Why didn't US soldiers strap their helmets in WW2?

[@henrykrecklow817]

My dad was in in the Philippines in WW2, he told me that the straps were just uncomfortable and that's why they didn't wear them.

[@2639theboss]

Seat belts arent comfortable either but id rather not die in a car crash or from a shrapnel piece personally. "Its not comfortable" is such an asinine reason to actively reduce your chances of living.

[@johncheek2207]

My Uncle was in the Philippines would never talk about his time or experience till the day he passed.

[@busterdog321]

As a WW2 SgtMaj that was in the Philippines, "I KNEW IT" i told higher it wasnt no rumors, it was undisciplined warfightin! Poleece thouse moostashes!

[@alpinwolf1752]

....trotzdem hat er die Phillipinen illegal mit schwer bewaffneten Gangs überfallen, vergewaltigt, ermordet? 😉

[@mynamejef7963]

@@2639theboss might I recommend just not dropping your helmet

[@normstewart546]

In WWII my father was the XO on a destroyer, and was hit by shrapnel. He lost an eye and had some head damage, but turned-out OK. I still have his helmet, mangled over the left eye - I have to think neither of us would have been around without it.

[@Nilns]

You already know this, but that helmet is one of the most important things you own. Make sure you tell your kids and grandkids about it and the man who wore it.

[@samfrancisco8095]

Were you the apple of his remaining eye?

[@casedistorted]

@@Nilns One day it could go in a museum

[@yafuker6046]

Are you Joe Biden?

[@joeligma4721]

@@yafuker6046 no he's Norm Stewart

[@nazfrde]

"Why do you guys all sit on your helmets?" "So we don't get our balls blown off."

[@keithinaz9769]

Laughs, and then sits on his helmet. ( Chef )

[@Yora21]

The most important thing is that the risk of snapping your neck apparently only existed with the American helmets, but not the German and Soviet ones. That alone makes it very doubtful, even if the whole premise wasn't silly already.

[@MrChopsticktech]

Agreed! I'm an American and it seems like there are always things the rest of the world has no problem with, but Americans do. Most US firefighters continue to wear fire helmets designed over a hundred years earlier (for tradition) even though many other countries, such as France and Japan use more modern styles with softer backs that make it easier to crawl on the ground than a solid American style does.

[@Ruhrpottpatriot]

The risk was certainly there with the German M35 and M42 helmet, that's why more modern helmets based on them don't have a flat, but curved backside. However, German regulations ranked that risk far lower than getting shrapnel drilled into your head.

[@LegendStormcrow]

I tried one on, and I think it was just an excuse. They sucked. Uncomfortable AF

[@TheGirugamesh1000]

You know that's a myth right?

[@MayumiC-chan9377]

my father-in-law is a Vietnam veteran a combat photographer and he told me helmets were uncomfortable. by the time the PASGT came my husband and father-in-law chose to strap it on. We were cleaning the garage recently and we found father-in-law’s Vietnam war era helmet and it felt uncomfortable on my head.

[@eamonnclabby7067]

Very poignant, thank you for sharing this with us all....

[@fearlessfosdick160]

A helmet is uncomfortable right up until a piece of shrapnel is deflected by it.

[@brianc9374]

Pasgt was uncomfortable as well. Mich was so much better

[@Sparks68]

Having used an M1 for about ten years (before being issued a PASGT), it could be very uncomfortable if you didn't tweak properly to fit better around the headband and nape strap. There were also some tricks to adding some padding inside that made it sit on the crown of the head better. People are surprised by its weight when they first put one on. It's nothing like wearing a fabric or felt "hat", even a large one. The PASGT was not much better if you didn't tweak it to fit and wear well, especially the initial version of the PASGT.

[@GaryBertier114]

​@@Sparks68 I have an old Danish made M1 helmet that I got at a reenactment when I was super young. It is surprisingly very heavy on the head

[@SomePeopleCallMeWulfman]

When I was in the German army in the early '90s our helmets had two locks: "standard" and quick-release. We were never told why or which one to use.

[@JFTSwiertz]

Standard: take off helmet QR: take off helmet *faster*

[@StarkRG]

Sounds like it doesn't matter.

[@strfltcmnd.9925]

It is nice to have a choice.

[@NicNac1707]

Uns haben sie gesagt, dass wir auf der HiBa den Schnellverschluss nehmen sollen, dass falls wir mit der Helmkante irgendwo hängen bleiben sollten es uns den Hals nicht verrenkt sondern der Helm abfällt

[@chrisivan_yt]

😂😂 so human i’m sorry

[@claykalmar8131]

I'm a volunteer firefighter in the US. Most of us keep our helmet straps up tight around the back of the bottom lip of our helmet liner unless we are going into a serious call. If the liner is adjusted to fit your head snuggly, the helmet will stay on fairly well during light tasks. However, if you plan on doing strenuous work, especially crawling around in a burning structure, you have to use the strap to keep it from flopping off your head. In my experience, you want the strap snug, not loose or tight. And a lot of younger guys, much like the younger guys that comprise the majority of infantry grunts, think it looks cooler to not use the strap, until their helmet falls off in the middle of a call and they suddenly look foolish.

[@rogerr.8507]

Forest fire fighters dont use their chinstrap, rookie and veteran alike, im the only one that will use it but i have long hair so the helm will fall off if i look up.

[@fearlessfosdick160]

Early on I had that happen myself and you can bet that I heard about it later. I won't let it happen again, that's for sure.

[@fearlessfosdick160]

@@rogerr.8507 I always wear my chin strap in a forest or wildland fire. Too many things can fall on you when you are out there.

[@f34dave]

@@fearlessfosdick160 Me too. We were in 80mph winds in WY one year and I've been at quite a few LZ's were pilots would rip you for not having your lid secured.

[@casedistorted]

yeah I remember in the early 2000's doing the firefighter academy to strap that helmet strap or it would fall off.

[@pyro1047]

An interesting thing about the M1 Helmet is just how versatile it was. You can wear the inner liner as a hardhat, use the steel shell as a sink for shaving, cleaning your face, laundry washbasin, etc.(Could even be used as a beer mug, in that famous case). You could also theoretically use it as a pot to cook food, which was done. However the soldiers and marines that did so unfortunately rarely considered the fact that doing that could effect the steels heat treatment used to harden it. Not exactly something you want when that specific heat treatment is the whole purpose of the helmet, and soft or brittle steel is not exactly what you want for your armor when it's hit by a shell fragment or glancing/long range bullet.

