Old 03-12-2013, 22:25   #1
RedLegGI
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Painted helmets

I did the perfunctory forum search for this and came up empty-handed so I'm asking ya'll about this.

I was wondering when the practice of camo-painting the MICH/ACH started/stopped?

With the Army putting out varying helmet covers, I found it interesting that the QP community preferred painted camo patterns (kind of looks like scales). Was this a lack of availability? Necessity? or handed down from on high?

I appreciate any info you're willing to share.

Respect,

Brent
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Old 03-13-2013, 05:29   #2
miclo18d
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It started when we got helmets without helmet covers. Instead of wearing a green MICH in the desert we painted them. Each guy on my team painted them differently and when I was with different ANA units I would tell them to look for my helmet's particular design and follow me. Problem solved, problem staying solved.
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Old 03-13-2013, 10:17   #3
RedLegGI
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Thanks for the info about this it clears up some of those questions.

This is the one I got with the purple hues, etc. I've also seen tan, black and some other colors used as well.

Was there any particular pattern or color for different places?


Thanks,

Brent
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Old 03-13-2013, 10:55   #4
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No pattern. No standard. This is still a site for out of the box Thinkers and SF right? Don't constrain yourself so much. It wasn't a complicated thing. We got green helmets and were going to the desert. Nessecity said we needed tan helmets. Some people didn't like just plain tan and painted them with different colors.

The one you have looks like it was don with a net of some kind, my boss did his with leaves and grass, I made a template.

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Old 03-13-2013, 16:21   #5
RedLegGI
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Quote:
Originally Posted by miclo18d View Post
No pattern. No standard. This is still a site for out of the box Thinkers and SF right? Don't constrain yourself so much. It wasn't a complicated thing. We got green helmets and were going to the desert. Nessecity said we needed tan helmets. Some people didn't like just plain tan and painted them with different colors.

The one you have looks like it was don with a net of some kind, my boss did his with leaves and grass, I made a template.

My gear from A-Stan...
my kit
Absolutely right about your choice in camo coloring, hell it makes sense to me. I was in big Army and the way they micro-manage stuff is what's familiar to me. To me it seems like the way they treated us on deployment (freedom) is how they treat you guys all the time.

I really appreciate that pic of your gear, I hadn't seen a pattern like that but it kind of reminds me of some of the German pea-dot.

Thanks again for the info.


Brent
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Old 03-13-2013, 18:56   #6
TOMAHAWK9521
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If you want to get creative without having much of an artistic flair, put your helmet in a mesh laundry bag and then give it a few sprays of different camo paints. It gives it a nice rough pattern and everyone will think you paid a fortune to get it done.
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Old 03-13-2013, 20:38   #7
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Originally Posted by TOMAHAWK9521 View Post
If you want to get creative without having much of an artistic flair, put your helmet in a mesh laundry bag and then give it a few sprays of different camo paints. It gives it a nice rough pattern and everyone will think you paid a fortune to get it done.
Pro tip right there. Last time I saw one of those was at NTC when they brought a national guard laundry/shower unit down for its annual training. The showers were nice, but if you made the mistake of turning in laundry, you might get your shit back. Some of our guys opened their bags to find panties amongst other things lol
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Old 03-14-2013, 05:23   #8
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Funny, the helmet redleg showed I thought might have been done with a laundry bag because of the hex shape but I said net to be more general about it. For sure I like that.

My helmet in the pic was an attempt at a desert digital of some sort and it did turn out sort of a waffen dot look. It was easily identifiable to our ANA troops and I would tell them if they got turned around to look for the helmet pattern to find me.

The helmets weren't camouflaged for hiding as you can't hide in a diesel run HMMV or a Chinook and if we dismounted we would leave the helmets behind. It was really more for decoration. You can camo in the jungle but the desert you are just looking to blend into the background. While the regular guys were wearing the grey digitals we kept wearing our DCUs, and I saw that SF/Rgr went to Multicam about the time I retired.
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Old 03-14-2013, 23:38   #9
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Originally Posted by miclo18d View Post
The helmets weren't camouflaged for hiding as you can't hide in a diesel run HMMV or a Chinook and if we dismounted we would leave the helmets behind. It was really more for decoration. You can camo in the jungle but the desert you are just looking to blend into the background. While the regular guys were wearing the grey digitals we kept wearing our DCUs, and I saw that SF/Rgr went to Multicam about the time I retired.
You can, however, hide dismounted in an urban environment. Especially so when every building is the color of dirt. That's why we wore the DCU instead of the ACU. Hell, the ACU only blends in with the sagebrush at the Yakima Training Center. Urban camo is also why we painted our helmets (and our rifles). It was an attempt to break up the outline when faced with an enemy primarily armed with an iron sighted weapon engaging from an unknown distance. Using the laundry bag as a template helped add visual depth to a rounded distinct piece of kit, helping make it harder to aim at. Close range engagements or going up against an enemy with a scoped rifle negates a lot of that, but you do what you can.

And if any of my guys dismounted without their helmet I would have beat them to death with it. There is no cool guy factor involved in dying of a head wound that could have been prevented.
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Old 03-15-2013, 12:04   #10
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And if any of my guys dismounted without their helmet I would have beat them to death with it. There is no cool guy factor involved in dying of a head wound that could have been prevented.
Allow me to caveat... Dismounted patrolling. My helmet was on my nugget almost the whole time I was there. We conducted several night patrols around fire bases without helmets.

When I was riding around in the bullet magnets I couldn't get ENOUGH armor.
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Old 03-16-2013, 20:59   #11
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Allow me to caveat... Dismounted patrolling. My helmet was on my nugget almost the whole time I was there. We conducted several night patrols around fire bases without helmets.

When I was riding around in the bullet magnets I couldn't get ENOUGH armor.
Roger. I was thinking on patrols or raids outside the wire.
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