Camouflage Helmet Cover for FAST Bump Helmets, 10 Patterns

A bare helmet shell is the shiniest thing you wear.

A moulded helmet is a smooth, uniform dome. It catches light, it holds one flat colour, and at distance it reads as exactly what it is — a head. Everything else you own has been chosen to break up or blend in, and then there is this thing sitting on top of it all, glossy and obvious.

Then there is the other half of it. A helmet shell picks up scuffs and gouges from scrub, from the tray of the ute, from being chucked in a bag with everything else. Once the finish is gone it stays gone.

This is a cloth cover that slips over a FAST-style bump helmet and fixes with four elastic straps tucked inside the shell. Woven camouflage panel over the crown, open mesh down the sides so air still moves, and hook-and-loop panels front, sides and rear for patches, glint tape or a marker light. Ten patterns, so one helmet can suit the country you are actually in.

Read this bit before you buy: you are buying the cloth, not the helmet. Every photo on this page shows the cover fitted to a helmet to demonstrate the shape. The helmet is not included, and the supplier's own artwork says so in plain terms.

What It Does

• Breaks up the outline: turns a smooth single-colour dome into a broken pattern, in whichever of the ten patterns suits your ground.
• Saves the shell finish: takes the scrub scratches and the bag rash so the helmet underneath does not.
• Gives you somewhere to stick things: hook-and-loop panels front, both sides and rear for patches, unit or crew markers, glint tape or a small strobe.
• Keeps the air moving: the side panels are open mesh rather than solid fabric.
• Lets one helmet do more: swap covers instead of buying a second helmet when the country changes.
• Comes off in a minute: four elastic straps and hook-and-loop, no tools and nothing permanent.

Key Features

• Cover only: one cloth cover per order. No helmet, no rails, no shroud.
• Cut for FAST bump shells: shaped for the MH, PJ and BJ style FAST helmet profile.
• Stated fit range: the supplier lists it as suiting helmets for a 52-60 cm (520-600 mm) head circumference.
• Two-part construction: woven camouflage panel across the crown, open nylon mesh on both side panels.
• Hook-and-loop panels: front, both sides and rear. The supplier's artwork marks the side panel at 90 x 50 mm.
• Four elastic straps: two per side, fed over the rim and fixed inside the shell.
• Front shroud cut-out: an opening at the front lets a night vision shroud through, and the side rails stay clear.
• Ten patterns: ACU, A-TACS (AT), Multicam-style (CP), Desert Digital (DD), Digital Woodland (DW), A-TACS FG (FG), Highlander (HI), Mandrake (MA), Typhon (TY) and Woodland (WL).
• Elasticated edge: the bottom hem draws in under the rim rather than sitting loose.

Limits

It is a fabric cover. It is not protective equipment, and it does not make a helmet safer. It adds no impact protection, no penetration protection and no ballistic protection whatsoever. A helmet's protection comes from the helmet. Putting cloth over it changes how it looks, and nothing else.

No certification, and none claimed. There is no standard printed anywhere on this cover and no certificate has been sighted. It is not tested or marked to AS/NZS 1801, EN 397, EN 12492 or ANSI Z89.1 — and it could not be, because those standards apply to a helmet, not to a cover for one. It carries no NIJ or other ballistic rating. If a covered helmet has a rating, that rating belongs to the helmet and the cover neither adds to it nor is part of it.

It will not upgrade an uncertified helmet. If you need a certified hard hat for a worksite, that is a different purchase and this cover has no bearing on it. It is cut for a FAST-style bump shell, not for an industrial hard hat, and fitting cloth over a certified worksite helmet can interfere with the way that helmet was designed to sit and perform.

The camouflage pattern is a pattern. It is a printed fabric, nothing more. It carries no affiliation with any defence force or agency, and it is not issued kit.

No helmet is included. The photographs show a helmet so you can see the shape and where the openings fall. You are buying the cloth cover on its own.

It is not waterproof and no water rating is published. The side panels are open mesh. In steady rain the cover wets through, and so does whatever you have stuck to it.

One size, and it is not adjustable beyond the straps. There are no size options. The supplier's stated 52-60 cm (520-600 mm) range is a figure from their listing, not one we have measured. A MICH or ACH shell, a full-cut ballistic shell or a bicycle helmet is a different shape and this will not sit properly on any of them.

Pattern and shade vary. These are printed fabrics and dye lots move. Two covers ordered at different times may not be an exact match to each other or to your uniform.

Q & A

Do I get a helmet with this?

No. This is the cloth cover on its own. The supplier's own note on the product artwork reads that it is helmet cloth and does not contain a helmet. Every photo showing a helmet is showing you the fit, not the contents.

Will it fit the helmet I already own?

It is cut for the FAST-style bump helmet profile in the MH, PJ and BJ shapes, and the supplier lists it as suiting a 52-60 cm (520-600 mm) head circumference. If your helmet is that family, it will go on. A MICH or ACH shell, a full-cut ballistic helmet, an industrial hard hat or a climbing helmet are all different shapes and it will not sit right on them.

Does it add any protection at all?

None. It is fabric. It changes the appearance of the helmet and takes the scratches that would otherwise land on the shell. It does not improve impact, penetration or ballistic performance in any way, and it carries no rating of its own.

What do the colour codes actually mean?

They are the supplier's pattern codes. ACU is the grey-green digital pattern, AT is A-TACS, CP is the Multicam-style pattern, DD is Desert Digital, DW is Digital Woodland, FG is A-TACS Foliage Green, HI is Highlander, MA is Mandrake, TY is Typhon and WL is classic Woodland. The images on this page show each one so you can pick by eye rather than by code.

Can I run patches and a marker light on it?

Yes, that is what the hook-and-loop panels are there for — front, both sides and rear. The supplier marks the side panel at 90 x 50 mm, so a standard patch of that size fits. Glint tape and a small strobe attach the same way.

How does it go on?

The supplier's fitting sequence is four steps: unhook the bungee cords from the shell, line the cover up with the shape of the helmet and lay it on, feed the straps over the rim and fix them inside the shell, then press the side and rear hook-and-loop panels down.

How long will it take to get here?

Allow 10 to 14 days from the day you order, and up to three weeks to be safe. Regional and remote addresses run longer again. Delivery is free to Australia and New Zealand.

Specs