aleigh
Well-known member
- 1,040
- 52
- 48
- Location
- Phoenix, AZ & Seattle, WA
So by now we all already know that the Army and some other branches mandate their guys wear helmets / cvcs when driving tactical vehicles. And many of us will be familiar with the controversy over exactly how stupid it is to require a guy to wear kevlar to move a hmmwv six feet in the motorpool on base.
This post isn't about that. It's about the fact I installed a VIC-3 recently and I keep looking at the thing like it's going to crack my skull open in a wreck. If you are in the middle seat on my truck you have a laundry list of metal things to choose to hit in a wreck, because I have a digitization rack, vic station box, radios, etc. The only thing the pax seat has going for it is there's a very hard headrest, so at least you get less whiplash than the driver. The guy in the middle just cracks his head on the back of the cab I guess. Which made me notice all the other really terrible sharp bits of the inside of the cab. And the lack of padding. Of any kind. Or airbags.
When I ride a motorcycle, I wear a helmet. It's a simple thing, wearing a helmet. So I've started wearing a helmet in my truck. An opscore fast because that's what I had. It is impact (not just ballistic) rated, apparently that's a big part of the debate, whether the ACH lids joes wear actually have any impact protection vs a big foam SNELL racing etc helmet. I've been thinking maybe an impact-only helmet like they wear river rafting might be another good choice particularly on hot days.
I'm wondering what sorts of thoughts people have on this; I've heard stories that range from the entire practice is stupid through "it seems stupid until the first time you're in a wreck, saved my life, etc". Some people seem to think you're worse off in a helmet because of the whiplash. Personally, I'll take whiplash over holes in my head...
Bias: I've been involved in only one on-road motorcycle wreck, and the helmet saved my life. Different situation but it makes me prone to agree with wearing them.
This post isn't about that. It's about the fact I installed a VIC-3 recently and I keep looking at the thing like it's going to crack my skull open in a wreck. If you are in the middle seat on my truck you have a laundry list of metal things to choose to hit in a wreck, because I have a digitization rack, vic station box, radios, etc. The only thing the pax seat has going for it is there's a very hard headrest, so at least you get less whiplash than the driver. The guy in the middle just cracks his head on the back of the cab I guess. Which made me notice all the other really terrible sharp bits of the inside of the cab. And the lack of padding. Of any kind. Or airbags.
When I ride a motorcycle, I wear a helmet. It's a simple thing, wearing a helmet. So I've started wearing a helmet in my truck. An opscore fast because that's what I had. It is impact (not just ballistic) rated, apparently that's a big part of the debate, whether the ACH lids joes wear actually have any impact protection vs a big foam SNELL racing etc helmet. I've been thinking maybe an impact-only helmet like they wear river rafting might be another good choice particularly on hot days.
I'm wondering what sorts of thoughts people have on this; I've heard stories that range from the entire practice is stupid through "it seems stupid until the first time you're in a wreck, saved my life, etc". Some people seem to think you're worse off in a helmet because of the whiplash. Personally, I'll take whiplash over holes in my head...
Bias: I've been involved in only one on-road motorcycle wreck, and the helmet saved my life. Different situation but it makes me prone to agree with wearing them.
Last edited: