MICH 2000

Since most of our games are MOUT or CQB oriented, having the proper protection is a wise factor to consider. That includes helmet, knee and elbow pads. There are so many options to choose from that makes it difficult to stay on point… Well, for me there are two factors that i had to consider. The looks and the size. It had to be a military style helmet (PASGT, MICH, IBH, LWH, ACH and the like) and to be easy to find it in sizes. Usually replica helmets come in «one size fits all», which usually means HUGE!!!! Since i am wearing a 57 size hat (7 ¼ in US size), the 61 size of the replicas was out of the question. Looking around and asking my team mates, i came across the Chain Reaction Cycles shop located in the UK. Browsing around, i found the ultimate solution… The MACE SAS skate helmet. Yeap, a skate helmet that looks like a MICH 2000. The only odd looking details of this spesific helmet are the 4 air openings around the helmet… Well, no problem with that, i have done bigger mods in the past, right?

I purchased the helmet in a Small/Medium size (54-58 size) and Brown colour, which was a great platform to start from. I bout the helmet for a price of around 25 euros and another 8 for the shipping. This is how it all started...

The moment i got, i had to cover the air holes. I glued a piece of plastic with epoxy resin. Then, i started filling the gap with resin. After some applications, the holes were covered. I sanded the excess of the resin to make it flat and uniform with the shell.

When it was done, i primed the shell with a dark brown spray colour. I let it dry and then grabbed my Montana spray cans. For this work, i chose a Light Tan, Pallish Brown and Flat Dark Earth hues. I applied several thin layers of colour, using an old scarf to create the pattern. When it was dry, i applied 2-3 thin layers of clear mat varnish and let it dry…

So, i got me a beautiful helmet, but it looks empty. So, i had to go the Spec Ops way once more. Inittialy i glued on the shell layers of Velcro, using a hot melt glue pistol. When the strips were secured, i applied lines of glue around them. Then, i painted these lines with a black paint, using a thin brush.

The chin straps were completely useless, so i replaced them with a set of original MSA MICH straps. Unfortunatelly i found them in Foliage Green, so i had to dust them with Tan…

The next step was to mount on the shell a real deal NVG mount strap. Actually, it is meant for the PASGT helmet, but damn these Ebay sellers…

To secure my back up goggles i purchased a set of Goggle Retention Straps from Supply Captain in Coyote Brown. So, now my Arena Flak Goggles are nice and secure.

Finally, since the helmet is made for CQB work, i threw on it a simple Energizer head lamp. I would prefere to go the Petzl way, but i didn’t want to paint it, so i chose to go cheap but with no guilt…
I guess it’s a good work. It looks the part and it’s absolutely stable on my head, compared with the rest of the crappy replicas out there…