Landships II

James H · Legend

U.S. Experimental Helmets

Tim R · Hero

Thanks for posting this James, I am very interested in U.S. Helmets of this time.
I have collected quite a few myself.

All the best
TR

Paul · Sergeant

Really weird pots. The first three helmets on the row below look a little bit like German helmets.
But what is the first thing, from the right,�in the upper row all about?�Wear� this man a hat under�the helmet? Is�this designedfor drill officers, in case they can keep their hat on?�
Second from the right looks very dangerous. Like plating from a knight. Like "Upright-walking-into-machinegunfire."
Haven't seen the video yet: when the americans developed this? After WW1? I thought US-Troops wear the English Helmet, because they had no own, when they come to europe.

James H · Legend

The US chose the British style rather than the Adrian in 1917, partly because the UK offered to provide about 1/2 million free. They continued with it until 1942. In the meantime, these were attempts to create a better helmet, but none was successful. Some were one-offs, but some were produced in the thousands and actually tested in the field. Henry Ford was responsible for the production of at least two of the types. The problem was, as you say, that most looked too much like the Stahlhelm.

Types shown include the Darth Vader, the Ned Kelly, the Velodrome, and the Cyberman. The vid is really worth a look.

theburk · Captain

not to long ago i came upon part of the department of the armys medical archives and a e-book about wound ballistics and the development of body armor, the body armor worn in WWII by bomber pilots is quite interesting. and yes the main problem with most helmet designs was how much they looked like the stalhelm today the current US army helmet looks quite a bit like the stalhelm with canvas covering, though the current isnt a design based on a dark ages german helmet design but rather intensive ballistics research.

Paul · Sergeant

The design of the Stahlhelm is, if not the best, one of the best, I think. This form provides the best protect for the most parts of the head. Only the neck guard maybe a little too big. At least at the WW1 Model. (M1916, I guess.)

By the way, the Stahlhelm of the NVA (East German army) was also a experimental one from WW2. He was designed by Erich Kiesan in 1942/43. But it was too late to produce enough of them. Moreover it looked too much like the russian helmet and the�risk of confusion was too high. Based on the angle of 45� he gave a much better shatter protection. The NVA adopted them as M56.

-- Edited by Paul at 20:14, 2007-06-12

James H · Legend

theburk wrote:

the current US army helmet looks quite a bit like the stalhelm with canvas covering, though the current isnt a design based on a dark ages german helmet design but rather intensive ballistics research.

Apparently there was some concern when the design for this helmet was presented, because it looks so much like the WWII Stahlhelm, and the US were at first reluctant to adopt it, for obvious reasons. American troops call it The Fritz.

The problems with the M16 Stahlhelm were: a) a bell-chamber (echo) effect and b) obstructing the use of telephone handsets. That led to the version with the cut-outs by the ears. The third problem was a whistling sound produced by the wind blowing across the ventilation holes!