[@robert43g]

Yes but they were warned against such thing as the heat will make the steel lose some of its temper thus not as effective again rock shrapnel etc

[@largol33t1]

My question is HOW the hell did they not catch diseases if they were ordered to actually take a dump in them? I've confirmed this with a Vietnam vet that yes, they were required to shit in their helmets when no toilet was available.

[@couriersix8294]

@@largol33t1 u clean it out good also they were using the outer shell which in theory shouldnt touch ur head while u wear it bc u have the inner shell on the inside

[@darrinjones9387]

If you are careful to only gently cook with it the steel is unaffected. Warm up something yes or boil up some soup yes but don't use it as a wok.

[@darrinjones9387]

But if I was in Nam, and had to use it as a chamber pot, no cooking would be done in it😅

[@matthewvorwald7169]

It's interesting hearing the reasons why soldiers didn't strap their helmets. I will say, I do remember watching a Marine breaking down military scenes in movies and he brings up that in WW2 movies starring John Wayne, his characters would be in battle and would have his chinstrap undone and even in the middle of combat, his helmet never fell off.

[@BobSmith-dk8nw]

Ha! Ha! Reminds me of me and my buddies, who were all Vets, used to get together Saturday nights and eat scratch made Chili with chili peppers chopped up in it - and drink Heineken. We'd watch a TV Show Called _Saturday Night at the Bijou_ . They'd play old movies like _Casablanca_ - but - they also showed a Serial - like _Buck Rodgers_ just the way Movie Theaters used to do in the '40's. One Serial they showed was named _SOS Coast Guard_ . It started with this Coast Guard Radioman receiving Morse Code (like the name of the Serial) with mountainous waves seen through the Port Hole, a cup of coffee on his desk - and the steam just raising straight up. The Hero of this Serial was a Coast Guard Officer who was always in his dress uniform wearing this White Saucer Hat. That guy would get in fist fights and cling to the fuselage of flying aircraft - and that White Saucer Hat - never came off. We'd all worn those Saucer Hats and they'd just pop right off you head at the slightest excuse. I had one pop off my head when I was a Gate Guard and this lady ran over it. We used to joke that he had a nail through the top of it into his head. Funny as hell ... if you were a veteran ... . .

[@alpinwolf1752]

​@@BobSmith-dk8nw ....and all the others die in stupidity, really?

[@papalaz4444244]

@@BobSmith-dk8nw What an hilariously overelaborate load of shit that is lol

[@mingodingo]

He cited a movie character?

[@yoshilovesyoshi]

@@mingodingo John Wayne is a real person and famous for being the "good guy" or the "nice guy" in Cowboy movies and World War 2 movies

[@Foomba]

Based on my own personal experience and that of soldiers in my company, we did not typically fasten the chin strap on our M1 helmets. This appears to be a common practice, as seen in numerous photographs of soldiers during World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. It's important to note, however, that in these photos, soldiers running or moving over rough ground are often shown holding the helmet on with a free hand to prevent it from slipping off during movement.

[@mynamejef7963]

It fuckn wimdy!

[@مثاليفراغ]

Kekw

[@LegendStormcrow]

I tried one on and those straps are uncomfortable AF

[@markc8401]

As a former infantry officer, all it takes is one training assault to realize the importance of straps to hold the helmet in place. Without straps, helmets are somewhat useless, because now your helmet is laying behind you in the grass somewhere while you engage the enemy

[@westoniii]

I wouldn't expect a different response from an officer haha

[@markc8401]

@@westoniii yes, intelligence does matter :)

[@cautiouslycynical9786]

@@markc8401 Yes, a way more credible account than most of the "my dad who was in WW II" anecdotes. As if someone of that age would write YT comments and refer to their father as "dad".

[@Michael-bn1oi]

@@cautiouslycynical9786 Most people call their dads dad. Don't confuse your own nonsense with the way the rest of the world is. Absolutely insane point to try and make.

[@cautiouslycynical9786]

@@Michael-bn1oi You're clearly not unhinged if your first reaction is dropping the word "insane" on someone. Also spot me that unicorn boomer that is comfortable with being that familiar with a parent. As well as hip enough to type a comment that doesn't look like a transcript of a stroke event.

[@RTPJu]

I tried the WW2 helmet on an occasion and can tell that the strap is considerably uncomfortable for long use, with the strap fabric scratching your skin. I wouldn't be surprised that the reason for not wearing it was just to avoid the discomfort and them they just gave in whatever excuse available for it

[@Perfusionist01]

Nice video. My Dad was in the infantry in Europe in 1945 - 46 and he related the story about not using the helmet straps due to concerns about concussion breaking the neck. When I was a WW2 reeenactor in the 1970s I had several US M1 helmets and even got to wear a German M35 stahlhelm. I lgenerally liked the US M1 helmet BUT it was always rocking on my head and knocking my glasses askew. The US helmet was issued in one size and one adjusted the headband and webbing suspension to get a good fit. The German helmets were often issued `with the liner being in common haT SIZES. A derail missed by many modelers or diorama builders is the helmet size. There were larger and smaller soldiers in every army, but the helmets and rifles should be the SAME size in the same scene. People come in different sizes, but the M1 helmet and M1 rifle came in the same size for every soldier.

[@ligmasack9038]

that is because you didn't take the time to adjust the harness inside of the Helmet so that it stayed put.

[@andypeterson8013]

When you adjust the leather liner properly and broke it in, it would stay on really well. I fought in 3 wars and did wear the M1 helmet when I first went in the Army. One size only but the Kevlar was sized for each head and that was a great helmet to wear. Never used the chin strap. Nobody said shit to anybody about the chin strap.

[@asdkjh4370]

Has ha reaped/ liberated lot of Europe?

[@SolarWebsite]

3:05 Switching to helmet is faster than reloading! .... if your strap is not fastened 😉

[@jacqueschouette7474]

It was/is standard USMC operating procedure that when going down the cargo nets into the landing craft, your helmet strap is unbuckled. After you get into the landing craft, you buckled your helmet strap just before landing on the beach. I was in the USMC when we switched from the old Vietnam era helmets to the newer Nazi-looking helmets of today. I always kept my helmet strap buckled, not because it was an order, but because it kept the helmet from bouncing around on my head when running. I can't imagine wearing a helmet without the helmet strap buckled just because of how it would bounce around on my head.

