Basic Helmet Setup: The How’s and Why’s

Alright guys, I've been getting a lot of questions about helmet setup, so I thought we'd do a quick video and explain some of my thoughts and philosophies behind wearing a helmet. So obviously like I've talked about before, my thoughts are simply that, my thoughts. So if you disagree with me, please feel free to comment, explain why you think I'm right or wrong, and we can have a good discussion, get a little bit of knowledge going between us, and that will work out for us. So there's three things I look at. I look at protection, the equipment that I'll be wearing on the helmet or with it, and finally the environment that I'm going to be in. So the first thing that we're going to talk about is protection. So when it comes to protection, there are three levels of protection that I typically see in helmet designs. So starting from the very bottom, we have a bump helmet. A bump helmet is going to be offering us protection from impacts when we fall or things of that nature, so it's not going to stop any type of rounds, but it's good for training or for doing airborne ops. Next thing we have are helmets that are rated for frag protection. They can protect us against fragmentation. They are rated to stop nine millimeter rounds. Can they stop rifle rounds? Yes, just realize that they're not specifically designed to do so. So we have our fragmentation. Finally, we have our level 3A. These helmets are designed to stop up to a 44 magnum round. Now in this case, this particular helmet, which is the Delta X, is designed to stop four rounds of 44 magnum. So how often are you going to be shot in the head with a 44 magnum? Probably not that often, but what that equates to is you think if a round from an AK-47 or an AKM is fired at you from 400 or 500 meters away, that's 760 by 39, so by the time it hits your helmet, how much energy does it have left? Not a whole lot. So what you see is that these level 3A helmets, depending on the distance and the angle of impact, will can do some good saves for you. I've seen these helmets do some good saves in theater, so realize that these do work quite well. So when it comes to protection, guys, you need to find the correct level of protection that you need. For civilian law enforcement, you should generally stick to level 3A because you're probably going to be more concerned about incoming rounds hitting you in the head and doming you and killing you. Now when it comes to military, you're concerned with that, but you're also very concerned with frag protection as well. Realize that the level 3A helmets are also rated for frag protection. So typically going to recommend if you have to buy your own helmet, I don't know why you would be doing this, but if for whatever reason you have to or you want a different design, make sure you go for that level 3A. And then if you just need a helmet for training or if you need to just, let's say, mount night vision, the bump helmets are not a bad idea at all. Some good bump helmets that you see out there are Team Wendy and you also have Opscore, which kind of revolutionized the market with their designs. When we're on the topic of protection, let's talk really quickly about a lot of these cheap, high-cut helmets that we're seeing out there, guys. So I'm seeing a lot of really cheap, high-cut helmets and the problem with them is a lot of them are manufactured in China with a lesser material than what we manufacture a lot of helmets with here in America. So what you see is less protection. So yeah, they do cost less and I understand it's a hard bullet to bite buying a $1,300 helmet, but when you're trying to protect yourself and keep yourself from dying, it's worth it spending that extra money to make sure that you're going to live versus having a helmet that, hey, might stop the round, but might have some very serious back-face deformation. Back-face deformation is when the round impacts the helmet, how much that helmet bows inwards from that round. So if it stops the incoming rifle round, but then it bows in five inches and buries itself into your brain and still kills you, it's not really going to work out for you. So make sure that you buy a well-manufactured helmet from a reputable manufacturer who has a lot of good data. Next thing we're going to talk about guys is equipment. So equipment is going to dictate what type of helmet I have, because obviously a high-cut helmet is going to give me less protection around the side of my head versus the full-cut helmet, like the MIC-H, the modular integrated communications helmet. So if I'm not going to be wearing a lot of communication headsets or comms or things like that for a long period of time, I'm probably going to stick with a full-cut helmet. I realize that the full-cut helmets like the MIC-H, they were made to work with comms and they do work with pelters and swords or whatever communication devices you're planning on using. However, they're not the most comfortable. For me particularly, the shell I typically wear is a medium. And so with that, I still get a lot of pressure on the communication headsets themselves and they push it down to the tops of my ears and gives me a pretty bad headache after about an hour or two. Now, if I move to a large shell, it does alleviate that, but then I'm wearing like a Darth Vader helmet and it's out to here, so it doesn't work for me. So again, that particular helmet doesn't fit my head so well. However, if I'm going to be wearing communication equipment, I'm probably going to go with a high-cut helmet. And that's what you're seeing a lot of nowadays because it's really important to communicate and to be able to hear a lot. And so this active protection and communication devices that we have, like the pelters and the swords, allow you to do that. When it comes to high-cut helmets, there's a lot of different types of high-cut helmets. You have the super high-cut, things like the OPS Core Maritime, or in this case, the Delta-X. And then you have the normal high-cut helmets. Those would be things like the original OPS Core high-cut, or one of the variations of the MICH helmets you have that are high-cut, or something along those lines. In this case, the other high-cut helmet I have is the Crye Airframe. So we're going to take a moment to talk about the difference between the Crye Airframe and all the other helmet designs that you see out there. The Crye Airframe is a really cool design. It has a two-piece shell, and that allows some