Here is a guide to helmets, reposted from Black Powder Press's instagram.
the militant demonstrator's guide to helmets
• helmets are risk mitigation, not risk nullification! there is no such thing as a concussion-proof helmet. but any helmet is better than no helmet! the best helmet is the one you wear.
• if no one else is wearing helmets, and you don’t want to be singled out, consider a concealable or inconspicuous helmet, like: a “bump cap” baseball cap; a bike helmet; or a skate or motorcycle helmet concealed under your hood
• if lots of people are wearing helmets, wear the best helmet you can get your hands on
A baseball cap with some hard plastic and padding inside. The ultimate in better than nothing. Inconspicuous. It protects you, a little bit. Way better than nothing. Way less than a dedicated helmet.
Most hard hats are designed to absorb impact only from above. They also lack any kind of chin strap and fall off easily.
Use crushable foam to protect from impact, meaning they are destroyed by impact. They usually have very thin shells that barely protect from projectiles and can themselves shatter and hurt people!
They’re nonthreatening and inconspicuous and way better than nothing! Also cheap as hell: because of certification systems, cheap bike helmets are as good as expensive ones at impact protection.
(now we’re getting somewhere)
Skate helmets ALSO use crushable foam, which still isn’t the best for repeated impact! But skate helmets that meet certifications (unlike bike helmets, not all do!) are rated to resist multiple impacts. They tend to have a thicker plastic shell than bike helmets. They also protect more of your head, and are low profile enough that they can (awkwardly) be concealed under a hood.
Snowboard helmets are basically the same thing but without ventilation.
This might be the best dirt cheap option.
Motorcycle helmets are rated even tougher still! But they still use crushable foam, making them less suitable for repeated impact (like a baton on your head). They’re also more expensive. A full-face helmet (with a chin bar) limits visibility and mobility without any real advantage and limits the ability to wear goggles and respirators.
Half-helmets and 3/4 helmets are useful if you have one lying around! 1/2 helmets are cheaper than 3/4 or full.
Unlike other helmets, sports helmets are designed assuming the wearer will be hit. Instead of crushable foam, most use multilayered padding: one layer for impact absorption and one layer to fit better.
Lacrosse helmets without a chin bar and with the mask removed, and hockey helmets without the mask, are the most traditional for protesters. Football helmets can work without the mask (makes wearing respirators harder, gives opponents something to grab). Batting helmets lack a chin strap but are rated against pretty serious impacts. Whitewater helmets are built this way too!
Many sports helmets might be hard to pair with respirators because of their cut but this is conjecture.
TACTICAL/BALLISTIC HELMETS
If you want to attach cameras or comms units or noise-gated headphones, you need a tactical helmet. If you want to have a chance of surviving handgun fire to your head, you need a ballistic version.
Airsoft/paintball helmets are cheap clones ($40+), not certified at all, probably terrible. If you go this route, replace the padding with real ballistic padding (another $40+).
Bump helmets ($150+) are certified against impact but not bullets. Make sure the padding is good.
Ballistic helmets are certified against handgun (not rifle) bullets. Very expensive ($350+). Some can be found on the surplus market. Again, make sure the padding is good. Not all come with side rails or the mount on the front.
Equestrian helmets are designed like skate helmets, with crushable foam, but are also rated to protect against a sharp blow from a hoof, so that’s cool. Only wear if you own one already.
Rock climbing helmets come in all types! All are probably pretty good. Many use suspension systems like hard hats but also a lot of foam or padding.
If medieval helms can survive impact weapons without serious deformation (unknown), and they are paired with appropriate padding (not just a suspension harness) they would be perfectly good! But we’re not sure yet what a baton round does to a various gauges of steel hat so we cannot yet recommend. Try 14ga or thicker.
This information has been gathered through extensive research and from talking with frontlines demonstrators, but it has not been rigorously tested and should not be taken as the last word on the subject.
Very, very few helmet certifications take “shot in the head with a tear gas canister by a cop drunk on power” into account in their testing systems.
A helmet has two purposes: to prevent penetration and to absorb impact. The shell prevents penetration, the padding (or suspension) absorbs impact. You need both.
Be water. No bad protesters, no good cops.
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