Adding Face Shields to Battle Helmets Could Drastically Reduce Brain Injuries from Explosions

The only issue I can see with this is the helmet with the face mask obstructing the soldier's eyesight.

I recommend full face shields like the ones used by daft punk.

Bow before the multi-colored led death squad!

All joking aside it does make sense to fully enclose the head motorcyclists have been doing it for a long time.

omg, is it seriously just now that we are deciding that it would be a good idea to put face shields on soldiers helmets?

If I remember, Major West's, (Matt LeBlanc), face shield was really cool in the "Lost in Space" movie. At least its deployment was cool.

The movie sucked, though.

lol niceee

It took them this long to realize this? Halo here we come.

I see our emperor is ready for his stormtroopers....

Is there a reason the face shield couldn't be see-through, like a motorcycle helmet, so it both wouldn't reduce visibility and wouldn't make the soldiers look creepy?

As long as it's clear, so they can completely see through it, then that's fine with me. Could probably keep the sand out of their eyes as well. Maybe this could even lead to soldiers with HUDs! Then every soldier could see the other men in their area, and even see when one has shot or been shot, with personal blood pressure monitors, GPS, ammo-trackers, and the like. This would allow soldiers to spread out and perform guerrilla warfare even better than the insurgents!

And of course, it would keep homecoming soldiers from hearing comments like, "What's wrong with your FACE?!" or, "Is that guy drunk?" "No, a grenade went off in his FACE!" Yeah. Face-shield. Why an obvious idea like this wasn't implemented sooner, I have no idea.

*please excuse the jesting, I hold a great deal of respect for the men and women who fight and have fought for our country. ^_^

Great idea, but... there are a few other problems that would need to be solved. You need to keep the face shield from fogging, and you need to be sure that the soldier can still breathe comfortably. These guys out in the field exert themselves pretty hard, and you need to be sure that they don't overheat.

@HBillyRufus

I agree, but i don't think it would be too much of a problem if they make it able to flip up when not in use.

Some cops wear them, some spec forces wear them, some yes do have HUDs., and sappers for years have worn them. Of course, partial face protection must be a sort of good idea. They were wearing it near 3,000 years ago. What is it they say about fashion and common sense, they return every so often.
OF COURSE soldiers need facial protection. Let the engineers work out the details.

DUH. have you never played army of two. I thought masks like that were standered issue for anyone looking to be a bad$$$. who wouldn't want a 30 lb bullet proof jasan mask on. As you slowly turn you head you might get to see the scared look on the bad guys face before he slowly aims for your neck.

Although it may seem as a DUH moment, it ain't that simple, folks. The velocity and size/mass of shrapnel makes a face shield either useless or incredibly thick. A transparent shield used by civilian security is not an option. It might deflect a .223 or 9mm bullet at a certain distance and angle but it's not Halo. There's good reason why it's called science FICTION. A steel face shield giving full protection from high power assault rifle bullets would be a couple inches thick. If you know what class III personal armor looks like, you know what I mean.

And then there's ventilation issues. Anyone who's been wearing a helmet with the front obstructed in some way will know it is simply hard to breathe inside.

Now all we need is a grand army to be cloned to wear these helmets and armor! Seriously though, good idea.

What about riot police style helmets? They could be modify the standard infantry combat helmet to have a face shield.

Its like, the department of national defense went paintballing for the first time ever, and they were like, holy crap! A facemask would be a totally good idea!?

Man, you guys are so smart, I would have just suggested running backwards.

One small step toward protecting soldiers' brains...........
One giant leap toward Halo. I've got dibbs on the designation 117!

Fun fact: bulletproof face shields are big, heavy honking things (admittedly, they have good airflow and a great field-of-view) but one rated against bomb fragments is only 4mm thick and a hair over a pound. For twice that weight, you get something rated to stop most handgun rounds.

Either way, field-of-view isn't a problem, and I'm seriously thinking about switching my paintball mask over to one of these things because airflow would be so much better.