US Navy "Talker" Helmet Mk4

This rather comical looking helmet was developed in 1980 by the US Navy and introduced in 1981. It replaced the previously issued “Talker Mk2” helmet. The change was brought about due to the steel helmets commonly being corroded by the harsh wet and salty environment that they spent lots of time in. They also were replaced as the US moved away from Steel helmets and towards Kevlar, these (although the exact date is difficult to pinpoint) seem to have entered service prior to the PASGT helmet, making them the first issued Kevlar helmet in the US Military!

The Helmet is shaped so widely in order to accommodate the H200/U acoustic phone assembly (a large set of headphones for radio use) as well as allow the user to wear a gasmask with it in case of NBC environments. Now one would rightly think, you would need a hell of a suspension system to keep this giant helmet sitting comfortably on your head - and you’d be sort of right. The Mk4 used a set of memory foam pads that appear to be missing from every example I could find online (as well as our helmet that we have for sale). It seems that they were just glued in, so it is not hard to see why after 42 years they would have fallen out. Feel free to add your own back in, or just leave the helmet as is for display (and sweet sweet milsurp purity). The same goes for the chinstrap which also apparently was just glued on… For a helmet meant to be more durable than its predecessor, this seems a strange choice.

In 1985 Gentex made an improved version of the helmet, but it was not adopted after some testing at sea.

The Mk4 is actually still in use with the US Coast Guard, I have included some photos of it in use! These helmets are seen less and less though due to age and that they were replaced for the most part with PASGT helmets (which are also disappearing from use).