I was gone for a couple days. Long post ahoy!
One thing: I wasn't really thinking of ALL WWI and WWII soldiers having some sort of steampunked metal HALO helmet. I'm thinking more along the lines of the elite regiments. Snipers, non-combat Death Squads that use it for house raids and identity-concealing, and things like that, with almost all focus on the chest, head, and boots. A normal soldier might get a few small parts, like perhaps some wrist greaves, but would largely stay the same, at least for a while. Plus, in prototype form in a weird WWI, it could be made of leather, especially by the Germans, who made their pickelhauben out of leather, too. The Tommies would likely go for big and bulky, and Imperial/Soviet Russia, armor would be reserved for very special occasions, the generals preferring to use their troops as meatsacks.
Also, guys, I've actually drawn (I'm an artist) a prototype stahlhelm that has a light face mask and is sturdier than a regular one. The back of the head is not given any extra protection, and the ears are not blocked. The mask comes on and off, has intimidation, and would actually work against minor shrapnel.
It's all down to the end design.
WWI and WWII era helmets and for a good while afterwards (and even today) can only offer good protection from steel. However helmets were not initially designed to stop bullets, even today there is some very humerous disclaimers on much solider kit for stopping bullets that specifically says "This item does not protect the wearer from bullets or sharp pointed objects".
The point being, for many rifles they are powerful enough to penitrate the helmet anyhow. In reality body armour mostly protects from oblique angles, long range fire from SMG type weapons or low powered pistol rounds. Although I'm sure there will be some millitary types on these forums who can elaborate better.
Having said that the concept of 'in build gas mask' following on from the introduction of the helmet in WWI could be highly plausible. A gas mask needs two things, a visor to protect the eyes, and a tube for breathing. Connected to a scrubber.
If we assume that plastics can be manufactored to provide a wide angle field of view;
image
Check.
And that somebody has the smart idea of putting the scrubber on the persons back/sholder and then just a tube coming into the mask. Plausible. Then you cut down on a lot of the weight.
The issue is, a mask muffles your voice, and in the summer or cold weather it gets hot, or fogs. Therefore you don't want it on all the time. So instead if you can make it 'fold up' into the brim of the helmet, with a ridgid rubberised strip to fit between your ears and above your throat with a 'draw string' type jobby to get a good seal tighting from the back of the head and under the ears, and your onto a winner.
The clincher for this is to develop that space in engineering hard hats with the straps that give a space between the head and the helmet. Because this is where your hard plastic visor, and sides of the gas mask are going to go.
image
Check that one too!
The downer is it makes your head a bit taller, however this might save you because of lessened concussion against low powered shots. So it might balence out on that score for survivability.
However like has been said your sensory perception is much more enhanced by not covering the ears, or viewing the world through a visor. Therefore unless such 'face covering features' can be quickly and easily pulled down, or put up then its never going to work as a concept.
I really, really like this idea. Very clever. I've seen how long it took in WWI to put on and take off a gasmask, and put it in or take it out of a satchel, and this could result in men's time and lives saved. You need to stop firing to put it on or take it off, and that's when the other guy puts a bullet in your brain. I have two helmets, one a Vietnam M1 Helmet, and the other a Soviet WWII SSH 40, and both of them have excess room in between the straps and band and the liner, just enough I think for a leather gas mask to flip up into.
How about something like this
image
Thats a Warmachine 'trencher' infantryman, heavy wearing clothes but with metal armour on the shoulders, lower thighs a bit on the chest and the helm which has got a visor.
I like the trencher very much. Make it cheap metal and not so nice and decorative, and this is what I'm thinking of quite a bit. Not a full-blown suit of armor that'd overheat you in two minutes, but only on special areas.
Apparently they also used it (WWI body armor), sometimes, for fighting down in the tunnels when shafts being dug for planting 'mines' under one side's lines were intercepted by the other side's diggers...
That put a really neat image in my head of an armored, underground WWI battle.
I also suspect that the "does everything" helmet of the future would rapidly change to modular design where radios/NV goggles/splinter-shields/respirator...would be modular interchangeable units so you can update/repair/customize a helmet without having to draw a brandnew one from stocks.
Tim
Much like a clone trooper helmet. *nerd grin* I can't wait for future armored soldiers to have custom-painted designs.
The new Dutch Army helmet is modular. The variant for the highest threats covers the entire head, it almost looks like a motorhelmet. see here for a picture:
http://www.militair.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=5074
It's the other way around. It were the Soviets which used body-armor in WWII, amongst others in urban situations, see:
http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?t=21011 (which includes a pic of a Finnish captured Soviet body-armor, so not restricted to urban situations).
Unfortunately especially in urban situations I'd value manoeuvrability and speed a lot. See the recent American experiences in Iraq for that; there are cases of personnel ditching gear - including armour - to get around quicker.
Your scenario would IMHO end a bit like this:
"After clearing a single house the 20 armoured troopers moved outside, where they were fired upon by a concealed MG. Because of their low speed, half of them were killed before they could reach safety. After reaching safety the combination of heat, the weight of the armour in addition to the other gear carried along and adrenalin resulted in half of the remaining troopers suffering a heart attack and dying. The remaining 5 troopers weren't in any shape to be used for more then a day".
That Dutch helmet is unspeakably awesome. The US totally needs some.
I'm shocked by that link; Soviets were infamous for suicide assaults and using troops as redshirts (no pun intended
).
Still it DOES look really cool, doesn't it?
That's why we see it so often in Science Fiction.
Totally agree. There's something awesome about it.
A modern MICH helmet and MOLLE armor protects you from oblique and incedental fire and shrapnel only and from short range small arms fire from low or medium caliber weapons. not from anything greater or more powerfull than nonarmor piercing assault rifle rounds or pistol rounds.
High grade sniper rifle, and so on will go RIGHT through it.
Sorry.
Wow, sounds like a lot of our stuff is almost worthless. Thank heaven I haven't heard of a lot of terrorist snipers.
Thank you - I have one and never knew what those raised holes ("horns") were for.
And, depending on what kind you have, there should be another set of bolts a little farther back. That's ventilation.
That's for sure
Like a deranged Power Ranger
Ugh, it looks like he spray-painted trash from a garbage can silver and glued it onto a body-glove.