[@smh9902]

I was in the Army more recently, we were all given ACH's to replace the old PASGT's. The ACH is exceptionally comfortable even with the strap. The old leather suspension system was replaced with soft foam pads that stay tight like a football helmet. Its a great design.

[@MercShame]

We had some rumors like these in Iraq. We Were told to not wear our chin straps too tight because it could hurt us in an IED blast.

[@fearlessfosdick160]

Yeah, but the narrator is right. If an IED were to go off so close to you that it could cause your helmet to break your neck, the blast concussion would probably kill you anyway.

[@RunaurufuOfficial]

@@fearlessfosdick160 if blast can kill you then it does not matter.... however if it is only shrapnel from blast then that may be different story... and "letting helmet go" can actually reduce damage to you head as that force moves with helmet and is not dampened by your head/neck/body. "Problem" with military helmets is that they are multiple use equipment. They are not like modern bike helmets which are constructed to withstand single impact event and then should be disposed (as their structure changes to absorb shock).

[@IHateYoutubeHandles615]

@@RunaurufuOfficial Well modern bike helmets aren't designed to stop bullets, or even shrapnel, either. They're styrofoam with at best a covering of thin plastic.

[@Randi-h5q]

​@RunaurufuOfficial nah, as a reservist infantry grunt I can tell you that the main problems with infantry helmets then and now is that they are heavy and stuffy, making them uncomfortable to wear. Modern kevlar helmets are around 1.5kg without any attachments equipped. Hence, in a non-combat environment, everyone wants to remove their helmets or unbuckle their chin straps, especially when it is hot and humid.

[@alm5992]

I didn't know the interior webbing was adjustable. That is probably why my 2 army helmets just flopped backwards- almost falling off, or forwards - blocking my view. Since I was a kid, just because of this, I never understood how their helmets didn't ruin every engagement or drive them mad!

[@Sparks68]

The use of chinstraps on the M1 changed circa early 1982 with its use becoming mandatory - by general order. Accompanying that, the chinstrap was changed from the post WWII quick release to one with a snap and had a split in the strap that went over the chin to keep it in place there, similar to the airborne chinstraps. These are sometimes referred to as the Grenada chinstraps, but they predate that operation by a year or two. These were the last chinstraps for the M1 helmet. I transitioned from the ball type quick release to the "Grenada" type in late 1981 or early 1982. A few years later I was handed a PASGT. One got used to the M1. It was heavy, but when the liner headband was adjusted properly it wasn't that bad. Many of us put a foam donut pad in the liner crown under the liner straps. It improved comfort some but could become a sweat holder in hot weather. I have an M1 with chinstrap, 3-point nape strap, liner and camo cover in their last iteration just prior to the PASGT. The initial PASGT wasn't all that comfortable, even with considerable fiddling with its liner and headband. A major problem with the initial PASGT was its chinstrap and how the helmet sat on the head with its liner and headband. It went through a number of iterations and many of us eventually found means of putting in a four-point chin strap and added padding. My final one was a Franken-helmet to make it fit and wear better. I retired before the ACH which rolled out circa 2000. That was superseded by the ECH, which will be superseded now by the IHPS. The USMC went from the PASGT to the Lightweight PASGT versus the ACH. Having seen the USMC helmet, they improved quite a few things over the U.S. Army's PASGT.

[@stevepettersen3283]

Good info. The improved M1 steel helmet chinstrap "Grenada" was introduced earlier than 1981, though I have been unable to find out just when. I went through Army Basic Combat Training in summer 1978 and we had them. I was assigned to Germany and my battalion still used the old crappy straps. However, the combat arms units on my post had the newer ones. Realizing we probably would never be issued the new ones I bought one at the uniform store. My platoon sergeant was a Vietnam vet and spouted the incorrect fears of using the straps. We had so much old gear then it was embarrassing.

[@Sparks68]

@@stevepettersen3283 I heard the same stuff about chin straps breaking soldiers' necks in spite of the ball quick disconnect that was added after WWII some time in the Korean War era. (Pull on the strap with enough force and it would disconnect.) We didn't wear them fastened until the general order directed everyone to have their chinstraps fastened at all times whenever they were wearing a helmet. The equipment we had in the immediate post-Vietnam and Jimmy Carter era was old and badly worn, even the allegedly better stuff in Germany facing the Warsaw Pact at the height of the Cold War. It was a nightmare to maintain. What little new stuff we saw wasn't much help. (Don't get me started on the M880 series of 5/4 trucks.) That didn't change much until about a year after Reagan became President. We had some wheeled vehicles and M113 APCs that predated the 1964 Gulf of Tonkin incident in the Vietnam War (prior to which most U.S. involvement was advisory to the South Vietnamese Army and some Special Forces). CONUS readiness was worse. Thank you for your service. It was a rough time during the Cold War.

[@grenmoyo3968]

The LWH was what replaced the Marine PASGT helm completely in 2009. It was what my buddy was issued when he was sent to OEF in both his tours in 08 and again in 10. He trained using the PASGT and hated it in comparison to the LWH. After that he went Army Reserve and used the ACH (basically the same as the LWH) and never got to really use the new ECH with the Marine or Army.... now they're giving the regular Marines in combat arms the FAST helmets that SOCOM have been using the past decade or so to use which is kinda cool but I still think they sacrifice some protection for better fit and weight. My big question is when did the military begin adding woodland camo to the exterior of the m1 helmets. Was that during Vietnam or later? I figured it was near the end of the M1's service considering the date which m85 woodland was adopted.

[@martinlutz5446]

This is still a thing. In the modern german military, if a soldier is seen not wearing his helmet strap, a superior will likely ask him "are you an American?" in order to make the soldier aware of his mistake. Modern helmets also still have quick releases to avoid a breaking of the neck, not necessarily from a blast, but also from getting caught on something.

[@Maddog_Mickey_Knoxx]

Nah if they were American they would be able to fund thier own military and fight thier own battles

[@dewaarheidiserghard789]

@@Maddog_Mickey_Knoxx which they do..

