Pristine shape

Posted by TM on 19th Nov 2014

As with the other Desert Shield/Desert Storm items I am acquiring for my impression, I needed a new chocolate chip kevlar cover. I went with Allegheny because of the price and also the high ratings for other gear on the site.

I received a 1990 contract helmet cover, and it is better than the old one purchased at a surplus store 24 years ago. The old one had poor stitching on the nylon securing tabs, which I had to repair, thus making it a reject or second. The new one I purchased from Allegheny is not only pristine, but did pass the inspection process, and had nice strong box stitching on it that would not fail.

Why all the concern with stitching? Well, if you've ever been issued the kevlar PASGT helmet before, you know that if you get a replacement cover, because the issued one is shot or you want a nice new cover for inspections and applying rank to, they replacements never seem to fit right. It's like the contractor makes them too small, and the holes in the cover for the chin strap to go through don't always line up...without a lot of stretching and pulling. Knowing this fact, I needed a cover with good stitching that could be pulled on without coming apart. This cover I got here is just like all the other replacement covers I've used, and I was confident that I wouldn't tear this new one up putting it on the helmet.

Someone might say: "Well, if you have a size Large helmet and you're putting a M/L cover on, it will be tight, so go with the L/XL cover instead." The problem with that is two-fold: 1) finding an L/XL cover in pristine condition, especially of a camouflage pattern out of service for almost 20 years is very difficult, if not impossible because 2) XL PASGT helmets were only issued to soldiers who needed them, an unlike the other sizes, that XL PASGT would be that soldier's helmet for the rest of his time in service. Also, if I could find a larger one in the 6 color day desert, it would fit loosely and look unprofessional, in my opinion (unless put on top of the original woodland camouflage cover that came with the helmet).