New Army helmet too strong

[TexDotCom]

http://www.military.com/news/article/ne ... =army-a.nl

Thought some of you might be interested in this breakthrough re: a stronger, lighter replacement for the Kevlar helmets currently in use. I love the line about having to get stronger test guns.

[surprise_i'm_armed]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_GIQ3eKOvc

The above link is a 1M:23S long video of British Army soldiers who were
saved by bullets striking their helmets, armored vests, or iPods.

**************************************************************************************

http://www.gizmag.com/face-shields-on-a ... ets/17037/

The above link refers to research showing that American military helmets
should have face protection in order to more fully protect from IED blasts, etc.

SIA

[TexDotCom]

Someone commented on that article re: face shields, but another made a statement that marching up a mountain with a face shield on would not be preferred. I would be inclined to agree, as I would worry about additional heat, the shield fogging up, potential vision distortion, etc. On the flip side, more protection for the noggin and its surrounding parts is definitely something I would favor.

[ELB]

Someone commented on that article re: face shields, but another made a statement that marching up a mountain with a face shield on would not be preferred. I would be inclined to agree, as I would worry about additional heat, the shield fogging up, potential vision distortion, etc. On the flip side, more protection for the noggin and its surrounding parts is definitely something I would favor.

No free lunches; adding protection (or weaponry, or water, or fuel, or food, or batteries, or...) gives a plus in one area but a negative in another -- true whether the weapons system is a fighter plane or an infantryman.

Best you can try to do is "optimize" for some set of functions, which is really a way of saying of coming up with the set of compromises that does you the most good for the least harm in the most likely conditions.

[lonewolf]

There ain't no such thing as a free lunch. Agreed. The more moving parts a thing has, the more it may be prone to breakage. The heavier, the less likelier to be used effectively. Some form of flip/slide up face shield (shatterproof, etc.) that is lightweight and will not fall down when not wanted. Just my 2 ¢ .... Basically, keep is simple, keep it safe, keep it effective. That makes is usable and useful. That's worth more than 2 ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ......

[Zoomie]

I don't see a real downside to a helmet that is stronger and lighter, unless of course some other problem such as degradation occurs. Secondly, it said the helmet was capable of stopping a 7.62 round... 7.62x39? 7.62X51? 7.62X54R? And that's not even going into different types of bullets.

[jamisjockey]

I don't see a real downside to a helmet that is stronger and lighter, unless of course some other problem such as degradation occurs. Secondly, it said the helmet was capable of stopping a 7.62 round... 7.62x39? 7.62X51? 7.62X54R? And that's not even going into different types of bullets.

Just a hunch, but I bet they are testing it against the x39. Its the preferred round of our enemies world wide, after all.

[Grammy]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_GIQ3eKOvc

The above link is a 1M:23S long video of British Army soldiers who were
saved by bullets striking their helmets, armored vests, or iPods.

**************************************************************************************

http://www.gizmag.com/face-shields-on-a ... ets/17037/

The above link refers to research showing that American military helmets
should have face protection in order to more fully protect from IED blasts, etc.

SIA

As a former paratrooper with the 82nd, not sure how this would work. The shield would need to be strong enough to sustain a close proximity blast. I'm not sure it could be an attachment, rather a perminant type fixture on the helmet.

You certainly could not jump with some type of shield unless it was made like a aviator's helmet. I think that would be pretty expensive, I like the idea though.
Jim

[The Annoyed Man]

I know that the alternative is less than desirable, but imagine what the impact must be like when a .30 cal rifle round is stopped cold by your helmet without deflecting it, fired from close range. It must be like getting hit by a sledgehammer. That's better than having the round penetrate, but I'll bet it would give you a heck of a headache.

[sugar land dave]

I know that the alternative is less than desirable, but imagine what the impact must be like when a .30 cal rifle round is stopped cold by your helmet without deflecting it, fired from close range. It must be like getting hit by a sledgehammer. That's better than having the round penetrate, but I'll bet it would give you a heck of a headache.

Probably like getting beaned by a 100 mph fastball. I wouldn't like that either!