Abstract: A hydraulic dashpot has a high pressure space and a low pressure space into which the hydraulic fluid is forced through a spring loaded and adjustable spill valve when the dashpot is acted upon by a blow to be damped. The low pressure space is divided up into two sections on the two sides of the high pressure space and axially in line with it. The spill valve is fixed in the cylinder of the dashpot rather than being mounted on or in the piston. There is a pipe joining the two sections of the low pressure space together and running through the high pressure space and through the spill valve. The check valve for letting the piston be returned into its starting position is formed by a ring on the piston.