Military helmet

The military helmet can be considered as one of the most ancient forms of the personal defense equipments that are used till date by the military soldiers. The history of these helmets dates back to 900 BC when they were used by the Assyrians during the combats. Greeks and Romans started to use these helmets in the wars only during the middle ages. The developments in the production of the helmets are attributed to the creation of advanced and more powerful weapons. The materials such as leather, brass, bronze, iron, and steel were all used in sequence in the production of combat helmets throughout the ages.

Necessity of a military helmet

During the earlier ages, the purpose of the military helmet was to protect the head from the blows and cuts from swords, arrows and musketry of low velocity. But with the introduction of rifled firearms in the 17^th century, the usage of these helmets reduced considerably. Only after the invention of steel helmets during the world wars, the combat helmets regained their importance in the earlier parts of the 20^th century. Nowadays, the materials that are used for designing helmets include Kevlar, Aramid and so on. Such materials are proven to offer excellent protection against bullets and fragmentation during combats.

Some of the military helmets that are produced nowadays also have some outstanding protective qualities which are not directly related to the ballistics. Such military helmet can offer protection from non ballistic injuries that may be caused by shockwaves produced by blasts, physical assaults and medium altitude falls.

Currently, the military helmets are mandatory in uniforms of most of the military soldiers in different parts of the world. Each country in the world has its own type and design of the military helmet. Despite all the differences in the designs and requirements, all the helmets serve almost the same purpose everywhere. That purpose is to defend the head of the user from high energy impacts. This is achieved through the process of mechanical energy absorption. Apart from this process, weight and volume are the other crucial factors in the manufacture of a military helmet.