[@Tango_and_Sierra]

​@@Maddog_Mickey_Knoxxok jackass.. also, their*

[@Maddog_Mickey_Knoxx]

@@dewaarheidiserghard789 lmmfao no they fucking don’t you idiot

[@gloverfox9135]

@@dewaarheidiserghard789 now, but not before February 2022

[@papadelta316]

I was in the Army from 98-05, I was a combat engineer and whenever we were training with mines we would have out chinstraps unfastened. That was the only time we had ours unfastened.

[@Joetorres3]

When I was a teen my neighbor fought in Italy as a radio operator in the Brazilian expeditionary force. In a night he was tasked to patrol a sector, and found a dead body naked, hanging on a tree. He was angry that the Germans would do that with a man, but they told the explosion force would rip his clothes and launch him. In the air. I don't know if that is possible, but I hear rumors of something like that also happening in wwi. He endedd up coming early home because he was wounded by a granade sharpnel that went through the radio on his back and his abdomen.

[@chomcat1910]

That reminds me of the scene/passage in All Quiet on the Western Front where a dead soldier is found hanging naked on a tree likely due to an explosion.

[@largol33t1]

@@chomcat1910 It does happen in real life. I saw a GORY documentary of a rescue team in Panama bringing bodies from a COPA airliner that crashed in the jungle and a lot of the bodies were nude but not charred.

[@SuperMrHiggins]

Right? It's interesting, going to ask a combat vet from Afghanistan I know what they thought about them, helmet straps I mean. Definitely curious.

[@paulmanson253]

Car accidents regularly knock shoes off drivers. The instantaneous G forces can be quite substantial. WWI soldiers mention others being blown to red mist by artillery strikes. Several recollections of WWI trench life mention naked bodies in trees,the concussion. In WWII,75mm (3 inch) could cause serious damage,artillery went up to 155mm,and Allied naval gunfire up to 16 inch shells 6 feet high that weighed 2000 pounds. Capable of flipping a Tiger tank upside down,there are photographs. My own experience was with ditching dynamite as a kid on a farm. And the bang from buried dynamite, maybe two pounds of high explosive,was memorable. Something like an 88mm,or the German 10.5 cm field howitzer,would be a lot more than that. So I can well believe stories such as you describe.

[@ejd53]

@@paulmanson253 The bursting charge of the 88mm HE round was 2.19 pounds, so your 2 lbs was a pretty good approximation.

[@rogerknapp6360]

I served with the 1st Infantry Division in Vietnam. We were instructed not to fasten our chin straps because a mortar or artillery shell landing nearby could blow our helmet off and the army didn’t want our heads to flew away with the helmet. How thoughtful of the military planners.

[@BobSmith-dk8nw]

There's stuff that becomes "common knowledge" which may or may not be true. Some of it was just superstition - but some of it was just doing things the way the other guys did. One Superstition was that if you didn't lace your combat boots all the way up - so that the top hole wasn't used - you wouldn't step on any land mines. My contribution to the Vietnam War - was being a Sentry in California for 15 months - so I never saw any combat - but - we all wore our boots that way. .

[@rockstarJDP]

I recall reading an account somewhere of a veteran that landed on Omaha beach, he told all of his lads to loosen their webbing and unbuckle their helmets in case they landed in deep water or had to go over the side of the landing craft as the weight would be doubled by being filled with water. It saved many of them from drowning as they were able to drop their kit easily and swim to shallower water when they got hit.

[@mnguy98]

My papa (grandpa on mom's side) was a hospital tech in WWII. According to family, he would occasionally make frybread for himself and his buddies, and he had almost everything to do it with; flour, salt, water, and lard for frying were easy to come by, and he could fry the bread in his mess kit, but he lacked a large bowl for mixing the dough. It didn't take him long to figure out he could use his helmet shell to mix dough in. Unrelated, I've done a couple of reenacting events, and at the end of the day, a large steel bowl makes a pretty handy washbasin for cleaning face paint off.

[@jerryl.1033]

I joined the Army in 1975. We used the steel pot for washing, shaving and cooking. Even used it for a brain bucket at times. I hated to see it go when the PASGT helmets came along. I retired in 1996.

[@DIDYOUSEETHAT172]

0:07 They did not wear the chin strap was because the rumor amid the troops was a head firmly attached to a helmet would pop off during artillery bursts. Which of course was a bit ridiculous as any explosion close enough to generate that kind of force would pretty much vaporize them.

[@JohnnyJohnsonEsq]

Bingo

[@OldMusicFan83]

I was issued steel pots in 84/85 in US Army. Pull out the helmet liner and you have a bucket to use with water. Easy to bathe in the field. I lamented this loss when we transitioned to Kevlar

[@scottydog1313]

I was in the Marines at the same time. My unit was among the first to get the new Fritz helmets. The biggest complaint everyone had was the same, we couldnt use them to wash with like we could with the old M1 steel pots.

[@Maine307]

AWESOME VIDEO - I AM A survivor of a 300 lb IED. I wore my helmet strapped, body armor and eye pro.. no seat belt strap. I am the only survivor of the 5 men in the MRAP. Nov 2009. I know my Helmet saved my life. I was blown via the force of the IED through the door, as the initial blast was directly under my seat... along with the OshKoshMRAP being blown several yards and flipped rolled. i recieved many wounds,( 6+ months in the hospital) but I know the Helmet saved my life alonfg with NOT being strapped in. 3other men, had thier belts on, and remained inside and died . my buddy, who later died of his wounds, was in the turret, and blown out like a cork. his helmet saved his life. his internal injuries got him later on. We always always ensured helmets on and strapped. I never knew of any unit in my time to not wear helmets. USMC 94-2014. my MEDEVAC is even on youtube.. u can see the crater and the vehicle aftermath.

[@jefferydraper4019]

Its like the argument by motorcycle riders about feeling safer without one. All it takes is a few pounds of force to crack your skull open compared to actually breaking through that helmet. Of course you couldnt pay me enough to ride a motorcycle. People hit trains and semis because they didnt see them, much less a little motorcycle.

[@silverjohn6037]

Part of it was the change made to the strap when they went to the two strap cradle that went on the end of your chin rather than having to go right under the jaw where it could rub against the windpipe and throat. The cradle isn't the most comfortable either but a definite improvement.

