The American fire helmet is quite possibly a more iconic representation of this country’s fire service than any other symbol — even the dalmatian. Introduce a radical design departure, such as the European-style of helmet, and strong reactions are sure to follow. One needs to look no further than online chat rooms for evidence of this. There are pros and cons to both designs and they merit further exploration.

In August 2010, I traded in my traditional helmet for a brand new-European-design helmet. And after six-plus months of use, I’ve formed a few impressions.

The first inescapable aspect is cost. My department furnishes bare-bones traditional helmets, but lets firefighters buy their own as long as they are black and NFPA-approved. With all the bells and whistles — specifically the stow-away face shield, stow-away eye protection and built-in light — the helmet set me back $400. That’s easily $100 more than a comparably equipped American-style helmet. Yet, it’s less than a leather helmet, which can cost $500.

One of the knocks against the European design is that without the rear bill, water roll will down the firefighter’s back, inside the turnout coat. That is true enough, which is something I unfortunately learned in the wee hours of a January morning. Longer skirting off the back of the helmet may relieve this problem. On the flip side, not having the long rear bill means that the helmet does not bang against the SCBA when one’s head is raised, as it is likely to be when a firefighter is crawling through a structure. The absence of a bill also makes the helmet more balanced on one’s head.

Because the European helmet extends over the ears and covers the back of the head, it arguably provides better protection against falls and blows to the cranium. Thankfully, I have no experience in this area. I did, however, sustain a blow to the head wearing a traditional helmet during a training exercise. The force was enough to rip both helmet and SCBA mask off my head. I doubt the same blow would take my European-design helmet off, but hope this too goes untested. The additional shell on the European helmet does make it much hotter in the summer months.

Additionally, the chinstrap on my Euro helmet is better than the one on my traditional helmet. The helmets sold in Europe have a cup that goes over the chin — similar to an American football helmet. While the NFPA-approved version has no cup, it does have a three-point strap that anchors at two points on each side of the helmet. The Euro helmet’s smooth exterior does not allow for accessories, such as additional lights or door wedges. One model, not mine, does have brackets below the ears for clip-on flashlights that protrude from the sides. The European helmet also doesn’t have any catch points; it never got hung up when I went through entanglement mazes. But it also means no leather shield with your badge number on the front.

Sights and Sounds

The European helmet’s light is angled downward at 45°. It does an adequate job of lighting the path in front of a firefighter, especially when one is on hands and knees, without a lot of glare coming back from the smoke. However, because that is the only light option, a firefighter cannot have a more powerful flashlight aimed at a 90° angle, as is possible with the American-style helmets. One night, another firefighter and I were making sure that the contents of a minivan were completely extinguished. His American helmet-mounted flashlight was much more effective for that task than was mine.

One of the best features of my Euro helmet is the safety visor and eye shield. Both slide up into the body of the helmet and are fully adjustable, with the face shield coming down well past the nose. And, both can be used at the same time — but neither can be used with an SCBA mask. The nice thing about having the safety visor and eye shield tucked away inside the helmet is that they stay clean and out of the way when not in use. When the face shield is fully extended, it will fog up, similar to an SCBA mask, sans a bypass valve to clear it. Replacing the visors is slightly more complicated on the European design than it is on the American helmets.

Another knock against the European helmet is that it reduces one’s ability to hear. This also is true. With the shell completely covering the ears, sounds and voices definitely are muffled. And while it is not a safety issue, a firefighter will hear a slight echo when speaking, similar to talking in a cave or tunnel.

The European-design helmets are made to accommodate SCBA masks that clasp onto the helmet’s exterior. But like most American firefighters, I wear the traditional under-the-helmet mask. The helmet fits very nicely over my mask and feels secure.
There also is a slight difference in adjusting the size. Both helmet designs have a knob that can be cranked to expand or constrict the headband. On my helmet, the knob is on the exterior and large enough to adjust with gloves on. This is a good thing, because the helmet does begin to pinch and squeeze one’s head after prolonged use — well, my head anyway.

But the thing that should be least talked about, but will be most talked about, is the look. Darth Vader, Marvin the Martian, Frenchie (my helmet is German-made, by the way) and fighter pilot are some of the names I’ve been called. The fire service is a proud bunch, and rightly so. It is a service that places high value on tradition, and the European-looking helmet is anything but traditional — far more nontraditional than even the turtle-shell helmet. I’ve experienced three categories of reactions from other firefighters: love it, hate it or want to poke it with a stick. I suspect those who hate it do so more because they love their American-style helmets so much — and I understand that. Those who love it appreciate the novelty and some of the design features. Those who want to poke it with a stick are so curious they will ask to touch it, wear it, and even take photos with it.

