Every time I see a picture of a Navy SEAL they are wearing a hat instead of a helmet. I am just curious as to why they do that. Wouldn't a helmet offer some type of protection?
They wear the "bump" helmets when doing CQB, but they're not kevlar or bullet resistant. Just protects their noggin from hard objects like door frames, pipes, etc...I've watched them train, on a number of occasions in a prior life.
Probably wear the standard issue helmet some too, depending on their op. Just not certain.
It used to be generally accepted by those outside of regular infantry units that helmets were for the defensive. They do very little to protect from small arms fire (yes there are stories of people being saved by them, they are rare). They can protect from shrapnel and the like pretty decently though. When on the offensive why carry the extra weight when it is unlikely that you'll face the type of threat they were designed to protect against? A team of 8-12 men raiding a home or other building are unlikely to face anything other than small arms fire which makes the helmets less appealing.
It used to be generally accepted by those outside of regular infantry units that helmets were for the defensive. They do very little to protect from small arms fire (yes there are stories of people being saved by them, they are rare). They can protect from shrapnel and the like pretty decently though. When on the offensive why carry the extra weight when it is unlikely that you'll face the type of threat they were designed to protect against? A team of 8-12 men raiding a home or other building are unlikely to face anything other than small arms fire which makes the helmets less appealing.
But, it is all a trade off between protection, and weight/bulk. The more weight/bulk you are carrying, the slower/louder you are. If you are trying to be stealthy, you don't really want to be wearing a kevlar that is going to bump into stuff and make noise in my experience. The protection level varies based on helmet type, but most of them are only really good for pistol rounds and shrapnel.
While it does offer a good bit of protection the issue Kevlar helmet affects your ability to see things and to hear things going on around you to a certain extent. The trade off is sometimes not acceptable. For instance if you are required to be as quiet as possible it is not the best solution.
I was always glad for the protection my PASGT and later my ACH offered to the top of my head from shrapnel and very light small arms fire. Too bad about the rest of my face, though.
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