The New Helmets That American War Fighters Wear Are Very Displeasing.

It is not widely known but the Germans designed a 'better' helmet during WW2. Testing showed it delivered more protection than the one we all call the coal scuttle but Hitler forbade its manufacture because it did not look 'traditional' enough.
After the war this design was picked up by East Germany and used for its Army.


http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?t=177353

 

Why did the US adopt the British style flat helmet and uniforms going into WW1 and not French Adrian helmets and uniforms? The US was much more aligned with France than with England at that point in our history. I've read that several black US regiments were turned over to the French Army and outfitted with French kit. I'm sure that logistical simplicity dictated that move since those regiments were operating in French sectors. Since the thread was about helmets and their appearances, I thought that I might slip this question in here.

 

Bobby:
Helmets were the original "IFF". How long do you think it took for the Germans to remove the spikes from the Pickhaubes once they stood up in the trenches?

 

I don't know, maybe the after first or second day or so. I figured that the Allied sharpshooters start dinging the spikes when they protruded above the sandbags lining the trenches.

 

it definitely was not a nazi design, and i question its functionality. it seems to protect much of the head when you're standing erect with your forehead held high. the shallow british type is fine when you're crouching or prone, which i'm willing to bet is what you will be largely doing in combat.

 

For what it's worth I think the standard German design was almost perfect...surely you only need to see what the Germans wear now and more importantly what the Allies wear now..seriously similar...

 

Wait? What?
'Vulcanised Rubber Helmet'?
Helmets of War
I can find no more on this, sadly.

 

In the back at the base of the skull is a brain structure called the medulla oblongata. This area controls most life functions. It is more vulnerable to damage because the cervical juncture there has no skull protection, which is why the adherents of Stalin, Mao and Hitler preferred to place a bullet there; much less yelling and flopping about.

The German helmet was based on empirical evidence of battle casualties. Our near copy is the result of extensive testing. High performance aircraft, cars and weapons tend to resemble each other because they are engineered for the same results. This doesn't mean that the producers have the same ideology.

 

Speaking of camouflage uniforms, I love the French WW1 "Horizon Blue" . It was outstanding almost everywhere.

 

I have to say this is one of the funniest subjects I've seen on here. As others have said this is all about function and not some sort of ode to the nazi's. They had a good helmet design which was actually carried over from the first world war. Where they had great ideas we copied them to some extent. Personally it doesn't look that much like the german helmet anyway at least not enough that about 99.9 % of people seein that design wouldn't be bothered. If they had something like a symbol of a unit of division that was reminiscent of a german or Japanese unit than I could see some ire being rational but function is function no reason not to copy just because your enemies figured it out first.

 

The nazis didn't design the helmet...if it's an ode, which it isn't, then it's to German design...something that is celebrated to this day...My point was simply that given how similar their helmets and even ours are now (if you don't think they are similar then take a look at the other designs...) that it seems obvious, at least to me, that the original design wasn't far off perfect...especially given the lack of computers etc when it was first designed.