Headshots and army helmets.

[Souplex]

Ah the headshot. A cornerstone of the fps genre rewarding accuracy with efficiency. However a thought occurs. Almost all the people in FPSes are wearing decent quality helmets.

While I am not sure about the specifics I am pretty sure a WWII era army helmet could contain a grenade blast without completely breaking. Helmets have most likely been improved since then. A grenade has more force than a bullet.

So shouldn't it only be faceshots? Discuss.

 

[RetiarySword]

Sniper rifles in games use high powered rounds, namely .50cal. Those can penetrate tank armour, a flimsy peice of kevlar isn't going to stop that.

 

[Najos]

I did a test on this back in the day. We took a 9mm pistol and shot a kevlar helmet from about 10 meters. Fucker went through both sides. Shot it with a M16 from about 100m and it did the exact same thing.

They aren't made to stop bullets. They're made to keep you from hitting your head or getting injured by shrapnel. Also, grenades don't really have more force than a bullet. The force from a grenade is spread out over several meters while the force from a bullet is centered in one little spot.

Edit: And by back in the day I mean a whole 3 years ago.

Edit2: And you know, I'm looking for some evidence to prove this and all I can find is pictures DISPROVING it. Wish I would've kept some of those pictures now.

 

[Hammered]

Done a wee bit of research, thanks Wikipedia!

The PASGT (Personnel Armor System for Ground Troops) Helmet is said to have stopped rifle rounds on occasion, most commonly 7.62x39mm (AK) rounds (in one account the PASGT Helmet is credited with stopping an M43 round from approximately 25 meters).
Though in a demonstration of the Heckler & Koch MP7 on the Discovery Channel show Future Weapons, a PASGT helmet suffered a catastrophic armor penetration when hit head-on with one round of the MP7's 4.6x30mm ammunition.
Similarly, the firearms testing site The Box o' Truth has reported that a 7.62x25mm Tokarev fired from a ÈZ vz. 52 handgun was able to penetrate the helmet at 25 meters.
In the same test, both the 5.56x45mm NATO and the 7.62x39mm were able to yield catastrophic penetrations through both sides of the helmet.

Basically if your up against a sniper rifle, you might be better of wrapping a pillow around your head...

 

[Najos]

Well, looks like I'm too late on my proof! Seems Hammered found it for me.

 

[Hammered]

quite interesting how useless the helmets are actually... maybe slightly worrying...

 

[TerribleTerryTate]

I thought Helmets were more designed for injuries you might obtain from falling over, or richochets from bullets. I'm sure some lucky people have had a helmet which stopped direct fire, but I'd say this would be in the minority.

 

[MrNeil]

Your standard military helmet is there to protect from fall or injury, not specifically flack, shrapnel and especially not bullets. We are told this when we receive our kit. In fact most modern soldiers will be lucky if their body armour will suppress your average 7.62mm round.

Any sniper shot from a distance of less than three quarters of a mile will pierce a modern helmet - since sniper rifles are designated to use NATO 5.56 and instead use 7.62 rounds or, as noted before, 50.cal they will most likely leave a hole through both sides of the body/head/armour...whatever.

In computer games, it just looks cool to wear a helmet

 

[MrNeil]

Depends, bullets travel at angles. When in CQ fighting you're trained to stay away from the walls, most modern rounds spin upon release and are designed to "bounce" - this sounds weird but bear with me! lol

At certain angles from firing a bullet will "bounce" and turn and travel along a new path. If a stray round hits a solid wall it will follow onto this effect and then travel along the walls path at roughly the same speed (obviously losing some velocity with the impact) There's physics involved here but I don't know how it works, I'm just explaining my training. Someone Wiki for me!

I've never seen it but I have heard stories of a rounds "bouncing" from the top of a down-turned helmet and flying off in another direction.

 

[oAmadeuso]

It's been said by others a helmet is mainly there for minor injuries and to make sure there's at least some of your face to be buried.
In FPS all head shots should be one hit kills IMO, ok it might not always kill you but it will take you out of the game.
Same for limb shots.
Body shots, ok take a few maybe.

 

[Hammered]

Wiki'd!

The likelihood of ricochet is dependent on many factors, including bullet shape, velocity (and distance), target material and the angle of incidence.

Bullet construction has a major factor in determining both the likelihood of ricochet as well as where the bullet will travel afterward. Hard bullets have a greater tendency to penetrate than softer ones.

Ricochets are often more common with low power calibers such as .22 or .177 calibre, which can have trouble penetrating some materials, although a ricochet can occur with any caliber.

Bullets are more likely to ricochet off flat, hard surfaces such as concrete or steel, however a ricochet can occur on almost any surface including grassed soil, given a flat enough angle when hit. Materials that are soft, give easily, or can absorb the impact have a lower incidence of ricochet, for example sand. Though it may not be obvious, bullets easily ricochet off water.

The angle of departure, both vertically and horizontally, is difficult to calculate or predict due to the many variables involved, not the least of which is deformation of the bullet caused by its impact with the surface it strikes. Ricochets will almost always continue on a somewhat diagonal trajectory to their original trajectory, unless it is against a flat surface perpendicular to the angle of incidence (or approach), in which case, it will reflect at an angle dependent on the other variables involved in the ricochet incident.

 

[Birras]

In FPS all head shots should be one hit kills IMO, ok it might not always kill you but it will take you out of the game.
Same for limb shots.
Body shots, ok take a few maybe.

Why would a shot to the arm or leg be fatal? I admit, it would be quite the embuggerance, but hardly terminal. Also, in the game Combat Armshelmets claim to give 20%-35% resistances to headshots, but the 25% resistance that my current helmet appears to give me does nothing to lessen the fatal impact of a stray LMG round to the head.

 

[MrNeil]

If you want realism in a game then all direct shots to anywhere other than kevlar-protected areas should count as fatal.

When you're hit you go down, you're winded, wounded and your mental state immediately deteriorates. In the real thing, in standard combat when you take a round you're considered out of action unless the situation dictates otherwise.

When a bullet pierces your skin, the force and damage to your body mixed with adrenaline causes you to go into shock. When that happens you're more or less incapacitated.

 

[gooneybird71]

Body Armor is for giving you a couple seconds to rip it off if you get hit by shrapnel (its very hot).

Helmets, well the shape of them means that a percentage of shots that hit them will be cause to ricochet away, direct shots will likely penetrate, those that penetrate will probably be at a modified angle and hopefully cause a non-fatal wound.

All armor is to increase chances of survivability when compared to a soldier wearing no armor. Because in almost every case body armor increases survivability on the battlefield it is used (judged as being cheaper than an unarmored fatality or wound).

Its actually a function of economics.

-Gooney

 

[BaronAsh]

Any body else know that the Red Baron once got shot in the head by one of the machine guns mounted on a plane and he survived.

 

[Break]

Even if a helmet could take a bullet, it'd hardly stop the wearer from dying. Rifle shots can move at 1500 metres a second. You think you could take that kind of force and still have a fully intact neck?

 

[Mukiwa]

A helmet will provide some protection from glancing bullets as well as most ricochets. However when it comes to rounds that strike it dead on or high velocity rounds there's really not much in the way of protection offered anymore.
Still, it's better than nothing