NCR helmets don't make sense

[Antiwarprofallout]

These helmets don't make sense in this setting. Few if any folk that the NCR fights have fragmentation weapons that regularly explode at a level above you (I.E artillery in WW1 which is what most similar helmets were designed for) and they'd obviously not be bullet-proof. They wouldn't protect against any machete blows better than a helmet with without the brim.

Can anyone come up with a good reason for the helmet?

 

[Throatpunch]

These soldiers are basically expendable conscripts, who get 2 weeks training, so don't expect them to have bulletproof helmets. They are cheap masses of troops, it would be too expensive to outfit each one with a bulletproof helmet.

Few if any folk that the NCR fights have fragmentation weapons that regularly explode at a level above you (I.E artillery in WW1 which is what most similar helmets were designed for)

If you listen carefully in game you can here shellfire in the distance, so it is useful.

They wouldn't protect against any machete blows better than a helmet with without the brim.

Don't jump to conclusions, we don't know what its made of so it could be steel or iron or something like that, I looked on the wiki and it doesn't specify. So it might be resistant to machetes and shrapnel.

I found this on Reddit and it might answer you question as well:

Why would they? The helmet they use allows them to have shade in the desert heat and keep the sun out of their eyes. Their helmets being either leather or linen falls in line with what was cheap. Not like the Legion uses guns all that much anyway.

Lets also realize that the all metal WWII helmets were never that effective in the first place unless you bounce a shot. They were just there to give you an illusion of safety. Unless the shooter used a handgun with a 9mm-357 range, you are going to be in a shit load of trouble.

Anything more than a 9mm bounce will put you in a coma and likely give you severe brain damage. This is why Britain almost retired the technology in WWII before realizing something is better than nothing. If not puncture and kill you since you are using reclaimed metal from pots and pans.

In order to protect your head, they would need to design or replicate the combat armor helmet or a brand new helmet much like our current helmets. Not just simple metal bowls.

That costs a lot of money. NCR is rich, but it ain't that rich. Same reason they don't deploy true power armor beyond a few select instances.

The more complicated design also means more labor intensive manufacturing, which runs counter to the quantity doctrine the NCR follows, a WWII doctrine.

Unless it can be made cheaply, quickly, and in large numbers the NCR can't field it. This is the reason the NCR use the 5.56mm, as that round is easy to aim with.

If a simple trooper was fighting a legionaire experienced enough to have a hunting rifle, a marksman rifle, a Hecate, or the .44 they'd be dead regardless of head gear. Helmets cant protect against the rounds some of these things are sporting.

Lets go even further:

So $100 NCR = 40. 20 = 8. 5 = 2.

This comes up as $110 for a single helmet. Their gun costs comes out to about $1,420. Their armor is about $720.

So a single NCR soldier costs the NCR $2,250 counting a helmet and not counting salary. When you see how expensive this all gets, cost cutting makes sense. Especially since it lacks effectiveness at larger rounds and could never take a direct hit.

 

[Hassknecht]

The brim probably helps a bit with machete blows from above, but I think the main reason for the brim is, similar to the classic pith helmets, to give sun protection.

 

[eissa]

The brim probably helps a bit with machete blows from above, but I think the main reason for the brim is, similar to the classic pith helmets, to give sun protection.

i noticed that their helmet is mostly inspired by tommies/ infantry section world war 1 helmet, which designed to give protection againts flying dirt after shelling while sitting in trench. since western coast is mostly comprised of Desert, that could work.

it were stated that NCR also have industrial capability of world war era 1 country, so it could be said that the whole production thing would not be problem to them

 

[Hassknecht]

i noticed that their helmet is mostly inspired by tommies/ infantry section world war 1 helmet, which designed to give protection againts flying dirt after shelling while sitting in trench. since western coast is mostly comprised of Desert, that could work.

it were stated that NCR also have industrial capability of world war era 1 country, so it could be said that the whole production thing would not be problem to them

I'd say they look more like safari helmets with the cloth covers, but the general shape is similar, yeah.
The protection was not necessarily for the dirt, though, but for shell fragments that could cause serious injuries.

 

[Throatpunch]

Hassknechts right, shell fragments can cause serious damage. I suspect the NCR trousers and coat are made of some kind of thick cloth or Kevlar and the breastplate is steel.
You really need to protect against shrapnel damage, it can be much worse than bullets:

This is why you need to protect against shrapnel:

Spoiler: Warning: might make some queasy, bloody injuries

 

[eissa]

I'd say they look more like safari helmets with the cloth covers, but the general shape is similar, yeah.
The protection was not necessarily for the dirt, though, but for shell fragments that could cause serious injuries.

well that was unsurprising, since that is basically 90% great war metal helmet desined for.

@Doomsdayprepper

could be, maybe those bulk in the knee and leg were also inlude some extra protection

 

[eissa]

now, think what is the most heavily armed faction in western coast other than NCR? legion is definitely not, since their combat doctrine is centered around on mass assault

 

[Throatpunch]

now, think what is the most heavily armed faction in western coast other than NCR? legion is definitely not, since their combat doctrine is centered around on mass assault

NCR has the Rangers, and the power armour troops, Vertibirds and hundreds of thousands of troops. However Mr House has the securitrons who have a lethal arsenal of lasers and missiles, amongst other things.
In the end I'd say NCR since they have way more troops than Mr House has securitrons, and other things factor in like the Vertibirds and the Rangers.

 

[Antiwarprofallout]

These soldiers are basically expendable conscripts, who get 2 weeks training, so don't expect them to have bulletproof helmets. They are cheap masses of troops, it would be too expensive to outfit each one with abulletproof helmet.

Well a steel helmet thick enough to be bulletproof would snap your neck, so I wasn't really expecting that. I would expect the helmet to look more like a stalhelm, to protect from blows to the side and back of the head.

If you listen carefully in game you can here shellfire in the distance, so it is useful.

We could pretty safely assume it's the boomers. The legion is shown with one artillery piece in the Mojave, and it doesn't work.

Don't jump to conclusions, we don't know what its made of so it could be steel or iron or something like that, I looked on the wiki and it doesn't specify. So it might be resistant to machetes and shrapnel.

It wouldn't help much against blows that couldn't be protected against by a stalhelm design, because the brim would protect mostly the shoulders from a downwards machete blow, and that would be protected against with or without due to the paldrons.

 

[eissa]

These soldiers are basically expendable conscripts, who get 2 weeks training, so don't expect them to have bulletproof helmets. They are cheap masses of troops, it would be too expensive to outfit each one with abulletproof helmet.

Well a steel helmet thick enough to be bulletproof would snap your neck, so I wasn't really expecting that. I would expect the helmet to look more like a stalhelm, to protect from blows to the side and back of the head.

i really hate these "bulletproof" term, of course what caliber we are talking here? a low, sub velocity like some pistol round could be stopped by a ballistic helmet.