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Question:Best Fitting Helmet


abn deuce

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A question to the helmet collectors , what country would you judge to have manufactured the best fitting ....as in most comfortable to wear helmet ? as in adjustablility ,weight . Would you judge that seperate from its protection value ?

 

Could they be judged on overall proformance ,or would you judge them based on which war they were used in.

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A question to the helmet collectors , what country would you judge to have manufactured the best fitting ....as in most comfortable to wear helmet ? as in adjustablility ,weight . Would you judge that seperate from its protection value ?

 

Could they be judged on overall proformance ,or would you judge them based on which war they were used in.

 

 

Hi.

 

For me it's got to be US M1 Helmets from WW2-Vietnam,the amount of adjustability was far superior to British lids,and still is come to think of it,the materials were superior,the fact they had a separate liner,was a bonus.The list is endless!!!

 

I like collecting Brit lids too,but if you compare the two ...US lids are always going to win hands over..well that's my personal opinion anyway,good question BTW.

 

Cheers Gary:-)

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You can instantly rule out the first model Clansman radio bonedome with the velcro pull-out adjusters. The velcro lost its stick after about ten minutes and thereafter the two earpieces clamped themselves onto your head, leading to a dependency on painkillers.

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I had not thought of making a worst fitting helmet thread but You both have a good point , no reason why the two cant be done in one thread.

 

Any one have any comments on WWII Soviet , Italian or Japanese Helmets

 

What about Helmets used in the other branches of the military like the Navy or Airforce

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Personally - I rather like the Soviet "helmets" - quite comfy, throat mikes (or larygaphones) are built in. They are lighter than the Western hard shell ones but - from my experience of being bounced around - almost if not actually as effective as the hard shelled Western one.

And for the cold weather you get fur lined ones!!! :-D

 

Only problem - as I found the hard was at W&P last year - if some kind soul drops one into a puddle of water and diesel it is impossible to the the mic's and ear peices out without unstitching the helmet for cleaning...

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British Mk 6 Helmets should be ruled out too, wearing these lid's is like,having your head in a vice,I have yet to meet anybody who said it was/is a comfortable lid to wear;)

 

Mine used to be alright, once the straps were properly adjusted and the suede leather chin cup had actually taken the shape of your chin they were good, i had my adjustment straps taped so it wouldnt shift, they are quite a heavy helmet, but they would take a good beating and they are well padded.

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  • 4 weeks later...
Mine used to be alright, once the straps were properly adjusted and the suede leather chin cup had actually taken the shape of your chin they were good, i had my adjustment straps taped so it wouldnt shift, they are quite a heavy helmet, but they would take a good beating and they are well padded.

 

 

 

Mine never was comfy, maybe I have a weird shaped head:cheesy:

 

I taped the straps up too, and even added a bit of padding in the crown ,but still never felt comfy!!

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The worst, most uncomfortable helmet EVER has to be the old British Mark 5 tin hat, finally replaced by the fibre GS Mark 6 during 1986.......

 

This bloody awful "turtle" shaped helmet first appeared during 1941 on field trials, evolving into the Mark 3 for D-Day......the Mark 4 was the same but with allegedly improved chinstrap locations and a removable liner with a "lift-the-dot" fastener in the top....and then this in turn during (I think) the late-1960's/early 1970's) became the Mark 5 when the liner was changed from oilcloth-rexine to a fibre type with a stockinette head-cradle....

 

I HATED the Mark 5 with a vengeance.......the lining was made from the most irritating material ever made that caused your head to itch uncontrollably after 5 minutes of wear....

 

Plus, the entire helmet was so unstable on the head that the minute you hit the deck in the prone position the 'kin thing would fly off your head and roll away several yards from where you had landed........it didn't matter how tightly you had made the chinstrap, this always happened.....the strap itself was made from elasticated webbing, so tightening was a pretty useless exercise anyway, and when you were running with the thing on this made the helmet bounce up and down on your head uncontrollably.......no wonder it was often termed "the boingy"......>:(

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The worst, most uncomfortable helmet EVER has to be the old British Mark 5 tin hat, finally replaced by the fibre GS Mark 6 during 1986.......

