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Prototype Kevlar Helmet?


jgawne
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OK, you wanted photos. Here:

 

This is a helmet that was given to me by a staff member at Natick Army labs just after they started issuing them. Along with a fiberglass mockup (that looks oddly like the X-49) which I was told was for doing center of balance testing, or weight disttribution or something like that.

 

 

Ignore the chinstrap as it came without them, and I added these in. As you can see there are no markings - molded or stamped - on the inside.

 

Of course it may not even have any Kevlar in it at all for all I know.

 

Comments?

 

kevlar1.jpg

 

kevlar2.jpg

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Hi.

 

Thanks for the photo's, this lid, is very unusual looking. :thumbsup:

 

The inside photo, is especially interesting ,as the material does not appear to be kevlar in appearance,due the khaki colouring, and lack of visible fibres in the material.

 

I like this a lot, due to it's unique history...........I guess you could call this one ,The true Daddy of PASGT :thumbsup:

 

Thanks again, only on this forum would ,I see such a thing.

 

Cheers. :thumbsup:

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Maybe a prototype w/o the ballistic protection? I recall in the book "Immediate Action" by "McNabb", where he mentions that they got the latest US helmet to play with, and it was supposed to be "bulletproof"... Evidently in their infinate wisdom they came very close to to testing it by having one of their teammates wear it as they shot it with their sidearm.... :blink:

 

Luckily this never happened, shortly thereafter they learned that the helmet was a prototype/sales sample that had no ballistic protection... :pinch:

 

 

I would speculate that that even if it had the kevlar protection, and it did stop the handgun round, he may have had a broken neck at the end of the day.....

 

 

oh well...play stupid games, win stupid prizes... ;)

 

Nice helmet :thumbsup:

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Very interesting helmet. It almost has the look of the cheap plastic composites used by air-soft combatants except you can see it's of much better quality. I'm guessing a non-ballistic prototype.

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In Reynosas book , he mentions a batch of non ballistic helmets made for puclicity shots/testing etc, I bet thats one of them, will have to check the book and see if it mentions how many were made.... :thumbsup: ...mike

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I have to laugh. Here I post what could be considered one of the rarest helmets in quite a while, and get just a handful of posts. Had it been some uninteresting WW2 painted thing the thread would end up with a hundred replies... and had it been some 101st thing miles long!

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everforward
I have to laugh. Here I post what could be considered one of the rarest helmets in quite a while, and get just a handful of posts. Had it been some uninteresting WW2 painted thing the thread would end up with a hundred replies... and had it been some 101st thing miles long!

 

Oh, I dunno about that...it could simply be that many here don't know what to post simply due to never seeing one.....I think concise, knowledgeable posts that are a few in number are better than 'WOW' or 'omg thats awesome' which we have all been guilty of as well.

 

As far as the WW2 gear, collectors have 65 years or so of studying and interest behind them, so a discussion is more apt to have heavier particiaption.

 

Just sayin'..... ;)

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Reading through Reynosas book, which is packed with great info, there seemed to be several different batches of proto-types made, some were made using resin and simulated the weight of kevlar, some were made in different materials such as clear plastic....some were just mock ups to be tested for balance and overall look on soldiers etc...its hard to say wich batch of prototypes yours may fit into, can you weigh it and see if it weighs the same as regular Kevlars?....theres alot of info to sort through in the book, I recomend picking it up to everybody interested in the PASGT helmet.... :thumbsup: ...mike

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I have to laugh. Here I post what could be considered one of the rarest helmets in quite a while, and get just a handful of posts. Had it been some uninteresting WW2 painted thing the thread would end up with a hundred replies... and had it been some 101st thing miles long!

Or, it could be that most folks have never seen one before and really don't know what to say about it. Lets face it, SpanAm War, pre-WWI American Field Service, post WWI Experimental Helmets, WWI & WWII Chaplains & Doctors militaria and to a lesser degree, anything WWI AEF are much more rare than a painted M-1 helmet or the 101st items you've mentioned but, few people follow or collect the rare items I mentioned. While your helmet "to me" is very intriguing and I would love to have one like this in my collection... I'm afraid, sadly, that most collectors aren't interested. I don't know how you can generate interest in something that some people are not interested in. :dunno:

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Actually, I was going through Reynosa's book. And without close study I have a true oddity. Mine was never painted in woodland cammo, but was given a coatings of sand or grit to cut down on reflection, and I don't seem to find any record of that being tried. I can say that it did orignally come from someone involved with base public relations... So it probably was used for photos and show and tell with the press.

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I've got a few other resourses that I'm going to take a look through here but, it appears you may have stumbled upon the first of it's kind to be seen or discussed among helmet collectors.

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Yes, Im sure there were many prototypes made that were never thoroughly documented or became lost over time....it sure looks like yours could be one of those, too bad it was never marked or tagged...Im still curious if it weighs the same as a regular PASGT or if its lighter.. :think:. .....mike

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  • 2 years later...

Yes, Im sure there were many prototypes made that were never thoroughly documented or became lost over time....it sure looks like yours could be one of those, too bad it was never marked or tagged...Im still curious if it weighs the same as a regular PASGT or if its lighter.. :think:. .....mike

 

Jgawne, would it be possible for you to let us know the weight of this helmet ?

 

Thx, Chris

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