Amongst the standard items of clothing given to recruits starting their training with the South African Defence Force, all men were issued with a nutria brown knitted balaclava helmet. This is a closely knitted garment that is narrow enough to hug the face tightly when worn 

The face hole is oval and knitted into the design, with edging to prevent it coming unravelled: 

The sides of the face hole were clearly subject to wear and damage as a pair of small cloth reinforcing tabs are sewn inside to strengthen this area: 

A label is sewn in with an NSN number and a date of 1978: 

The SADF developed an extensive range of cold weather clothing for its men, the temperatures dropping rapidly after dark and at altitude. I have been covering a variety of SADF cold weather clothing over the last month and we will take a look at an interesting impression of a soldier operating in winter for the SADF later in the month.