The L.F. 40 was a gas mask designed for use with flame thrower units.
Mask overview[]
The face piece was made with stamped rubber and It has two "unbreakable" glass eye pieces. The exhale valve is in the front and it's covered by a removable trumpet for better communication, like the one of the F.T.35 it was based on. The filter intake is at the bottom. The inhale valve is a rubber disc just above the filter intake. The mask uses the standard Italian five straps system, four of which are elastic. Over the face piece there was an asbestos woven cloth that covered all the rubber parts and continued a bit over the top of the rubber mask. On the asbestos covering there were 4 hooks to attach the hood to the mask.
Filter[]
The mask came with a T.35 filter, but it was used only when gas was used. Usually, the filter was left away to allow the flame troopers to breath more easily.
Kit[]
The mask was part of the 1940 Italian flame thrower troop kit. The soldier would wear a suit complete with trousers, vest, gloves, and hood all covered in asbestos to protect from flames and heat. The mask itself was attached to the hood via hooks on the facepiece. Over the hood, the soldier would wear the standard M33 helmet.
As for the flamethrower, the usual was the M35/40 flamethrower, but later issue saw the use of the improved M41 and the M41 asault variant.
This kit was in use until the 1950s.
Gallery and footage[]