passive ventilation to your head. That's really cool. However, they don't fit all heads perfectly. In my case, the medium, which is a typical shell size that I wear, does not fit my head at all, even with ultra-small pads on them. So because of that, I have to go to a large shell. Now, because I'm wearing a large shell, the ears on this actually come down far enough to where if I'm trying to wear them rail mounted, they come down too far in my ears, where either it doesn't get a good seal, or it presses down into the top of my ears, causing some discomfort after a couple hours. Now, some of you might be saying, hey, go ahead and suck it up, Buttercup. You're being a bitch. Hey, that's definitely true, but at the same time, if you have so much pain, you have a crazy headache that's going on that's impacting your ability to keep up situational awareness, there's no point to do that. Your gear should be comfortable to the point where it doesn't impact you physically, if at all possible. So in this case, because I wear a large shell, I actually have to wear my communications equipment underneath my helmet. Now, because it is high cut, I don't have any pressure pushing down on my ears, but because I have that high cut shell, it's a little larger than I want it to be. So I have a lot of, I kind of have to be more mindful of my head. In addition to that, the Cry Airframe is quite tall in the front. So because of that, I have a tendency to bump my head, so I'm going through doorways, that types of things, exiting vehicles. So just something to think about with the Cry Airframe. If the medium fits your head and you wear a medium, or if you got a huge dome and you got to wear the large and it fits your head, and make extra larges as well, then great. It's very particular to a certain type of head shape. Research online, try to figure out if it works for you. If it does, good, because these are very cool helmets. Realize that the regular Cry Airframes are quite light. However, they only offer frag protection. When you move to the level 3A, which is a Cry Airframe ATX, you do, again, get that good ballistic protection, but at the same time, you add quite a bit of weight, adding about another pound to the helmet. So you say to yourself, hey, a pound really isn't that much. And I agree with you. However, put that on your head, on your cervical spine, and you start getting some compression, you're definitely going to feel it. For all my boys who went through airborne or been through some of that bullcrap training, you understand what it's like to wear that MICH helmet, that really heavy helmet, for a long period of time. There's nothing better than taking that thing off at the end of the day, because it really can do some damage. And there's plenty of guys who have had actual neck injuries from wearing that thing for long periods of time. So just be aware of that, right? If we can save weight, all the better. Now, let's go ahead and compare that to the Delta X. So on the Delta X, it's a super high cut. So it's a very high cut. I think there's 16 more millimeters of space removed between the high cut versus super high cut. Because of that, these clear my ears quite well. I have kind of a long head and long face. So that works very well for me, and I'm able to wear these mounted on the rails. Now, why is that important? Well, it's important because for those of you who sweat out there, you know, my heavy sweaters, you know, especially when wearing pelter headsets or swords in hot heat, with those suctioned against your ears, you get all that sweat trapped in there. So what's cool about these is that you don't actually have to have them suctioned down into your head all the time. They actually click in and out. What that allows you to do is cool off your ears when you don't need them down all the way. So right now with the helmet, I don't actually have it suctioned down all the way. It's off, so it allows passive airflow between my ears and the headset. It allows me to cool off. It's a pretty cool little feature, and it'd be even better if I could use it with the Cry Airframe, because the Cry Airframe also has that passive venting feature on the top of the head. But again, I like that weight savings that I get with the Delta X or the Opscore Maritime. Once you're ready to roll with these headsets, when they're rail mounted, you simply push onto the top and click them into place. Once they're clicked into place, they're good to go, and you can do all the crazy operating things you think you're going to be doing. Now what is nice is that when they are clicked off, you can still hear communication that's going through, and you can hear sound, so they still work perfectly. So again, just another thing to think about as far as your equipment setup. If you're going to be wearing night vision, a lot of guys are wearing bump helmets and using those to mount their night vision equipment, because they don't want to wear the skull cap, because that thing is pretty unwieldy and doesn't work that great. Well, I'm sure people have made it look great. In any case, they're using bump helmets. So a lot of the bump helmets I'm seeing used are the Opscore, and I think that's an excellent choice. The Opscore uses a LuxLiner system, which for whatever reason, stabilizes night vision on your head extremely well. I'd say even better than the Team Wendy CamFit system, which is what I have installed on both my Delta X and my Cryairframe. So again, if you're going to be running primarily NVGs, you might want to think about going to an Opscore system. Now with these, I typically mount monoculars on here. Sometimes PVS-15s. It just depends on what I'm doing. In any case, especially if I'm running PVS-15s, make sure you have some type of counterweight on the other side. If I don't have a counterweight there, the weight of that night vision device at the front is going to push the helmet forward, and that's going to be extremely uncomfortable for me, for you, for everybody. So make sure you have those nice little counterweights there. I know it seems counterintuitive because you're adding weight to the helmet, and I just talked about how your helmet should be light, but without that weight counterbalancing it, it's going to be incredibly uncomfortable. So make sure you do that correctly. While we're talking about equipment, a couple quick notes about communication with the team. If you're working with a team and you have some type of, if you're using night