Navy SEALs hat

[ExactlyMyPoint]

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?

seals.jpg

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[Rcher]

Have'nt you heard? ... SEALs are bullet proof.

[suntzu]

Depends what you are doing at the time.

[KBSR]

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.

[Echo_Four]

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.

[suntzu]

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.

????? Have you ever done this?

[SIXTO]

Cool kids wear boonies

[KBSR]

????? Have you ever done this?

I have, in teams of less then 8, and we didn't wear helmets. Later, when we all trained for the tactical teams we were issued helmets, but most of the time prior to that, you went with what you had. Usually a ball cap turned backwards. And occasionally an FBI Raid jacket in case we hit the wrong house. JK. LOL

[OldVet]

Kind of obvious. It's hard to fold a helmet up and stuff it in a pocket.

[KBSR]

It's hard to fold a helmet up and stuff it in a pocket.

That's true, but more importantly, it's damn funny!!! LOL

[suntzu]

I forgot to add that we forego the body armor also....heck, why wear it if only expecting small arms fire LOL

[shadowwalker]

never wore a helmet

[retsupt99]

It's hard to fold a helmet up and stuff it in a pocket.

I bet Navy Seals could do that...

[sigs]

It's hard to fold a helmet up and stuff it in a pocket.

Even harder to swim 10 miles to shore in a helmet. Not that I would know from experience.

[buckeye .45]

I wasn't a SEAL, I was just a normal grunt.

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.

Plus hats are generally more comfortable.