Original Item: Only One Available. The M33 Helmet (Elmetto Mod. 33 in Italian) is a steel combat helmet designed in the 1930s in Italy, and was the standard combat helmet of the Regio Esercito up to World War II, and of the Esercito Italiano well into the Cold War. Designed by Nicola Leszl for the Mussolini Government, these have become extremely hard to find on the collectors market today, especially WWII examples that have not been refurbished.

As these were still in production well after the war, it should be noted that after the war, design changes were made that make it possible to identify an example made in WWII or prior. The characteristics only found on these earlier helmets are:

- Gray - Green Paint (Post War are OD Green)
- Metal Grommets around Liner Drawstring with Z-stitch in rear
- Rectangular chin strap bales (post war were trapezoidal)
- Tan Leather liner with Orange felt padding (post war has yellow leather and felt)
- Leather Grey-Green chin strap (post war was canvas)
- Liner Mounting Ring is Rectangular (post war was trapezoidal)
- Small vent holes with flattened tops

This example is in good condition, but does show a lot of wear from long use in service. The interior liner shows wear and deterioration, and the leather chin strap is partly missing. What remains of the chin strap is in relatively poor condition, and there is oxidation around a lot of the metal fittings. The liner definitely looks WWII, but it does not have the grommets and Z-stitch it should at the rear. However it has the correct tan leather and orange felt, so we believe this to be a variant. All of the other characteristics are a match for WWII. It is stamped 59 on the right side, indicating the size of the helmet in cm.

The shell is really in very good condition, with most of the paint intact, however it has definitely been repainted OD green at some point. However, this paint is also worn away in spots, and the original gray-green paint can be seen, so this is definitely a WWII produced helmet. The rear of the helmet near the edge is stamped with production code T114, which we have unfortunately not been able to identify.

The helmet has a very nice heavy green helmet net, which has pieces of camouflage fabric inserted to increase the camouflage profile. It shows wear and has a lot of rubbed in dirt.

A very nice example of the Italian M33 helmet from WWII, ready to display!