I understand that helmets are made for shrapnel & debris, but if someone stacked 2 (or 3) steel pots on top of each other and welded them together to be like 1/4 inch thick would it make you practically bulletproof on your head? Sure it would be very heavy but even one m1 offers more protection than a Kevlar helmet because it deflects instead of absorbing impact.
Have fun in the sun
Helmets were an air item in LRS. An "air item" was something you stowed away after parachuting into your objective. We wore patrol caps, drive on rags, boonies, watch caps, skull caps or whatever we felt like that was issued equipment. The ability to keenly hear and observe outweighed the precaution of incoming fire.
However, have you ever worn a helmet with MILES gear strapped to it? Your neck gets a good workout. That shit is so heavy, it is distracting. Would you want a platoon of men thinking about the weight of their helmets sucking ass or would you want them to remain vigilant?
>>29321605
Helmets aren't much good if they're so heavy nobody ever wants to wear them and when they do they slow you down.
Also no the old Steel pots don't provide the same level of protection as Kevlar, which is why we use Kevlar and not steel.
>>29321640
It's not like soldiers would be wearing it 24/7. They would clip it to their belt and pop it on when in combat.
>besides it would be cheaper to equip a militia with m1s over kevlar
>>29321704
You don't have time to don equipment once the air fills with enemy fire. Helmets are a bullet prophylactic. You either wear them always or you don't wear them at all. Exceptions being airborne operations.
>>29321605
>Sure it would be very heavy but even one m1 offers more protection than a Kevlar helmet because it deflects instead of absorbing impact.
Yeah, nope.
First of all, learn physics and look up specs. Even one hit to the steel pots greatly weaken the integrity of the entire helmet, not to mention the denting can easily result cracked skull. They just about can provide ~level IIa protection, and their poor ability to absorb the impact make them way more impractical than kevlar. The 7.62x39 military cartridge easily penetrates 5mm of steel from the distance, which is more than what you'd get by doubling the thickness of a steel pot.
Kevlar helmets are lighter, more comfortable to wear, and are up to level IIIa these days, easily stopping most of the common handgun rounds. They also don't bulge and crack throughout the entire surface like steel. There's been a few cases where lucky SOBs have even survived an AK47 shots to the forehead thanks to their modern kevlar pots, not that they're designed for that.
These days you even have plenty of options when it comes to helmets. Those "FAST" cut, hi-speed / low-drag type helmets are used by just about every "operator", as they provide cover and are good mounting base for coms and optics. If you need extra protection, there's many variants with beefed up build, such as the Zenturio 05 that has titanium shell on top of kevlar structure, or the Russian "Sphere" helmet, that consists of several steel or titanium plates sitting in pockets of this soft helmet, capable of stopping .308.
I'd say an average joe would do just fine with a modern PASGT-lookalike kevlar. They're light and sturdy.
>>29321704
>They would clip it to their belt and pop it on when in combat.
at that point they'd all be fucking dead.
One mortar strike or roadside bomb, and you got tons of dead fucks.
>>29321682
This. I have an M1 and realize how cumbersome helmets are. I'll take a good watch cap or boonie any day.
Also, OP has little to no grasp on ballistic protection.
>>29321605
>m1 offers more protection than a Kevlar helmet because it deflects instead of absorbing impact.
Fucking day/k/are and their childish pseudo-science bullshit.
Steel-helmets got V50 of around 400m/s, tops, while modern aramid composites helmets can go up to 700m/s, at the weight of less than 1kg.
>>29321984
You do realize that the steelpots, especially those American ones, are obsolete technology in both protection and weight/ergonomics wise?
The shitty straps, harnesses/pads (or rather lack of them) and the weight are all inferior to those found in modern systems, which you can adjust to perfectly fit and sit on your skull.
The tech improves at steady pace. The current issue helmets weight 1/3 to 50% less than the early kevlar pots of the mid 80s.
>>29322004
I'm aware helmet harnesses are way more comfortable and wearable long term today, but I would still prefer hearing and observation ability over a helmet, simply because I'm not gonna be in a situation that calls for one as a critical item.
>>29322025
>but I would still prefer hearing and observation ability over a helmet
Seriously people, where do you get this "hurr helmuts make u deaf and blind!" idea from? Any of you actually been to army?
I kept this thing on me for months several years ago, and had zero problems observing my surroundings as normal. They're even spacious enough to wear earmuffs under it, which we had to do in shooting practices and training exercises.
Assuming you don't live in some 3rd world country, you'd obviously wear those slimline electronic earmuffs underneath, allowing you to hear even BETTER than with your own ears if needed, while being simultaneously protected from the loud, ear damaging noises.
All that being said, there's a reason why ballistic helmets are mostly a military and policeforce items: you never know when and where that one tiny lethal piece of lead or steel will fly from, thus you wear your protection.