[@SirHellNaja]

Goddamn, talk about doing the wrong thing in the right place. That's some luck there, most guys would've died from concussion and trauma anyway.

[@donaldparlett7708]

Man was I. Ad when they issued the first Kevlar helmets. There was a sticker on the inside that really said”do not get the inside wet” mind blown as a sergeant. We hated yet love the multi-talker that was our steel pot. Hell we washed in it, bathed out of it, boiled water in it, dug with it, your imagination could literally get carried away with that helmet.

[@jefferydraper4019]

When we switched from steel pots to Kevlar I was stumped on how to shave in the field.

[@James.B.Russell]

^ canteen cup!

[@georgebenta3435]

You can finely adjust the helmet suspension of the M1 helmet to snugly fit your head, if the helmet is properly adjusted the helmet won't bounce around and you don't need to wear the chin strap. The suspension of the M1 helmet is not like your ordinary helmet padding, it has a sweatband that can fit the circumference of your head.

[@habibishapur]

Until you trip on a root while running at night and crack your skull. The exact kind of injury that the helmet is made to protect against when properly worn.

[@georgebenta3435]

@@habibishapur You're more likely to break an ankle that way than your skull. With a properly adjusted M1 helmet, you will lose it when you hit the ground, not before.

[@GhostScout42]

@@habibishapur helmets are not worn for when you fall. that may have been why your mother made you wear yours, but in the military, they used to protect from falling debris and shrapnel.

[@habibishapur]

@@GhostScout42 Which I also mention in my commentsretard. That doesnt mean it wont protect you from a fall. Im focusing on the tripping aspect specifically, because thats gonna be when you miss having straps, not so much when debris is raining on you.

[@shorttimer874]

From what I remember the damn thing was heavy, it stayed in place without the strap, and the only time we actually had to wear it was while on alert while dismounted the requirement was to swap it for our CVC helmet. Even then, we usually did not wear it unless we were going to be really obvious, like ground guiding a track to the gate. We wore the liner for guard duty tho, and the occasional other activity.

[@NoxiD-20]

"Buckle that chin strap private, who you think you are? John Wayne?"

[@keithinaz9769]

Full Metal Jacket. 🇺🇸

[@robtsologtr]

Paw slogged through the jungles of New Guinea and then other islands in the S Pacific, finally being released (having accrued enough points) while searving on the front lines in the Philippines in July ‘45. He said they wore soft caps in the jungles because of the noise of branches scraping helmets gave away their positions.

[@pozzee2809]

Interesting

[@joesikkspac7904]

That's why there are covers on them now. Also, to cut down on shine and for adding camouflage to. That's why we used to put old, ARMY issue green wool socks over the handguards of our M-16s. Branches clacking off of handguards and magazines are a major issue. A lot of us had extra mags that we taped up with 100mph tape. Then have 7 mags that never saw the range or the field for inspections.

[@Kenisama]

Was in a vehicle accident where my HMMWV was rear ended by a semi-truck. All of us in the HMMWV were knocked unconscious. Later I saw my chin strap had broken at the buckle. Which made sense considering the cuts/bruises on my chin and inside my mouth. But the helmet did it's job, I'm sure my head would've been in worse shape without it.

[@evilstans]

An un secured M1 can "pop off" when hit by a round, causing a ricochet. A secured helm increases the chance of a penetrating shot. It could be circumstancial, but it occured often enough to speculate.

[@fredbrewer796]

I don't remember ever hearing any of the rumors, I personally had the strap unsnapped when I could get away with it simply for comfort, especially when talking. I was never actually in combat but spent many years wearing helmets and as a Navy Corpsman with the Marines I'd agree that any blast hard enough to make wearing a helmet dangerous is probably going to kill you with or without one. It's probably analogous to the seat belt cases where one person gets thrown from a car and lives while the others wearing the seatbelt died, the odds are in your favor with the belt or helmet.

[@JonNuclear]

As a long time Infantryman I can tell you one reason, that shit sucks. On deployment while out on mission, especially when attached to Special Forces which was often the case, we almost never wore helmet straps. And let me tell you, 18 hours straight with your helmet on the entire time and chinstrap undone is not nearly as bad as 4 hours with the strap on. It gets so gross and sweaty which make you even hotter, in the cold that will freeze and tear up your face, its just the worst for all the small things. Plus a lose strap is just about as good as no strap at all as far as keeping it on your head and tightening it down just makes the whole experience worse cause your helmet will be tighter on your head if you actually wanna get anything out of the strap. I switch out my chinstrap damn near weekly, at least monthly cause of how gross it gets, but if I was in a less fortunate unit or on a longer continuous mission I wouldn't have access to that. And worst of all, when you have relaxed grooming over there and can have your beard, the beard and the strap do not get along at all. Dont let the snooty officers in the comments trick you into thinking otherwise

[@rickybobby8224]

I got "smoked" so many times for not securing my strap during OIF etc. I just looked so much cooler I couldn't help it!

[@williamkirk1156]

I was in the USAF, and so was my wife. Neither of us remember using the chin strap. This was especially remembered during my 3 years in NATO, we were constantly on exercise in the late 1970s and early 80s under General Haig (until he got promoted to Secretary of State). Our big fuss was the gas masks. Being a Tech Controller coordinating activities and repairing communications lines was very difficult in chemical weapons gear.

[@IHateYoutubeHandles615]

Well that was the Air Force :)

[@terkish]

In many photos Patton is wearing only the helmet liner which does not have a chinstrap. You can tell by the glossy paint job and the rivets on the side. The steel pot has chinstrap anchor points but no rivets or suspension webbing inside and a dull finish. Photographers would have soldiers remove the chinstrap and push the helmet up much higher on the forehead for posed photographs so that the soldier's face is more recognizable (and still do). In most candid battlefield shots of Patton he is wearing the steel pot with the liner and chinstrap properly fastened.

[@ZZstaff]

I don't have to watch your video to give you the answer. Non-airborne straps can cut your head off if an explosion takes place near you. I was in the Vietnam War and don't remember anyone using a strap to hold a helmet on.

