The Hungarian 67M (incorrectly also known as 65M) is a Civil Defense gas mask issued to the Polgári védelem (Civil Defence) and to civilians during the Cold War in Hungary.
Overview[]
It is a full face mask made of a single sheet of rubber-coated dark green canvas formed by 3 seams, 2 on the forehead and one on the chin. It seals on the face via 4cm wide goat leather stitched to a rubber-coated canvas verge and folded out to the outside of the mask, but unlike its predecessor, the 34M, the sealing of the stitching is sealed inside. The glasses and the anti-fogging insert fixing rings, which are the same like on the 60M, are crimped to metalic copper colored steel alloy assemblies which are pressed to the faceblank permanently. There are masks with 75M syled lenses, these are later production masks from the arly 1970s. These assemblies and the crimped ring are the same as on the 34M, but, are a bit larger in diameter. The 7 pointed, adjustable and elasticated harness is composed of three pieces and connected to the facepiece trough adjuster buckles, which are sewn to the facepiece. Elastication is done by 3 springs in each strap, save for the neck strap, there are only 2 springs in that. The middle forehead straps is hooked over a metal roller frame and sewn to the outer forehead straps, so these can slide freely and automatically adjusts to the shape of the head. On the nape the temple straps and the strap of the roller frame are hooked up to a metal piece which is riveted to a leather pressure equalizer rectangle. The third part near the bottom would be wrapped behind the neck of the user and hooked to the left side of the mask to provide a tight seal and to prevent accidentally taking off the mask. There is a carrying strap on the bottom back of the mask and a chinstrap inside as well. The valve housing is the same as on the 60M, with the exception of the missing tubes for the Tissot-tubes.
Filter[]
Main article: 60M filter, 70M filter
It was issued with a hose and a big flat box filter (the same as on the 60M) and also with a lightweight filter which is similar to the filter issued with the Soviet PMG series (70M filter).
Kit and bag[]
Originally it was issued with a hose and the 60M filter with the 51M or 60M bag (the bag of the 51M mask). This set was used by the registered and non-registered members of the Civil Defence. Both bags are made of canvas. Inside there are 3 sections and 1 little pocket. The two same-sized parts are for the filter and the mask. There are 2 strips on the inner side of the filter part to fix the hose during use. The little pocket is for the antifog inserts. The big flat part is for the hose. For carrying it has an adjustable shoulder srtap and an also adjustable waist strap connecting with a carabiner to a D-ring.
The kit contained:
- 67M facepiece
- 60M filter with 60M or 51M hose
- 51M or 60M bag
- 59mm anti-fog inserts (x6) (or sometimes anti-fog soap)
Later when the 70M filter was released the mask was issued with the 70M filter and PV-75M bag (or just called 75M, the same as on the 75M) to the civilians. Simple canvas bag with 2 smaller parts in the lower section. The smaller is for the spare filter. The bag has 3 straps: one on the shoulder and two for fixing around the waist. It was made in several colours but the difference is minor.
The kit contained:
- 67M facepiece
- 70M filter
- PV-75M bag
- anti-fog soap
Service[]
Polgári védelem (Civil Defence
)
Civilians
It was used with 67M and 75M Összfegyvernemi védőkészlet (joint service general purpose personal protective equipment) and with Védőmunkaruha (protective work suit made of thick canvas, it gave minor protection against toxic agents during clean up). Important factories stored these masks alongside with other equipment (like ERBVCs) and certain workers were trained what to do in case of a war (non-registered members of the Civil Defence).
Magyar Néphadsereg (Hungarian People's Army)
The mask was issued to the army as well, but it was more like storing, the masks were never used by the army because the MN always had enough 60M and 70M masks.
Industry
There are only a few documents and photos proving that the mask was used in the industry. Most of the photos are from exhibitions, there are no photos where the mask is being used. Some masks can be found in very bad used condition with Medicor industrial filters, but it have to be considered that after Chernobyl the Polgári Védelem (Civil Defence) was mainly focused on industrial disasters so a huge amount of filters were purchased and this can be the reason behind this anomaly. In industrial use the mask was called Ipari gázálarc (Industrial gas mask).
External information[]
History[]
The design dates back to the 28M. In the 1960s a new cheaper mask was necessary for the Civil Defence than the 34M. To reduce costs a lot of parts from the 34M were reused but those were made of a cheaper steel alloy and not of copper as on the post war 34M masks, including the eyepieces with a little update (mentioned in the overview - to allow the use of the 56mm Soviet antifog inserts) and the buckles. The only great change was the use of the 60M valve house. It was already in production and made faster and easier the issuing and technical service of the new mask. After the introduction of the 75M mask in 1975, some stocks of 67M masks had the valve housing changed to the 75M type. But every other part remained the same.
Confusion[]
The masks is often confused with the later and better known 75M because of the many similarities.
Modern modifications[]
On Gasmasklexikon [1] and LMàG [2] the 67M masks are seems to be private modifications because of the ShM-41mu styled valve housings (this was never manufactured in Hungary), 75M styled eyepiece assemblies and harness.
Positions, donning and removing[]
References[]
- Módszertani segédlet a rendszeresített egyéni vegyvédelmi eszközök használatára (book-1973)
- Légoltalmi ismeretek a lakóházi (önvédelmi) szervek részére II. kiadás (book-1952)
- http://dia.osaarchivum.org/public/index.php?fs=1879&thumbnail=1