 

This bloody awful "turtle" shaped helmet first appeared during 1941 on field trials, evolving into the Mark 3 for D-Day......the Mark 4 was the same but with allegedly improved chinstrap locations and a removable liner with a "lift-the-dot" fastener in the top....and then this in turn during (I think) the late-1960's/early 1970's) became the Mark 5 when the liner was changed from oilcloth-rexine to a fibre type with a stockinette head-cradle....

 

I HATED the Mark 5 with a vengeance.......the lining was made from the most irritating material ever made that caused your head to itch uncontrollably after 5 minutes of wear....

 

Plus, the entire helmet was so unstable on the head that the minute you hit the deck in the prone position the 'kin thing would fly off your head and roll away several yards from where you had landed........it didn't matter how tightly you had made the chinstrap, this always happened.....the strap itself was made from elasticated webbing, so tightening was a pretty useless exercise anyway, and when you were running with the thing on this made the helmet bounce up and down on your head uncontrollably.......no wonder it was often termed "the boingy"......>:(

 

 

Having been a victim of said helmet in my RAF days, I concur wholeheartedly!!

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Having been a victim of said helmet in my RAF days, I concur wholeheartedly!!

 

The best use for a Mark 5 helmet was as a demonstration tool for the power of a thunderflash......

 

Simply activate the thunderflash, place the tin lid over the top, and run.......

 

The only downside was what goes up, must come down.....:undecided:

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The best use for a Mark 5 helmet was as a demonstration tool for the power of a thunderflash......

 

Simply activate the thunderflash, place the tin lid over the top, and run.......

 

The only downside was what goes up, must come down.....:undecided:

 

Happy days!:laugh:

How often did you spot some poor sod with it on backwards!!

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Happy days!:laugh:

How often did you spot some poor sod with it on backwards!!

 

Ha Ha ! It just made it look even more ridiculous......

 

The strange thing was that you were more at risk of injury from the helmet itself than any missile.....

 

I seem to recall that the lining was secured to a long steel "spike" welded into the top-inside of the helmet shell.....you could guarantee that some B*****d would wallop you on top of the helmet with a pick-helve at some point, pushing the spike into your bonce....

 

Whilst I sympathise with anyone complaining about the fibre GS Mark 6, all I can say is is you want to know what real pain is, you should have experienced its predecessor...!

 

Happy days indeed....! :)

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I remember some of the bs we were told, such as in the event of a "sunburst event" lay flat on your face in the direction of the detonation and the helmet was shaped to deflect the blast over your back! Yeah right!

I can still feel (in my mind) that bloody spike.

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The US Pasgt lid,is pretty comfy once it it is adjusted properly.

 

Czech VZ 58 , very comfy lid in use.

 

French F1,very comfy lid in use.

 

 

I agree with the comments about British Tin lids,very uncomfortable, and tend to flop about ;)

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I remember some of the bs we were told, such as in the event of a "sunburst event" lay flat on your face in the direction of the detonation and the helmet was shaped to deflect the blast over your back! Yeah right!

I can still feel (in my mind) that bloody spike.

 

As if it wasn't unstable enough, during the early days in Northern Ireland some bright spark though it would be a great idea to attach a 2-ton heavy perspex "riot" visor to the front of the Mark 5......this disastrous idea resulted in an additional chinstrap attachment being introduced that went round the back of the head to stop the helmet from tipping over the eyes....hmmmmmm... mind you, the weight of the visor did at least reduce the "boing - boing" experience when running....:undecided:

 

I never got to experience the GS Mark 6 as I was out by then.....although did briefly use the early version of the fibre para helmet (the type with the PVC harness)....this was, from memory, a fairly comfortable item (mind you, anything was after the Mark 5 tin hat)....

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  • 1 month later...
I remember some of the bs we were told, such as in the event of a "sunburst event" lay flat on your face in the direction of the detonation and the helmet was shaped to deflect the blast over your back! Yeah right!

I can still feel (in my mind) that bloody spike.

 

Aah but if you face away from the bucket of sunshine, the positive wave gets inside the helmet and takes it downrange, with your head still inside.

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british wartime motorcycle helmets must rate quite high on the list of most uncomfortable ,they start to press on the front of your head at 2 points after half an hour or sos wear and bike riders can often be seen pushing them backwards at every opportunity

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