside the the lid which is much clearer..but again I would guess it's a manafacturers mark

Hi nice helmet, it looks really cheap!!!!, I m sure I would like to go in war with this kind of "pot". But the inside weebbing looks like to the US Vietnam liner

No way! I wouldn't go to go in war with it.

Iraqi Republican Guards on exercise outside al-Aziziya military base 06 March 2003 wearing M80/03 Lids and M80 lids

Spot the difference!!

ladrang wrote:Hi nice helmet, it looks really cheap!!!!, I m sure I would like to go in war with this kind of "pot". But the inside weebbing looks like to the US Vietnam liner

Hi Ladrang.

Your right it is very cheap looking,and as before made of really crappy materials, and I wish it was cheap to buy..but sadly it was'nt

The Cradle is a copy of the US M1 Post -72 type, which is removable like the US versions,but as before nowhere near the same quality.....

Mercenary25 wrote:No way! I wouldn't go to go in war with it.

Quite agree,I would'nt wanna wear this lid in battle....look's cool on my shelf...but I would be most reluctant to wear this lid under fire,might as well wear a milk jug

But it is what it is..a fine battle collectable, and I'm chuffed to have one at last

But you win it on...battle field of internet

ladrang wrote:But you win it on...battle field of internet

Yeah,I like that phrase,I will have to try and remember that one...


"Battle field of internet" Good one Ladrang,very good

Good looking helmet. I picked up a few of these, still in paper wrapper, when I was in Mosul in 2003. I also got sets of complete web gear, also still in the issue plastic bag. Not very good quality stuff though. The only price I paid for these was the shipping home...

Plunket75 wrote:Good looking helmet. I picked up a few of these, still in paper wrapper, when I was in Mosul in 2003. I also got sets of complete web gear, also still in the issue plastic bag. Not very good quality stuff though. The only price I paid for these was the shipping home...

Thanks Plunket.

I totally agree on the quality issue, this lid is the poorest qaulity, I have in my collection,even worse than some of the former soviet supplied countries...czech etc.

Sounds like you hit gold though,on finding a haul of these and the webbing, if you still got 'em, I would be interested in seeing some Iraqi webbing

Cheers for looking

Hitting the gold mine was an understatement, I saw an entire 20ft container full of them. Also there was another 20ft container filled to the roof with Iraqi uniforms. I guess these were going to be issued to the ICDC, I think. They were in both solid khaki and brown color, all in plastic wrappers. I also got a couple pairs of Iraqi boots too, talk about horrible...yikes.

I'll get some pictures as soon as I get home on R&R.

Yeap, thanks for your coming photos
Have a nice R&R

Plunket75 wrote:Hitting the gold mine was an understatement, I saw an entire 20ft container full of them. Also there was another 20ft container filled to the roof with Iraqi uniforms. I guess these were going to be issued to the ICDC, I think. They were in both solid khaki and brown color, all in plastic wrappers. I also got a couple pairs of Iraqi boots too, talk about horrible...yikes.

I'll get some pictures as soon as I get home on R&R.

The ultimate goldmine,by the sounds of it Mate, look forwrd to seeing your haul


And more importantly,keep your head down mate,stay safe and enjoy your well earned R&R...

I wasn't able to bring home the whole container, don't know where I'd put it... Shipping stuff home was a pain up in Mosul in 2003. I had to wait in line for almost two hours at the post office just to ship home a tough box and another cardboard box. Now almost 10 years later, I'm glad I waited in line.

I'll post some photos when I get home.

We are impatient to see that!!!

ladrang wrote:We are impatient to see that!!!

Agreed, look forward to seeing whatcha got!!!!

Very nice Iraqi Helemts I have a few of these in my collection, thank you for posting

Lorenzo

Easy Gee wrote:Hi Guys.

I picked up this lid recently..intially I thought it was a M90.
After some research I have found out it's an M80/03.

It's Iraqi produced which was issued from 2000 onwards. The Lid is made of Corlon Ballistic fibre composite..what ever that is!!

This lid would have been used by the Republic Guard...and was only issued in this sand coloured paint.

The removable US M72 Riddell-style cradle is made of very cheap and sub-standard materials- in stark contrast to the M80 which was of South Korean origin and is made of superior quality materials!!

As a complete self confessed lid geek I'm really surprised at the poor quality and finish of this lid...but at the same time really chuffed to finally have this M80/03 in my collection...

