Thread by @Spadex716i

#Thread || Let's talk about my favourite topic • special forces Military Helmet setup. (1/40) 🧵

This is going to be a surface level overview of all the different aspects of helmet selection and setup

Caution : it's still going to be a long read

The first thing you need to set-up your helmet is a helmet ƪ(‾.‾“)┐

There are two types of helmets you can choose from :

`• Non ballestic bump helmet
`• Ballestic helmet

Both have its own pros and cons

1. A non ballestic BUMP Helmet

• As the name suggests, a bump helmet doesn't provides any ballestic protection to your head.

• They are cheaper, much more comfortable & lighter

When it's comes to helmet weight, every little bit counts because it's stay on top of your head which going to to put a lot of strain on your neck and spine

This weight will only increase once you put accessories like night vision devices, communication devices, stove, lights etc on the helmet. A Bump helmet Excel in this department

Bump helmets are made up of polycarbonate hence they are light. You can wear them all day long even with accessories without suffering much fatigue

Another overlooked feature of a bump helmet is ventilation. Bump helmet have Holes on the top hence they can breathe a lot better which is a big benifit if you're in a hot / humid environment or you need to do a lot of strenuous activities.

Maybe Ventilation is the major reason why indian army's 10 PARA SF aka desert scorpion have standardized ops core bump helmet for its soldiers as their AOP is mainly in desert (purely my assumptions) pic of 10 para :-

Few well-known bump helmets are

• ops core fast bump helmet
• team Wendy EXFIL™ LTP

Ops core ones are a bit more flexible for mounting accessories while team windy may be a bit more comfortable to wear because of padding and might last longer

2. Ballestic helmet.

If you are in a place where ballestic protection is not just a need but a necessity to survive then ballestic helmet is for you

Most ballestic helmet nowadays are NIJ III A Certified that's means it can protect you from pistol rounds and Shrapnel. Its also much more durable than bump helmets and last much longer but are heavy

Indian soldiers with EXFIL HCH

Ballestic helmet, needless to say cost more than a regular bump helmet (almost 10X).

Few renowned brands are
• MKU
• Team Wendy
• Ops core
• hard head veterans etc.

You must have observed that many indian soldiers don't wear helmets during jungle or long distance mission. Its because a ballestic helmet can absolutely wreak your neck. Bump helmet can shine in such situations

♠️ Helmet cover

After helmet selection you may need a cover for your helmet. These covers provide 3 main functionality

• camouflage

• make helmet more flexible to use

• protect your Helmet

• Spherical shape don't occur naturally hence helmet is easy to spot for human eye. Helmet also have a shiny finish on the surface which can give the position always.

A helmet covers can break those smooth outlines hence helps in camouflage.

For bump helmet you can use a ventilated cover for better ventilation.

you can also use camouflage netting to breakout the helmet outline or silhouette of your helmet even further.

Israeli use a much extreme version for their helmet. Its called Mitznefet. These covers not only helps in camouflage but Also protect helmet from damage like scratch etc

Good covers also have attachment points and additional velcro for attaching IR patches, battery back, counter weight.

Many of them Also have bungee cord for routing cables or tugging different strobes. Here's few helmet covers provide by Armasen tactical 🇮🇳

♠️ Night vision devices & mounting options.

Helmets are provided with shrouds and side rails to attach different devices.

These helmet are standard in all major military except india

The most important accessory on any helmet is night vision devices.
It can be image intensifiers, digital
thermal devices and many more.

We'll talk about NVDs in some other thread otherwise this thread will never end.

Inorder to mount those NVDs to your helmet shroud you need a mounting plateform. Their are different types of mounts that attach to different types of shrouds however the most widely used ons are....

`• dovetail Mount
`• rhino mount

. Rhino vs dovetail

A rino mount are cheeper than dovetail While dovetail holds your NVG more firmly. Rhino trends to wear out over time & become floppy.

Video showing a modernized Rhino mount

(25/40)
A dovetail Mount also lock your nigh vision device far closer & lower to your helmet while rino as name suggests tend to put it very High up.

Video showing dovetail (on your Left) against rino (right)

The above feature really helps when you work in close spaces.

E.g. you are jumping from a helicopter or entering in a confined room, a NVD sitting too High on your helmet may bump into things and break apart.

Setting your device too High also Swift the balance of you helmet

These mounts helps you to adjust your night vision in X, Y & Z axis.
NVD Mounts is a extensive topic and will require a new thread.

Setting up NVD is a real expensive business, just the mount itself cost rs 50,000 but in return it gives you a literal superpower

If your helmet don't have any provision to mount shrouds them your only options are NVG ratchet straps, mounting head crusher on top of helmet or use MKU MACH type solutions

Now you have a helmet, a helmet cover and a Mount. The next big thing you need is balance !

30/40 🧵

A NVD sits in the head, hanging out over the front of your face which drag the helmet down from the front. Also, these attachment on the helmet changes its weight distribution which inturn make the helmet cumbersome to wear for long hence you need something to balance them out.

♠️ counterweight and balancing

Balancing is a huge thing with the helmet that's why Counterweight is important in any helmet setup.

A Counterweight sit behind your helmet to compensate for helmet dragging down

Their are tons of Counterweight pouches available in the market. There are ones that velcro onto the helmet, there are ones that bolt on the rails of the helmet or integrated on the helmet cover.

Basically you put some weight in these pouches like spare battery etc which balances out your nods.

Counterweight is not the only option, you can tight the suspension and straps of the helmet or train your neck muscles to bull kumar (col narendra kumar) level both of them are uncomfortable to say the least

Here are few picture of indian soldier with tonbo TI, you can see that his helmet is dragging down on his forehead. Notice the position of his Thermal because of that

The next big thing you want to put on the helmet is a COMTAC.

COMTAC is a expensive and complicated piece of kit which again deserve it's own thread but I'll try to give a overview

It is a communication and hearing protection headset that connects to your radio and provides

`• secure and hands-free communication

`• protect your hearing from hazardous impulse nosie like rifle firing

`• improve sense of situation awareness by amplify surrounding sounds

You can wear your headset underneath your helmet or you can put in on the helmet's side rails. They also helps in balancing out the helmet by providing additional stability from the sides

Few options are :

`• 3M peltor comtac

`• ops core AMP

`• Safari land liberator IV (also used
by Marcos )

♠️ Other accessories (optional)

There are tons of other accessories you can put depending upon your needs, the most common arey IR stones , IR patches and torches

Let's end the thread here, I don't want to turn it inta a research paper.

Peace out