Being in the army and issued one of these things, I decided to test it out.  As they say, one test is worth a thousand expert opinions

So, the helmet is a army issue, surplus, beat up, at least 10 year old K-pot.  

So I was very suprised when the helmet stopped 9mm 115grn +P+,  .357 mag, and .45 ACP without a problem.

Then we broke out the AR in 556 nato, which went through both sides easily, and then the AK 7.62*39, which penetrated one or both sides.

One note, an Airbore Ranger Sniper in my unit said that he shot a *NEW* K-pot with .308 win @ 100 yds while in the 101st, and he told me that it stopped one shot, but the second one in the same spot penetrated.

Also, *NEW*  K-pots have been known to stop 7.62*39.

So anyways, I'm glad I'm issued a new one, just dont ask me to test it










sorry bout the multiple posting, I figure the people here might enjoy this

wow! very interesting!

I would like to see if a 5.7 x 28 mm would go thru it, especially since the brady campaign is complaining that that round is a cop killer round.

I'm pretty surprised to see it stopped the 9mm.
Can you tell us about what kind of guns were involved ?
But I believe that if a soldier would have this helmet on his head, he would have been knocked out by the impact of the 9mm, 357 and 45 rounds.

I recommend that you forward your pics an info to Old_Painless so he can put it up on his "box of truth" website.  He has been doing some testing of cvarious rounds against various targets and I think this is quite relevant to what he is doing.

thanks for sharing!

Dawg

Quoted: I recommend that you forward your pics an info to Old_Painless so he can put it up on his "box of truth" website.  He has been doing some testing of cvarious rounds against various targets and I think this is quite relevant to what he is doing. thanks for sharing! Dawg

done

Any idea how to tell a new from an old pot?

Things to consider are that (1) once the helmet has been hit once, it is ballistically compromised, and (2) while a round may not penetrate, the splintering on the inside won't feel good.

tag thanks for the test!!!

Quoted: Things to consider are that (1) once the helmet has been hit once, it is ballistically compromised, and (2) while a round may not penetrate, the splintering on the inside won't feel good.

Your right in that it is comprimised, in that one spot.

But, there is ZERO splintering on the inside with a kevlar helmet. The "glue" that holds the kevlar together decentagrates and the kevlar just bends inward, also, after seeing how the helmet reacted, I seriously doubt that a pistol round is going to even phase a person wearing a K-pot.  It is not going to "knock you out" or anything.

No offence, but people saying stuff like this is exactly why I decided to test the darn thing.

So, anyways, you dont need a MICH, surplus kevlars are a really good deal and perform just as good

Quoted: Any idea how to tell a new from an old pot?

Does anyone else know the answer to this, I have one that looks nearly new and It says 86/87 in it, yet another just says 86?

confusing

Interesting pics

A few questions arise

What was the condition of the helmet prior to the test.  Was it in servicable shape with webbing inside or was it stripped.

Were the 556 shots placed before or after the pistol shots?

what effect did delamination of the kevlar material have on penetration / overall integrity of the helmet?  

Did the shape of the helment contribute to the pistol rounds hitting square on or glancing off?

What were the impact forces and mechanisms imparted during the impacts, could they have been measured to determine physiologic effects?
the 5.7x 28 penetrates Kpots out to 200M according to FN

Just a few thoughts

Tagged.

have any pics of the inside?


thanks for the test.

Chris

Quoted: Interesting pics A few questions arise What was the condition of the helmet prior to the test.  Was it in servicable shape with webbing inside or was it stripped. Were the 556 shots placed before or after the pistol shots? what effect did delamination of the kevlar material have on penetration / overall integrity of the helmet?   Did the shape of the helment contribute to the pistol rounds hitting square on or glancing off? What were the impact forces and mechanisms imparted during the impacts, could they have been measured to determine physiologic effects? the 5.7x 28 penetrates Kpots out to 200M according to FN Just a few thoughts

The helmet was bought as surplus and the suspension was intact during tests.  The helmet had been thrown around and a lot of the paint was mostly chipped off.  I think one would have to really search to find one in worse shape.

We shot it with 9mm first, then 5.56, then .45, then .357, then 7.62*39

I believe the fact that the kevlar is laminated gives it better impact characteristics, since when it took 9mm +P+ and .357 mag, the kevlar deformed and dented inward, breaking the lamination must take a lot of energy just by itself.

all of the pistol rounds we hit it with were pretty sqaure on, further testing may be needed, but its safe to say if a bullet glances off a kevlar helmet, it didnt have your name on it anyway, and wouldnt have even hit you if you didnt have the hlemet on.

I dont know the energy transfer in Newtons/ second,  but from watching the effects I have no doubt that the impact would be somewhat less than felt if someone punched you in the helmet while you were wearing it, in short, it would prolly just piss you off.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Quoted: Things to consider are that (1) once the helmet has been hit once, it is ballistically compromised, and (2) while a round may not penetrate, the splintering on the inside won't feel good. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Your right in that it is comprimised, in that one spot. But, there is ZERO splintering on the inside with a kevlar helmet. The "glue" that holds the kevlar together decentagrates and the kevlar just bends inward, also, after seeing how the helmet reacted, I seriously doubt that a pistol round is going to even phase a person wearing a K-pot. It is not going to "knock you out" or anything. No offence, but people saying stuff like this is exactly why I decided to test the darn thing. So, anyways, you dont need a MICH, surplus kevlars are a really good deal and perform just as good

Freakzilla:  No offense taken!  I've never seen a kevlar shot with any caliber pistol and was happy to read your test results.  That's good to hear there was no splintering on the inside of the helmet at the POI of the pistol rounds and that the rest of the helmet retained its ballistic protection despite the impacts.  I would still be wary of a helmet with any significant dents in it though.  

The only kevlars I've seen shot were hit with Com-Bloc 7.62x39 and 5.56 NATO, and they splintered on the inside, hence my comments.  

Thanks for the test and good!

Even if the helmet stops the round (zero penetration), unless it is designed properly, you'll most likely suffer severe blunt trauma to your head. It'll be like getting shot in the bean, without all of the blood and gore.