[@ryannguyen7466]

“That helmet wasn’t yours to lose”

[@williamhammond9090]

As a Marine NCO in the 90s I learned from the Vietnam veterans that you didn't wear the chin strap. If the helmet took a round and the Marine was wearing the chin strap, the end result was a broken neck that the individual usually didn't survive. Kevlar helmets weren't designed to be bullet proof. The helmets were designed to stop shrapnel.

[@stevenjackson6360]

When doing my rigging cert, we were instructed not to fasten their chin straps when working on the ground. The idea was that if something sharp was to fall and pierce the helmet, like a podger, it would pull the helmet off your head without the strap pulling on your neck. I think they changed the rules last year though, straps have to be certed to release automatically at a certain force to minimize the potential neck strain.

[@edl617]

We had the WW2 helmets in the navy in the 70’s and 80’s. In the winter we wear a stocking cap and adjust the liner to fit While wearing the helmet we use the break link ( that’s what I called it ) when being lower and raised in the boats

[@RandomStuff-he7lu]

Good vid. I've seen so many others make similar vids where they bring up the impossibility of the strap breaking one's neck and then saying due to that it couldn't be the reason why soldiers didn't buckle their helmets.

[@billyponsonby]

I have one somewhere in the back of my garage. It has M65 camo and a liner. It is heavy. I’ve noticed that in earlier Hollywood movies the actors wear only the liner.

[@krackerjackism]

I love how you keep one frame at the end of extremely graphic clips.

[@observationistdave]

My grandfsther was in a WWII artillery unit and they never strapped their helmets for fear of an injury from concussive force. To be fair, they also weren't infantry crawling and scratching in the mud and the hedged bocage

[@tommyspann9740]

My dad was in the Army and he said that they didn't wear them because shell concussion could break your neck by getting under the shell. This was in the early 50's.

[@inductivegrunt94]

Because it wouldn't allow for important soldiers to remove their helmets to make themselves look cooler.

[@Rockwall69]

I joined when we had the old steel pots and then we transitioned to the kevlar helmets soon but when I had the steel pots, I always left my chin strap undone whenever possible. They stayed on and were way, way more comfortable

[@dannelson8768]

Early M1 helmet straps where not long enough to fasten around the back. Not sure when this changed, probably at the time of the quick release, maybe someone can comment on that. Thanks Johnny, your videos are a favorite of mine.

[@JohnnyJohnsonEsq]

Hey well thanks for adding some info 🙏

[@chris.3711]

It had to do with the bales being fixed. It didn't allow the strap to reach. That would change in 1943 when the M1 was updated.

[@dannelson8768]

@@chris.3711 Thanks Chris ! I have a early fixed bale M1 helmet with the straps sewn.

[@daithi1966]

In Basic Training back in the early 1980s they used to yell at us that we were not John Wayne, and we better have are damn chin strap snapped on. One night we were on a march along a steep cliff ridgeline, and we hear Bmph, Bam, Bam, Blam, Crash, Blam, Blam, blam... "Drill Sgt., I lost my hat." Followed by the Drill Sgt. saying, "I wish his goddamned head was in it." (A _Smokey and the Bandit_ reference, but still really funny.)

[@aggielonghorn]

Props for a topic that I've never seen discussed and I've never wondered about. But, the title instantly caught my attention and this was a nice little bit of knowledge to learn. 👍🏽

[@Foebane72]

I liked the strategic fade-out on the unhelmeted soldier being headshotted in Starship Troopers!

[@jimbokilo]

I own an M1. You dont need the chin strap as the liner is excellent at hugging your skull. Fastening the straps at the back just makes the liner more secure to the shell... The shell straps were made from course canvas, so would sandpaper your neck pretty quick. Also if you are in CQ, you can always take your helmet off and bash a mans face in with it. My grandfather was a british commando, they wore a Beret for many reasons. But one technique they used to dispatch german soldiers was to break their necks from behind by grabbing their helmet and letting their chinstraps do the work. Assuming they couldn't otherwise stab them.

[@myhandlehasbeenmishandled]

I was just gonna mention in comments, every time I've seen a WWII movie it was mostly German soldiers that strapped their helmets, American soldiers didn't. Funny how filmmakers take a note of small details like that but for whatever reason it was impossible to teach an actor how to hold a rifle, or they never knew that it mattered.

[@Soloong_Gaybowzer]

I knew an old WW2 vet and asked him about this. He said he never liked the movies that showed the straps loose, because it wasn't realistic. I asked him to elaborate, and he told me that some young officers started a rumor that if you had your chin strapped and a grenade went off nearby, the concussive force would catch under the helmet and rip your head clean off. He said only idiots believed the rumor and his CO kicked the butts of anyone caught with a loose helmet strap.

[@andypeterson8013]

I fought in 3 wars and never wore the chinstrap. Other members in my unit during that time never wore the chinstrap either. It had nothing to do with the blast of explosives taking your head of, it just did not make sense to wear it because it was not comfortable.

[@Musashi41]

I was in the Army from 1980 to 2003. The Drill Sergeants would smoke you if you didn’t have your chin straps fastened and then ask you if you thought you were John Wayne like in the movies. Not wearing the chin strap was not an option the rest of the time I was in the Army either.

[@scottdunkirk8198]

The liner strap is never worn under the chin unless the liner is worn as a training helmet. Also the ww2 liner seemed to fit a lot better than the later style of liners.

[@kenmvilla]

Hearing drill sergeant in my head now - "buckle your chin strap, John Wayne" couldn't imagine not wearing it when IMTing, that shit would fall right off

[@jackychan9236]

I remember watching the 2008 remake of German film Die Brücke with my dad, and he was like "why those American soldiers all got their helmet strapped on? this makes them looks like German soldiers disguising as American."

[@walteringle2258]

Having tried on one during an opportunity to drive, shoot, and command (it was a boy scout thing, we got to cycle around) a tank when I was 11 or 12 (i'm 50 now), those chin straps were just plain uncomfortable, and caused weird issues trying to twist your head back and forth to keep your awareness of things that might be dangerous. They were standard issues, and thus really didn't have good fitting for smaller heads. They were built for the larger heads for men nearing 6ft. Most WW2 soldiers did not come close to that. Our scoutmaster was a Vietnam era ranger, and he had issue with them, as he was around 5'7, 5'8.

