Introduction

Personnel Armor System for Ground Troops (PASGT) is an armor system consisting of a combat helmet and a ballistic vest, used by the US military from 1980s.

The PASGT helmet provides ballistic protection from fragmenting munitions to the head, temple, ear and neck areas. The helmet shell is a one-piece composite structure made up of multiple levels of Kevlar aramid fiber, hence the nickname "K-pot" (similar to the colloquial nickname "steel pot" for the older M1 steel helmet). The original chinstrap was a two point design, having an open chin cup and two adjustable buckles and a single snap fastener on the left. The strap was later upgraded to a four point chinstrap and pad suspension system. A helmet cloth cover is available in several camouflage patterns. A band that has two light glow patches on the rear intended to reduce friendly fire incidents is used in conjunction with the cover. Wide variety of add-on accessories for the PASGT helmet is available, including a helmet mount assembly that enables the attachment of night vision goggles (NVG).

The PASGT helmet was replaced in US military service by the Lightweight Helmet (LWH) and Modular Integrated Communications Helmet (MICH) in mid 2000s.

Review

This review covers one of several 1/35 scale releases from Live Resin depicting PASGT helmet: US Army PASGT helmet with cover with Mount NVG PVS 7/14/15 and covered goggles (LRE-35044).

The set is packed in a zip-lock bag additionally protected between a firm cardboard backing. Although the CAD box art on the front displays only one helmet configuration, this set actually includes two slightly different helmets with two different goggle setups. The box art on the back lists additional Live Resin offerings which can be used to upgrade this PASGT helmet set.

The set consists of 6 helmets and a casting block including 6 goggles... all together 12 parts. The pieces are molded in grey resin and the cast is absolutely perfect. The resin carriers on the helmets are quite big and should be removed carefully since the carrier connection point goes inside the helmet shell.

The PASGT helmets in this set are sculpted in 2 slightly different configurations (3 helmets for each configuration). All helmets are fitted with a helmet camouflage cover, elastic band, goggle strap and a night vision device mounting bracket on the front. Three helmets feature Norotos Strap Clip System; the system enables secure NVG attachment to helmets not drilled for NVG shrouds and includes a nylon strap with ratcheting tension device that adjusts the fit to accommodate all helmet shell sizes. The goggles are supplied separately in the set and all are depicted inside a protective cover. Three goggles also feature NVG Helmet Mount assembly which allows the attachment of the AN/PVS night vision systems directly to the front of the PASGT. The goggles fit perfectly to the helmets with attachment points both on the goggle strap and NVG mounting bracket.

Live Resin managed to depict the characteristic shape of PASGT helmet really well in scale. Helmet covers feature realistically rendered folds with the details of cover button holes and thick goggle strap nicely reproduced. The details on the Norotos Strap Clip are also wonderfully executed. The NVG mounts look really good and if you wish to add the complete night vision system to these helmets, Live Resin offers both PVS-14 Monocular (LRE-35026) and PVS-15 Binocular (LRE-35027), previously reviewed here on Armorama. Finally, I tried these PASGT helmets on Live Resin US Army head sets (LRE-35067 and LRE-35068) and found a great fit.

Although originally featuring an older style helmet which is no longer a standard issue in US Armed Forces, this helmet set is not limited to figures depicting US soldiers in the 1980s. Due to identical shape to Lightweight Helmet, these PASGT helmets could actually be used with figures depicting US Marine Corps in current Middle Eastern conflicts.

Conclusion

This set features PASGT helmet in 1/35 scale. The set consists of 6 helmets in two slightly different configurations and 6 goggles in protective covers with or without NVG mount. Again, as with all PASGT helmet sets reviewed so far, the differences between helmets in the set are minimal, but still offer a nice variety. The pieces are cast perfectly and offer loads of well defined and accurate details.

Thanks to Yaroslav from Live Resin for this review sample.

References

Global Security
Operation Helmet