vision, that type of thing, you might want to have some type of IR signaling device. In this case, I have an MS2000 strobe. This thing has been around for a long time, works really well. On top, I have IR glint tape or reflective IR American flag. Again, just make sure you have that kind of stuff worked out through teammates beforehand so that you know what to look for and that type of thing. When I first got into the military, we watched a nice little video that explained when you're wearing the MIC-H, you want to have it about a half an inch above your brow. Now, for the most part, I do use that. Sometimes I wear my helmets a little bit lower, and I see a lot of people who tend to wear them a lot lower. So the reason you want to have it at least a little bit above your brow, half an inch is ideal, is because if you ever have to use goggles or anything like that, and you don't have that half inch of clearance between your helmet and your brow, it's going to be really hard to put any type of goggles on. These goggles are extremely handy to use when in vehicles, jumping, that type of thing, or heck, things get dirty when the rounds start flying. So those are really helpful to have on you. So again, if you can have that half inch, all the better. I don't quite have it on all the helmets that I wear due to the shape of my head. But again, strive for that. When you put this on, it shouldn't feel tight at any places. It should feel like it just contours your head. When I put on my Delta X, which is probably one of my helmets that I have, it just slips right over my head. It feels right in place. I don't feel like there's any pressure points or anything like that. When I click it in, the bow closure system and everything works together to keep it really stable on my head. What that means is that when I'm looking up and down, I'm not going to have any shift of the helmet. And when I put my head left or right, there's going to be no shifting. So I did a little dance move for you there. So you can see that I didn't really have any shift in the helmet. And that's good. That's what I'm looking for. A little play is okay. Just make sure you don't have too much. If you're using night vision devices, realize that that's going to be accentuated because you're going to have more weight on your helmet. So again, make sure that works out for you. Another note is if you're using comms and you have this little mic, a lot of people like to have it really far from their mouth. I found that people aren't able to hear me that well, unless I'm kissing that mic. So I like to have that mic right up against my lips. Again, you're going to find what works for you, but typically this is what I see done on the field. Realize with my cryo airframe, when I'm wearing that, I tend to have it a little bit lower due to the size of the shell. And that's because I have to wear that large shell because cryo is a really weird sizing standard. So again, depending on the type of helmet you're wearing, you might have some weird stuff going on. It's like the classic ops core thing where they have Bert and Ernie and they're both wearing, I think Ernie's wearing the large, Bert's wearing the small because they have different head shapes, all that type of thing. So it's not going to be that extreme for everybody unless you have a really weird head shape and that's okay. Everybody still loves you. I'm sure you're very handsome, but just make sure you find the correct shell size for your head. Finally, last thing I want to think about guys is environment. So that's what am I going into, right? That's both the type of weather that I'm going to have and also whether I'm actually going to be encountering people with rifles or IEDs or that type of thing. So hey, if my environment is I'm going to be jumping in sunny weather from an airplane, I'm just going to go with the bump helmet. But if my environment is I'm going to be going into a unknown situation where there might be explosives, bombs, dudes with guns, all that type of stuff, I'm going to want to have something that's going to allow me to have a little bit more protection. Then also if the weather there is going to be 120 degrees, I'm probably going to want to have a setup that's going to allow me to passively cool myself. So whether it be the cry airframe, whether it be helmets so I can pop those pelters off or some combination of the two, that will be best for me. Because again, the problem with having those headsets underneath the helmets is all that sweat is just going to be in there the entire time you're in field. You can pop them off a little bit, but you're going to have to hold them off in order to cool yourself down. So it's not as easy as just popping those off like you can with the rail mounted pelters. So again, guys, find whatever is going to work for you. Realize that there is so much that goes into helmet setup and design, that type of thing, whether you want to have lights or your GoPro or whatever little GoPro cam type thing you want to have so you can videotape yourself clearing corners in your mom's basement, that type of thing. So just realize that every time you add something to your helmet, you're adding weight. You're also adding bulk. Things coming out, things going up, that type of thing. So when you're trying to move around and you have all that crap on your helmet, you're going to end up running into things. So what's most important with any of these guys is that you practice with your helmet on. A lot of people will put their helmet on for 30 minutes and be like, oh yeah, good to go. Sick helmet, bro. But the problem is that you don't really start feeling a lot of those pressure points, those hot spots until you've been wearing that helmet for a couple hours. So please train your helmets, move around in it, go prone with it, see if it shifts forward, all that type of stuff to understand whether or not that equipment is going to work for you. Realize why these helmets are quite expensive. If you want to get started for the cheap, you can go for an MICH. That's a modular integrated communications helmet. It's pretty cheap. You can get them for $100 to $200 and if you upgrade those with Team Wendy pads or Team Wendy cam retention system and all that kind of stuff, you have a pretty comfortable helmet that's not going to break the bank and also offers you level 3A protection. So again, find whatever is going to work for you guys. Thank you for tuning in guys. Remember, no matter what, look cool.