>>29322084
This, I have never been hampered by sound or site while wearing a helmet. This is a stupid meme that needs to die
germans did it in WW1, it's very heavy and stupid for regular use.
>>29321605
All problems aside, if you did that and a bullet hit it, it would probably leave a dent the size of Kentucky in your forehead. What you need to do is get a smaller pot, put some copper tubing (or aluminum) on the outside, and put the rest of the pots over that. That way when a bullet hits the outer layer it pushes back against it, and instead of going through the whole thing and busting your forehead all the force is applied to the pipes and they just bend. It'd knock you flat on your ass, but you'd be fine in theory.
>>29321978
>implying a helmet would do anything against a mortar strike
Mitigation < Prevention
Any clapistani operator worth xir salt wouldn't put ximself in a situation where they could be shot in the head
>>29325033
Helmets are to protect your head from shrapnel...like the kind you get from mortars.
>>29325033
>stops fragmentations created by the explosive shells, that usually blow up before hitting the ground to ensure larger area of effect
>protects from the pressure and heat wave as well
>protects from the flying debris and fragmentation caused by the explosions
hell, the mortality rate went down a good 30% during WW1 when they started issuing troops helmets.
Add the full armor-carrier vest and eyepro to the set, and your chances of surviving indirect fire go up exponentially.
>>29321605
The metal can splinter inside the helmet and cause head injuries, they are literally shit compared to ceramics.
I've shot at 1/4 inch steel before. 5.56 rips right through it. Only defense would be if .22lr was the only ammo ever
Enjoy permanently fucking up your neck
I feel like I am the first one brining this up, bumping your head on anything fucking sucks
We basically just need to combine ceramics with whipple shield technology (read space airbags).
Energy conversion with the ceramic layers and fragmentation with the metalic layers.
Fragmentation of projectiles is a good thing if there is enough of it.
FYI, there's already a helmet model called ECH in the works, that's molded into the shape of the modern kevlar pots out of some fancy metal mixture, and it's said to provide a full NIJ Level III protection, AKA being able to stop the intermediate rifle rounds and even .308.
>>29331602
wouldn't the trauma still fuck you up though??
Reactive helmet armor Y/N?
>>29328206
not quite the same as hardened steel at 1/4" thick
>>29331607
Not if you get issued the appropriate tactical cervical collar
>>29331610
Yes, simply to fling shit at it to see what its tolerances are.
>Napping?
>Too bad, I'm chucking a rock at your helmet
>Shitting?
>Too bad, I'm chucking a rock at your helmet
>Patrolling?
>Too bad, I'm chucking a rock at your helmet
>>29321605
The moment your head gets hit, you get the weight transfer of three steel pots on your neck bouncing back from a bullet hit.
You'd be dead from a snapped neck.
There is a reason the concept was abandoned in WWI and even then, when it kinda made sense, soldiers didn't want to wear extra armor plates because shit was heavy beyond reason.
![main-qimg-cd304cf222b4d9b15dac8adb9359c2cf[1].jpg](https://i.imgur.com/Mn16M2C.jpg "main-qimg-cd304cf222b4d9b15dac8adb9359c2cf[1].jpg")
Dear /k/, I have an ACH with all the standard issue gear. I am allowed to willy nilly change my gear around.
What is the best strap system for a combat helmet, does it exist for the ACH, or can it be adapted? I will be wearing this long term, ATVs and possibly riot duty. Infact, what I hate about my current helmet + straps the most is some OP4NIGNOG grabbed my helmet in a simulated riot, and was able to get a really good hold and wretch head around easily. I wanted to actually kill him. I want to make my helmet less of a detriment to my head in close quarters where you can't just blast them "bad guys."
It doesn't matter so much if I lose my helmet but maintain my posture control, because then I can baton the fucker who jumped me into oblivion and recover my helmet.
>pic extremely fucking related
>>29331602
Weight?
>>29331602
Not so much in the works USMC issues them for overseas deployments I have one.
>>29332773
How's the weight compared to an ACH, and wtf was he talking about metal?
>>29332803
I've never worn a ACH but it isn't noticeably heavier than the lightweight combat helmets we were issued before.
As far as I know it's made of some kind of plastic.
>>29332839
>I've never worn a ACH
Wtf? Are you in the marines?
>>29321704
Are you retarded
>>29332856
yes
>>29332872
How is it possible you've never worn an ACH? Did you go straight from a kpot to the ech or some shit?
>>29331610
> hadjis begin mortaring the base
> one lands in the armory
> the whole base goes off
>>29332884
USMC doesn't issue them.
>>29332971
So I just learned about LWH and shit. What a silly thing to go special snowflake on when you have real equipment issues.
