Original U.S. Vietnam War Era USMC APH-5 Flight Helmet with Oxygen Mask & Adjustable Visor

Original Item: Only One Available. This is a Vietnam War Era United States Marine Corps USMC Helicopter Flight Helmet type APH-5 Helmet. It has the correct early type thick roam rubber edge roll, and the base color is white, now painted over with U.S. Navy gold. Wings have been pasted to each side of the top with USMC below it as shown. It still has the internal padding as well as the earphones. It also does have a retractable visor installed, which can be controlled by pressing in the circular tab on top of the helmet.

The helmet is in overall good shape with some flaws. Some of the internal material is starting to chip away, but this one is in better shape than most we see. The visor still adjusts fine, but caution should be advised when adjusting it. The buckles are all in good working order. There doesn’t appear to be any maker’s mark, but there is a data tag on the back of the helmet which the soldier covered with his white and orange tape. 

The original oxygen mask is in good condition and still locks into the posts on each side of the helmet without issue. The mouthpiece of the mask is marked very tinily for maker R.A. Hawks Division, Sierra Engineering Company. We couldn’t find any other maker’s markings on the mask.

Overall a great attractive helmet from the Vietnam War Era that is ready for further research and display! The size appears to be Medium/Large. There is a small attachment wire for the headset still protruding from the back of the helmet. Comes ready for further research and display.

The US Army introduced their first flying helmet, the APH-5A or APH-5 Quartermaster helmet in 1959. It was an adapted version of the US Navy Aircrew Protective Helmet no. 5 (APH-5). The change was mainly in the communications system as the US Army used the same impedance standard as the US Air Force. With the introduction of the APH-5A the number of head injuries incurred during US Army aircraft accidents was reduced by half compared to the number of head injuries incurred before helmets were used.
The early examples of the APH-5A had the same thick foam rubber edge roll as the US Navy APH-5 and usually came in white color. Later examples had thin black rubber edge beading and usually came in olive drab color.