Original U.S. 1980s Natick Laboratories Experimental Kevlar EOD “Blast Suit” Helmet Cover on Standard PASGT Ballistic Helmet

Original Item: Only One Available. This is an excellent, very scarce example of an early experimental Kevlar “Blast Suit” helmet cover on a standard issue PASGT helmet. We have offered several of the scarce experimental PASGT helmets before, but this is the first Kevlar cover we have offered, being much more difficult to find. While many versions of the PASGT were created in attempts to find a solid replacement for the famed M1 helmets, many countries and corporations took to researching the different types of material that could be used.

Designed in the mid-1970s as a replacement for the M1 helmet and previous fragmentation vests, prototypes of the PASGT were tested in the late 1970s before being fielded in the early 1980s. In the early 2000s, the PASGT vest began being replaced by the IBA and the PASGT helmet was replaced soon thereafter with the LWH and MICH. As of 2018, the only remaining U.S. military users of PASGT in any capacity are the U.S. Army Reserve and the U.S. Navy, the latter of which retains the PASGT helmet for use by sailors aboard its warships, in addition to a PASGT-derived vest known as the "U.S. Navy Flak Jacket".

Once the PASGT helmet was accepted into service in 1983, Natick Laboratories began work on this experimental “Blast Suit” kevlar helmet cover to be worn in conjunction with the EOD Blast suit. There is a tag on the cover reading LARGE but there are no other markings, correct for this experimental example. There is a drawstring which is meant to be tightened around the brim of the helmet.

The helmet itself is a great example of a standard PASGT, and even retains the plastic chin-cup integrated into the chinstrap. The interior crown is embossed 91 + L1 / SPP.

A great, rare example ready for further research and display.