Advice from Some Helmet-Heads

Not content with chat-room opinions, I sought out a helmet guru and found Mike McKenna. McKenna began studying helmets in 1989, a year after joining the NFPA 1971 committee, which writes personal protective equipment standards. He retired after 32 years in the fire-service, 20 of them as a captain and seven as district safety officer. He now runs his own fire-service consulting firm.

McKenna is an unapologetic and confirmed leatherhead. Yet, he test drove a European-design helmet for several months. “Its cool factor is zero,” he said of the helmet design.

Sidebar: Evolution, Not Revolution, in New Helmet Standard

Benjamin Mauti concurs that the look is the largest obstacle for European-design helmets in the American market. Mauti is MSA’s product-line manager for first-responder products. “The image of the American firefighter is pretty iconic,” he said. “And, the Euro-style helmet does not fit that image.”

In May 2002, MSA purchased CGF Gallet, a French-based fire-helmet manufacturer. Gallet does not sell an NFPA-compliant model.

Hans Detzhlofer is vice president of fire and safety equipment for Rosenbauer International. Rosenbauer sells a full line of PPE in Europe. One of its helmets is NFPA compliant and available in the United States. He said that it would take big-money marketing campaigns and field tests to convince the American fire service to swap its traditional helmet for the European design.

While clearing the “cool” hurdle is a large barrier for manufacturers looking to sell European-style helmets in the U.S., they also must meet NFPA 1971. The European standard covering helmets is EN443, which McKenna said is like comparing apples to oranges when lining that standard up against NFPA 1971.

The reason, he said, comes down to how fire is attacked here compared with across the Atlantic. European firefighters don’t perform as many interior attacks as their U.S. counterparts. Where the NFPA standard puts a premium on surviving flashover conditions, the European standard puts more focus on getting the job done from the outside, which translates to a lighter-weight helmet.

“Their mission is different,” McKenna said. “Their standard is not wrapped up in survivability in flashover like ours is.”

However, Detzhlofer said that the main difference between EN443 and NFPA 1971 as it applies to helmets is the amount of radiant heat the helmet must sustain. “What we have seen in several tests is that some NFPA-approved helmets cannot meet the requirements of … EN443, as the temperature after radiant heat is much higher than during (an) NFPA test,” he said.

Despite the difference in the standards, it is relatively simple for European-design manufacturers to meet NFPA 1971. The design already works and it is only a matter of tweaking the materials, McKenna said.

The European-style helmet is difficult to find. They won’t pop up on searches at shopping sites like TheFireStore.com. I finally found mine through a dealer in Wisconsin; he had one left. This scarcity is most likely the result — not the cause — of a low demand for this style of helmet in the U.S.

“If manufacturers can show a significant reason to break from that (American) image, there may be a chance for success,” Mauti said. “The market share for the Euro-style helmet is very low. We are not aware of any major departments using the Euro-style helmets [in the U.S.].”

Detzhlofer said that Rosenbauer’s position in the U.S. helmet market is negligible at present.

Until recently, MSA had been offering its Cairns modern-style, or turtle shell, helmet in Europe and Asia. Mauti said that, as in America, fire departments in those continents also preferred their historic style. And as with American departments, manufacturers would have to show a compelling reason for European or Asian fire departments to switch to a different style.

From a pure safety standpoint, McKenna said that the materials that go into the helmet are more important than its design. New plastic-shell helmets are very pliable and will provide good protection. But as they age and the polymer properties diminish, they will become more rigid and provide less protection.

Even if plastic-shell helmets held up better over time, don’t expect McKenna to trade-in his leather-covered helmet for the Darth Vader look.

“I don’t think the American fire service wants to look European,” he said. “At the end of the day, I still want to wear a dead animal skin and I want to look traditional American.”

Of all those who have seen my helmet, be it with awe, disdain or curiosity, no one has asked me where to buy one. Those interested in switching to a European-design helmet — and not just for a one- or two-week trial period, but by way of cracking open the wallet and dropping four C-notes — will need thick skin and a high collar.

Rick Markley is a volunteer firefighter in Dyer, Ind. He also is a member of the International Fire Relief Mission. Markley previously served as editor of FIRE CHIEF.