Best most durable combat helmet? USGI vs non USGI???

[alfred10]

I am looking for a tough multi hit helmet that will not crack or die in a trunk from the heat, cold etc. Would any of these help you survive a crash?
What is the best helmet that the military ever issued? Which ones crack and break easily? Would prefer IIIA type rating. Im guessing no helmets stop rifle rounds? Looking at the second chance PST, US PASGT, USMC LWH, US MICH, etc

Any info would be great...

Why did the PASGT get upgraded?

[Spurholder]

Hmmm...don't know if this is what you're looking for, but a buddy of mine was shot in the head while wearing an ACH and lived to fight another day. Here's the story:

http://www.usaasc.info/alt_online/article.cfm?iID=0704&aid=07

[awm14hp]

Are you using it for driving or Field use or everything or what ? Heat is a big killer of alot of gear if you dont have to keep it in the over (be it car or truck ) Dont

[JSantoro]

Why did the PASGT get upgraded?

Why does ANYTHING get upgraded? Because of developments in materials, more effecient manufacturing process, better designs. PASGT came forward in the 80s; the industry has learned a trick or two in that time-frame. Primarily, ballistic helmets have become lighter while providing the same or better levels of protection as the original design.

While there's nothing wrong with the Lightweight design, I personally think that the MICH/ACH configuration represents what you're likely to find for the best possible price for the protection level it provides. Honestly, it's mostly a personal preference; that damned brim on the Lightweight always pissed me off. Totally uneccessary. I managed to pick up an MSA MICH at a gun show for $200, but I caught a lucky break. If it hadn't had the right #s and tags on it, I would have treated it like all the other likely frauds at gun shows. Generally, you're looking at at least $400, more like $600+. An Ops-Core will be even more, and that's the new hotness, these days.

As for crashes; between the fact that these things are jump-rated (because folks bump their noggins when they play their Air-Drop POW games) and the innumerable IED vs. vehicle events, you can count on one of those helmets to give you at least the same crash survivability as a decent bicycle helmet.

If one is silly enough to place a helmet on the deck by pitching it crown-first onto the ground from man-height, over time you will crack the epoxies that laminate the ballistic material together, degrading performance. So, just don't treat it like a soccer ball. That's regardless of manufacturer or style.

[SIGguy229]

I am looking for a tough multi hit helmet that will not crack or die in a trunk from the heat, cold etc. Would any of these help you survive a crash?
What is the best helmet that the military ever issued? Which ones crack and break easily? Would prefer IIIA type rating. Im guessing no helmets stop rifle rounds? Looking at the second chance PST, US PASGT, USMC LWH, US MICH, etc

Any info would be great...

Why did the PASGT get upgraded?

PASGT was upgraded because of feedback from the field...helmet was too big, bulky and heavy.

I have the MICH and trust my life with it...in Iraq and Afghanistan.

[ca_fireman19]

The PASGT isn't a ballistic helmet...it was designed to shield you from shrapnel more than anything. The MICH/ACH is a ballistic helmet rated IIIA and are known to protect from rifle some rounds. If you have the money, go with an SDS Warrior Helmet.

[militarymoron]

shrapnel/fragments are considered a ballistic threat - the PASGT is a ballistic helmet with a level II rating in its original form, IIRC.

[Iraq Ninja]

I have never seen a ballistic helmet fail over here from the heat, and they are normally stored in vehicles that get very hot.

I don't know of any multi-hit helmet in the US inventory. It is an oxymoron.

Just because a few lucky people survived getting shot while wearing a helmet, it is no reason to assume that it is good enough for such a task. That is why we have testing and standards. Helmets fail more often than not when shot, but it doesn't make interesting news.

Helmets worn in vehicles create an additional risk of C Spine injury. Check out what NACAR drivers use now.

I wear a helmet not to stop bullets, but to stop my head bouncing against armored glass during a car wreck or explosion.

[thopkins22]

Helmets worn in vehicles create an additional risk of C Spine injury. Check out what NACAR drivers use now.

So far out of my lane that my license might get revoked...but you know how curiosity is.
Presumably this is what drives the demand for lighter and lighter helmets and equipment, sometimes at the cost of less coverage?

[JSantoro]

Simply making it lighter and less bulky for the SAME coverage is reason enough to drive development. Some of the cuts you see out there are for no other reason than to more effectively utilize comm headsets/ear-pro; weight reduction wasn't the goal, just a side benefit.

The Mothers of America would love it if every swinging Richard ended up looking like the ballistic version of this:
http://img6.imageshack.us/img6/4199/redmany.jpg
...plus ammo/tools/water/etc. In addition to the weight you end up carting around and fighting to maintain anything resembling mobility, you have to fight the bulk that limits range of motion. I find that far more tiring, in the long run, than the weight. The leverage required affects you in ways that have very little to do with raw strength and endurance. It's simply not practical, and I've seen instances in which I'm absolutely certain that that kid would still be alive today if he'd been able to dodge instead of depending on what amounts to a personal static fortification.

Helmets are no different; they get in the way of sights, press up against sustainment gear (backpacks) when you want to turn your head, interfere with hearing with the head-in-bucket effect...add to that the fact that you're adding weight to something that's on the end of a swivel, so any whipping motion you end up having is being done with 2-3x more weight on the end. Right side of my neck is all jacked up from instances such as that, while wearing the USMC "Lightweight" helmet. It's only light relative to the previous iteration. They're ALL heavy and increase your chance of spinal injury if you have Gs applied to you, with the trade-off being that you MIGHT not get your grape punctured for X cost. Design compromise.

We all end up basically trading one set of potential complications for another, and hoping that the lab-coat guys come up with a better solution.