[@inkmime]

I remember my grandfather telling me a story about his father who had served during WW2 as an assistant gunner, I believe. My great grandfather told him that apparently one time during his service, he was trying to make his way through a battlefield when a grenade or artillery shell went off a little too close for comfort. He said that he was frightened because while the blast happened, his helmet started spinning around his head like a hulahoop. When he took it off to look at it, he found that a piece of shrapnel had lodged itself into his helmet and he was maybe inches from getting scalped. That story begins to make a good bit more sense to me now hearing how US troops liked to keep their helmets loose apparently. Interesting guy, I think I also remember being told about him encountering Russian troops during what was basically the end of the war. He found them oddly haggard and specifically a little raggedy looking for soldiers. I wasn't told much else about that encounter, but I'd wager that after the war my great grandfather would eventually realize why they looked like that.

[@sketchygetchey8299]

Me: *tries to unstrap today* 1SG: Hey John Wayne! STRAP YOUR FREAKING ACH!!!

[@ChelseaPensioner-DJW]

My father was in the British Army during WW2, he told me when I was a child and putting on the 'Tommy's' uniform on my Action Man not to put the chinstrap under the chin, as it meant if someone came up behind you grabbed the front rim and with his knee in the small of your back snapped back, broken neck. My Dad used to call the German helmet a 'coal scuttle'. Years after my had passed away Dad, I was watching a UK documentary talking to British WW2 Veterans, there were two Cockney old boys chatting and both used the 'coal scuttle' analogy, and said exactly what my Dad had told me about neck snapping, these men said that they mainly did it during street to street clearing. A few years ago I got copies of my Dads Army records, and found that he'd been awarded the Military Medal for Bravery. I already knew what he'd got it for, just didn't know he'd been awarded it. He became a 'Driver' (bodyguard) for a Colonel, and just before being demobbed was in Military Government in Northern Germany. Not bad for a Pimlico/Battersea boy. He also had seven brothers who all served, five in WW2, one in Korea and the youngest at Suez. They all got home safely and 5 of them were middleweight Army or Navy area boxing champions. A right little firm.

[@mikmik9034]

The image of "Patton" actor is wearing a highly polished Helmet LINER.

[@scottparsons-ko9gd]

I remember discussing this chin strap problem with my friend as ten year olds in about 1961. We were sitting on his front lawn in Wellington New Zealand with an American and British helmet in front of us. We also discussed taking the inner lining out of the American helmet and cooking in it. Amazing what young boys talked about at that time.

[@AgressorNation]

WWII Helmets didn't have a chin cup built into the strap. So I imagine that wearing the strap on the chin, simply didn't work. I also find that wearing the strap under the lower jaw, at the juncture of throat and mandible is very uncomfortable to the point of causing gagging sometimes. Helmets with e built in chip cup do make wearing the chin strap more comfortable, but jaw movement is then restricted during talking.

[@jackstecker5796]

I don't have my bomb book handy, but from memory, it's all about blast overpressure. Normal air pressure at sea level is about 14.7 psi. Bear in mind, I'm not talking about fragments (at least not primary fragments). .5 psi overpressure will disorient you. This is like a flashbang in a closed space. 1 psi overpressure will knock out windows. 2 psi will knock out stuff like security cameras 3 psi overpressure will throw debris at you, large enough to cause harm. 4 psi overpressure may cause secondary fragmentation. 5 psi overpressure will throw you around like a ragdoll. 6 psi overpressure, and you're dead.

[@k-9mantrailing324]

Dad was a WWII combat vet in Europe and he told me he didn't wear it because if a blast hit near by it could break the neck.

[@bravodelta3083]

The US Navy in WW2 didn't want sailors to dive in wearing helmets, according to this lessons learned training film: kzbin.info/www/bejne/fpiqdKJ_hdRorKc

[@philipramsden4975]

When I was in boot camp I was walking around without my chin strap secured. A drill instructor came up behind me, ripped my helmet off my head and chucked it as far as he could. Then he chased me, yelling at me the whole way to get my helmet asking me if I thought I was "f'ing John Wayne". My nickname the rest of boot camp was John Wayne 😂

[@colt547]

My grandfather served in WW2 & Korea, he was hit by a mortar while in his foxhole and swears not having his chinstrap buckled kept him from being more seriously injured. He said many of his buddies wore them without straps for that reason.

[@Irejectyourreality]

In July 1944 the US army introduced a T1 chinstrap release, which attached to the existing buckle and inserted into the hook of the strap. The adaptor was ball shaped and would hold the strap tight, only popping apart in the event of a blast of 15 pounds. Although 30 were tested in combat, and approved, they didn't really reach the combat troops before the end of the war. They can be frequently found on Vietnam period M1 Steel pots. cradle

[@jdwht2455]

Early on Viet Nam era vet that had that type 'pot' with pop apart chin strap. It's amazing how heavy that 3 pound helmet got while wearing it for a day, usually more. I recall our first sergeant (a WW2 combat vet) telling us about that strap and never to look like John Wayne since it would NOT stay on in combat if not fastened - but we did try !!!

[@flarvin8945]

My grandfather said that he did not use his chinstrap in WWII, for that reason. lol

[@douglasthompson2740]

I don't know how prevalent it was if at all but my uncle told me in the fifties, that unsuspecting soldiers doing guard duty or forward postings could have their neck broken by the enemy if the chin strap was used. The method was to grab the front of the helmet when coming from behind and use the strap as a lever on the head to break the neck by a sharp upward and backward pull. The back edge of the helmet acted as a fulcrum which easily broke the neck. A quick and silent death if done in an efficient manner. We had a Korean war era helmet we played with as kids and theoretically it worked. Of course it depended on the right set of circumstances and was probably a rare occurrence, but who wants to be that one in a million guy?

[@davesskillet9235]

I don't remember ever using my helmet strap except during gas mask training it was still in the same position on the back of the helmet when I turned it in lol

[@DAB2640]

I was in the US Army from Nov. 1968 to Nov. 1970. If you didn't fasten the chin strap and let it hang down, as is often shown in the movies, when you ran the buckle would swing up and hit you in the face. It only had to happen a couple of time before you learned not to do that! Buckling it behind the helmet would solve that problem, but didn't work well when wearing a camouflage helmet cover.