Anyway enough of my thoughts ...Check out www.cascoscoleccion.com for more juicy details.

Here it is enjoy

http://warrelics.eu/forum/world-steel-helmets/my-souvenir-iraqi-helmet-13318/

Iraq Helmet from the 1st time round 1991 Basra

go down to the last helmet on the page, notice the helmet looks like the same model as yours?

he says he found this Iraqi helmet back in 1991 in BASRA , looks like a well used M80 / 03 with the same type of cover and cheap webbing

if this is a M80 / 03 Iraqi helmet, this shows it was in use several years earlier than 2003

Iraqi Militaria wrote:

Very nice Iraqi Helemts I have a few of these in my collection, thank you for posting

Lorenzo

No worries lorenzo,I love your display cabinet with your finds ,very cool

battle gear wrote:

Easy Gee wrote:Hi Guys.

I picked up this lid recently..intially I thought it was a M90.
After some research I have found out it's an M80/03.

It's Iraqi produced which was issued from 2000 onwards. The Lid is made of Corlon Ballistic fibre composite..what ever that is!!

This lid would have been used by the Republic Guard...and was only issued in this sand coloured paint.

The removable US M72 Riddell-style cradle is made of very cheap and sub-standard materials- in stark contrast to the M80 which was of South Korean origin and is made of superior quality materials!!

As a complete self confessed lid geek I'm really surprised at the poor quality and finish of this lid...but at the same time really chuffed to finally have this M80/03 in my collection...

Anyway enough of my thoughts ...Check out www.cascoscoleccion.com for more juicy details.

Here it is enjoy

http://warrelics.eu/forum/world-steel-helmets/my-souvenir-iraqi-helmet-13318/

Iraq Helmet from the 1st time round 1991 Basra

go down to the last helmet on the page, notice the helmet looks like the same model as yours?

he says he found this Iraqi helmet back in 1991 in BASRA , looks like a well used M80 / 03 with the same type of cover and cheap webbing

if this is a M80 / 03 Iraqi helmet, this shows it was in use several years earlier than 2003

Thanks for the info,I could'nt see the pics,but I'm 100% sure,M80/03's were not in use in '91, in '91 the iraqi troops were issued South Korean Manafactured M80's,supplies dried up ( arms embargo),hence saddam put in a mass order for home produced M90,which were extremely fragile...so in '03 molds were taken off the South Korean M80,and the result was the M80/03....

Easy Gee wrote:

Iraqi Militaria wrote:

Very nice Iraqi Helemts I have a few of these in my collection, thank you for posting

Lorenzo

No worries lorenzo,I love your display cabinet with your finds ,very cool

Thank you very much for your comments; I have added a few more plus the 4 I just picked up that I need to add. The display curio is going to be filled with Iraqi used helmets. You can never have enough lids; this are cool for display all over the house.

Thank you

Lorenzo

very nice helmet gary i like very much can i ask if these were painted sand like the earlier m80 or were they moulded in the correct colour like the m90 ,right im wondering if the latter m90 was used in conjunction with the m80/03 was the m90 discontinued as of this time because of the poor quality issues thanks james

jayacee wrote:very nice helmet gary i like very much can i ask if these were painted sand like the earlier m80 or were they moulded in the correct colour like the m90 ,right im wondering if the latter m90 was used in conjunction with the m80/03 was the m90 discontinued as of this time because of the poor quality issues thanks james

Hi James ,thanks for looking and for your queries.

The M80/03 was painted sand coloured, on mine there is a little bit of the paint missing on the rim , and the shell is a grey coloured resin.

I believe the M80/03 was the last Iraqi issued lid under Saddam's regime, after that the Pasgt style lids were being used by Iraqi troops, AFAIK the M90 was used right up until the end too!

Hope this answers your questions, but feel free to ask anything else

brilliant gary and thanks for the quick response , your explanation pretty much clears up my confusion on these great lids thanks again james

jayacee wrote:brilliant gary and thanks for the quick response , your explanation pretty much clears up my confusion on these great lids thanks again james

No worries, always glad to help another lid addict

some helmet collectors consider the Iraqi M80/03 to be a "ERSATZ" replacement helmet or locally manufactured because of the shortage of supplies because of the embargo

it's pretty heavy and thick, it would give some protection against falling debris, and low velocity hits, and protect the head from bumps and bruises like a hard hat