Original Item: Only One Available. This is a wonderful example of the classic Japanese Type 92 Tetsubo (鉄帽 - "steel cap") army helmet, also colloquially called the tetsukabuto ( 鉄 冑 "steel helmet") by Japanese troops. Present on the helmet is an incredible helmet net which even has remnants of string to help add to the camouflage! The helmet has a partial liner with two of its leather pads retained, the third missing. The original tied chinstrap is fully retained. This is an extremely rare model of helmet to come across, especially with an original net.

The helmet is in very nice condition overall, with most of the original paint, and the expected wear and chips from service. The Star on the front of the helmet is tightly affixed to the front of the shell. The netting is in overall great shape with some breaks at the rim where it has continually sat for so long, but shows no signs of becoming loose or falling off. The netting is held together by a small piece of rope under the helmet. The liner band is missing a sizable chunk next to the chinstrap hook, almost certainly from water damage. This has also caused one of the three leather liner pads to fall out, which is now lost to time. The other two pads are in great shape and still retain their drawstring. The chinstrap has some staining but is in overall great shape and will still display very well. Overall a fantastic example.

This would make a perfect representative example for the collector seeking a complete, all original, WWII Japanese Combat Helmet. Ready for further research and display. These helmets don’t come up often, so don’t miss it.

The Japanese Type 92 Helmet

The Imperial Japanese Army was the official ground based armed force of Imperial Japan from 1871 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of War, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emperor of Japan as supreme commander of the army and the navy. Later an Inspectorate General of Military (Army) Aviation, became the third agency with oversight over the army. During wartime or national emergencies, the nominal command functions of the emperor would be centralized in an Imperial General Headquarters (IGHQ), an ad-hoc body consisting of the chief and vice chief of the Army General Staff, the minister of war, the chief and vice chief of the Naval General Staff, the inspector general of military aviation, and the inspector general of military training. The Japanese Tetsubo, also colloquially called the tetsukabuto ("steel helmet") by troops, was a mainstay of the Imperial Japanese Army from its creation in 1932. Its construction from inferior chrome-molybdenum steel limited its ability to protect the wearer from gunfire or shrapnel.