[@dullahan7677]

Not exactly the same thing, but British F1 driver Tom Pryce was a victim of a helmet induced fatality in the 1977 South African Grand Prix. Pryce was unable to avoid a track marshall crossing the track on foot while carrying a 40lb fire extinguisher. The impact of the F1 car at 170mph killed the marshall, with the fire extinguisher striking Pryce's helmet and wrenching it sharply upward. The force exerted was so strong that Pryce was nearly decapitated by his helmet's chinstrap. The inertia of the speeding car sent the extinguisher flying over the grandstands and into the parking lot where it was wedged into the body of a parked car that took tremendous effort to remove.

[@jessman8597]

I was never in the military. But when I was in the fire academy, we were taught not to buckle the chin straps. They were to go behind the helmet as stated in the video.

[@Robot-Overlord]

This is interesting because ive got coworkers that should probably he wearing helmets.

[@johnfagan2156]

A Nam Vet told me the hope was that a unstrapped helmet would possibly fly off if hit with a rifle bullet deflecting the bullet but that a tightly strapped helmet would allow the bullet to penetrate straight through. Good video.

[@orosalsero]

I wore that helmet for many years it came in two parts the inner shell and outer shell, the reason I never used the chin strap was that it interfered with you aligning your eyesight on your rifle, when in the pron position it would flop over your forehead no matter how you adjusted the head band. It made for a good wash basin though and to heat up water for shaving, can't do that with the new helmets.

[@SpeckleKen]

Sorry for the aside, but... Do Americans actually say "strangulate" in everyday speech, or did this sound odd to you too?

[@UKsoldier45]

I understand it is because that if your unstrapped helmet was hit by a single piece of shrapnel, (or a bullet), it would, in a micro second absorb only some of the blast and then cause the helmet to be propelled from the soldiers head. A tightly strapped helmet would then absorb all of the blast and percussion. This would potentially cause injuries to the skull and then with a form of neck whiplash from the impact. Balanced issues, yes, but this is what I was told.

[@justz00t48]

This is what I thought along with it being uncomfortable. All that energy has to be transferred one way or another and flying off your head after impact seems far better than to your jaw/neck.

[@SeanMania213]

To this day, one of the funniest moments in saving private Ryan was the soldier taking his helmet off right after getting a shot to the dome

[@geronimo5537]

Actually the real reason you dont fasten the strap. Is so when high speed fragmentation or bullets hit the helmet. There just might enough angle and slack for the object to push the helmet off the wearers head. This was noted by soldiers. And often the ones found in the ground with a hole in their helmet. Were the ones that strapped it. By far not the reliable way to survive. But a little trick to give you an edge of luck. The same concepts applies to modern helments as well. It is better to let the helmet absorb the force by letting slide off your head. Than trying to contain the force itself strapped to your head. Its something you pick up from soldier stories where they explain their helmet was shot off. The helmet moved just enough during impact to deflect the bullet instead of absorbing it. The helmet flies off their head and they feel like a hammer hit them.

[@Black_Patriot-Veteran-1970]

In WW2 the US GI's did the chinstrap around the back style, while US Marines let them dangle like John Wayne.

[@stewg4661]

My father fought in Vietnam. Idk if he strapped his helmet or not, but there is a real practical use for not doing so. Infantry were trained to use their helmet on top of a live grenade. Many soldiers, if they were trying to protect others from a grenade tend to just jump on it which doesn't end well for the soldier. If you use your helmet, you will be hurt but likely survive. If you had a chin strap connected, this maneuver would be impossible as you only have a few seconds to do this.

[@chronoZ750]

main reason is when you are shooting your rifle from pron position, if the m1 helmet is strapped, it has the tendesy to distract your sight view because it lowers between your eye and the rearshight

[@WickedScott]

In the Army, if we got caught with our chinstraps undone, they would yell, 'WELL LOOK AT JOHN WAYNE OVER HERE......."

[@austoncurry1076]

I was told that if a bomb went off next to you in combat and if your chin strap was on, your neck would get broken or ripped off completely

[@1977ajax]

So the bomb next to you would'hurt you, but the chinstrap would! Guess you shouldn't believe everything you are told.

[@windhelmguard5295]

the simple reason is that steel helmets don't absorb force, they transfer it straight to your head, which can be an issue and while i'm pretty sure nobody ever had their neck snapped by their helmet when they could have otherwise survived the blast, i can see situations where getting the helmet knocked off your head would be preferable to having your head jerked around violently, causing whiplash and/or a concussion.

[@TheAirplaneDriver]

We wore M1 helmets when I was in the Navy in the early 70’s. Straps were uncomfortable and we didn’t wear them.

[@thurin84]

i remember reading a medical report on casualties done at the very end of ww2. i dont recall any deaths attributed to the chinstrap but i do recall reading about a few neck injuries.

[@Yora21]

At one point it was even considered to abandon helmets completely after they had been introduced because field hospitals reported an increasing number in wounded soldiers with head injuries. Thankfully someone pointed out that many of the soldiers in hospital with head injuries would just have been counted as dead if they didn't have the helmet.

[@thurin84]

@@Yora21 yep, its one of those counter intuitive results. that was ww1 brits by the way.

[@Yora21]

@@thurin84 Same thing with "inspections of damaged planes show barely any hits in the cockpit, engines, and tail rudder, so that's the part that don't need reinforcement".

[@thurin84]

@@Yora21 survivor bias.

[@DjVortex-w]

It makes for a good visual cue in some first-person shooter games: You need two headshots to kill helmeted enemies. The first shot will send the helmet flying. Obviously it was unstrapped.

[@paulackley2882]

In Patton, there was no reference to a chin strap mentioned to the Army doctor. He was talking about the doctor not wearing his helmet.

[@traildoggy]

Even just skiing I find the helmet strap irritating as soon as I am breathing deeply, I can't imagine having that feeling in a tropical jungle while hyped and afraid.

[@tomservo5347]

I got ripped one evening by my platoon sergeant for having an undone chin strap out in the field in Germany. He explained the undone chin strap came from WW2 paratroopers that had to cinch down their chin strap extra tight to keep it from blowing off when exiting the plane on a jump. Naturally they just undid the strap after landing versus adjusting it.

[@mattia.kujala481]

YES, there are various reasons. But the one not mentioned is this: "When soldier gets physically attacked from the back, by taking a strong grip from the helmet, soldiers neck can be easily broken. (I'm a Finnish Officer from the Reserve...)