Not a huge fan of the HHV helmet covers. What other brands will fit well with it. Thank you.

First Spear ops core works well

Pretty much any cover can be made to fit.  I have modified the Revision cover to fit a few different helmets.  So depending on what you're looking for (not sure what your objections are on their cover), you can bribe your local rigger with a case of beer and make it happen.  Myself I like the Revision because it has the Velcro running fore and aft, so if you want to mount a counterweight, like the Mohawk it has enough Velcro to catch the, uh, tail.

How are you liking the helmet so far,? Thinking about picking one up.

Please don't, you can get helmets like revision for just a few bucks more which actually offers ballistic protection. HHV and others straight up steal other companies designs and use inferior Chinese components to make PPE.

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I like my first spear

Probably stop a bullet?  Not something that should be said about my life saving bullet resistant helmet.  No way in hell would I trust my life to Chinese armor    If your can't afford the cool guy helmets, and need ballistic protection- get an ACH/MICH they are all over the place and inexpensive , yet are solid performers    There are all kinds of accessories to make them look cool and make them fairly comfy

I actually contacted the guys at ballistichelmetco.com about their helmets.  They appear to be the same Chinese helmets that are on all the cheaper websites.  They sell them for $350.  I contacted Revision about a quote for LE/MIL and got quoted a full rail, NVG mount, and upgraded liner for $405.  The choice is clear.

Also, ballistichelmetco did send me a shell to "test" with various calibers.  I'm going to bring my calipers to the range when I get around to shooting it, and measure the deformation on the helmet to see how bad it actually is.  From what I've seen watching videos, they definitely will STOP the bullet from PENETRATING, but the BFD is the real question mark.

Well this is an interesting turn.  I guess the 15 dollar Chinese helmet cover is a mute point when the helmet itself is in question.  Kinda like putting lipstick on a pig.

If you are using genuine DuPont Kevlar materials, to your design, but they are actually being made overseas (which I assume is where the price break is), then you have to make sure you have your own stringent QC and testing to verify the results.  If they are doing this, then this helmet is a real bargain.  They list their BFD figures and they are actually better than some due to slightly more layers of Kevlar in their design.  I would like to get a bare helmet shell and build my own, so I have the shroud, rails, pads, n straps I want.  That's usually the downside to a bargain helmet set up; paying for all the stuff I'm gonna shit-can anyways.

Back to the OP, it would appear most any other cover (based on the OpsCore design) will fit this shell.  Probably First Spear, OpsCore, etc.

OK I talked to HHV and it seems they used to sell helmet shells but then a few douche nozzles made helmets which they claimed were HHV shells but were really were Chinese, so they got as black eye in the industry.

That's unfortunate because your only other viable option at this point is to cut down a surplus ACH.

But talk about thread drift.  Helmet covers.  I'd go to TNVC.

This makes absolutely no sense.

Even if what they're saying is true, why is their helmet an exact copy of the Ops-Core FAST?  (And it has always been an exact clone of the Ops-Core helmet.)  If I were in the business of making helmet shells, the last thing I'd do is slavishly copy the signature design of a more established company.  The Chinese, however, are famous for their dedication to making Ops-Core clones.

And why would anybody bother to counterfeit a HHV helmet, when they just barely have a fair to middlin' reputation to begin with?  

It seems a lot more likely to me that HHV were buying shells from China, and their Chinese supplier started telling other customers something like "these are HHV shells."

The odds of HHV making their shells in the USA, or buying shells from a US-based toll manufacturer, are near zero.

I don't really know.  The dude from HHV said this is what happened, so that's all I know.

Why would you do "a direct copy" of the OpsCore design.  Well, high cut helmets are in high demand.  Their mission statement is to make this design available to the people that might need them, at a more affordable price.  If that's what they were doing, then it was a good idea.  If it was nothing more than dressed up Chinese crap, then yeah, that's bullshit.

Dunno what to say.  I'd like to believe that these guys are legit, but I don't know them from Adam.  It's possible this is a scam but I'm not totally convinced as others seem to be.

Maybe if someone tests it and reports their findings we'll know for sure.

It seems to be a matter of semantics.  They say the materials are genuine DuPont Kevlar, but are vague about who actually manufactures the finished product, but claim it is NIJ tested and certified.  So best case scenario, it is DuPont Kevlar, manufactured into a product overseas, then vigorously inspected and tested in the US.  This kind of "blended" manufacturing is becoming more common these days.  Worst case scenario, maybe a portion of DuPont kevlar is used, along with foreign-made aramid, manufactured overseas, with any QC/testing at the overseas vendor level.

This makes it very confusing, when try to pin down if the product is indeed "made in USA" or just "designed in USA", and/or "made with US materials".  Regardless, if the BFD testing is legit, then it will work as designed.  If not, then yeah, it's a crock.

It makes a lot of sense to me.  I think there is a huge market of guys that want a ballistic high cut helmet, at a lower price point.  If this is possible, then you will sell a bunch of them.  Opinions vary whether this is possible.  I think you might see a lower price point of legit Kevlar helmets available, as an alternative to the newer, lighter stuff.   Granted, if you go this route, you could just cut down an ACH and save yourself some bucks.  Or, for the less handy, perhaps it is possible to buy a legit high cut Kevlar helmet for around 500 bucks.

They have been tested side by side with other helmets, and they fail. Not by a little but by a lot. I've encountered people like them before. They sell Alibaba body armor at gun shows. They go on and on about how the materials are the same. Armor is a shit ton of little details that make it come together. Things that require nothing more than effort that you cannot rely on Chinese makers to put in. You make gear so I'm sure You know how important things like double stitching are, or how important it is to fold the edge over to prevent fraying. How much of that do you see in say Emerson G3 pants?

Wow I didn't know that.  I am very old school, in that if I say this is what I'm doing, it's exactly what I'm doing.  I guess in this day and age you have a lot of hucksters out there, trying to cash in on the GWOT.

You are so right about the details.  My materials and construction techniques are based on parachute rigging practices.  I see others who based them on clothing manufacturing.  This appears to be the case here.

I even reached out to these guys and invited them to defend themselves here.  Obviously they chose not to respond.

Well fuck a doodle, I guess there's a market for this stuff, for those that want to dress up and play DevGru operator.  And there are those who are training for more serious things.  The problem seems to be in telling them apart.

The market seems to be towards younger soldiers that want the "look" of an ops core but cant shell out the $1k for one.

Them, contractors and most likely LE agencies.

shitty that they market to vets/for vets/by vets......

That's a pretty good break down.  I have done several ACH mods and have honed the process as I go.  The key is to develop a good edge sealing technique.

Yeah I think that's pretty shitty, masquerading as vets, selling to vets.  That naturally gets my attention and lowers my guard.  No longer.

I previously mentioned worst case scenario, but have re-thunk that.  It's actually investing in a legit sample, which is then tested and certified, then switching to foreign crap, and claiming it to be the same.  A new low for sure.

The issue seems to be exploiting a genuine desire for kit at a certain price-point, and then making that happen.  Call it the "Walmart" principle.  The rub is that sometimes you can't hit that price point with legit gear.