March 28, 2008
By Head Jundi
In this review, I want to talk about the new chin strap that I bought for my RBR Helmet. For those of you who wear a helmet from time to time, you probably appreciate as much comfort as you can get out of that brick you wear on your head. Last summer, I wore that helmet a few times for convoy operations, and the chin strap system that comes with the RBR Helmet is really not that comfortable or easily adjustable. Nor is the padding system in the helmet that great, and I will save that for a different review. With that said, I decided to try and find a better chin strap, so I could upgrade my helmet.
Usually what I do, in order to find new equipment or get new ideas about equipment, is to do my searches on Google, and the pertinent forums that talk about what the guys are using out there. One of my favorite places on the Internet, for gear reviews, is Lightfighter.net . There is quite a crew on that forum, and they really like to get down to business on reviewing equipment and talking shop. I usually just read through all the posts, and try to make my determinations based off the various replies about equipment that is being used and liked. I try to find reviews from guys who are actually in the field, and using that stuff, because invariably, you stumble upon reviews from guys who really don’t know what they are talking about. Hey, it’s the Internet, and you have to learn how to search out the good stuff.
One of the posts on light fighter, under the helmets and body armor section, talked about the latest gizmo’s and doo dads from the 2007 Shot Show. One of those items was a new chin strap system, produced by a new company called Ops Core. Now I have stumbled upon all sorts of chin strap systems out there, but this Ops Core chin strap system really caught my eye. The guys on the forum seemed to like it as well.
So after stumbling upon this new, dang fangled chin strap system, I now had some search ‘ammo’, and started looking for a cheap price and any other reviews. I could not find any, and Ops Core, at the time, was the only ones selling said item, and the Light Fighter crew were the only ones talking about it. So I stuck with the info from Light Fighter, and absorbed it all. And I tell you what, I was sold. Here is the chinstrap I was sold on, and this is what the company had to say about it.
ACH Head-Loc™ Retention System H-Nape
The Head-Loc RS was developed to improve safety, comfort and stability of chinstraps used in MICH/ACH ballistic helmets. Every component, down to each stitch pattern, was designed specifically for this purpose, giving the ACH greater utility than ever before. Custom adjustment tabs allow the helmet to be adjusted while wearing it, without any hanging loose ends. Simplified strap geometry makes the system 3X more stable than existing chinstraps.This system has resulted from years of input and testing by some of the most respected operators in the USSOCOM community. Their demanding requirements for NVG stability, multiple environment versatility and overall performance are credit to the design today. Without their help, the Head-Loc chinstrap would not exist.
I had some questions about this chin strap system, on wether it would fit my RBR helmet, and here is the reply to that letter I sent to the company. (The XL chin strap fit my medium sized RBR helmet by the way, and that is a good size to go with. It has more adjustment room on your face with this type of helmet)
Head Jundi,
Thank you for your inquiry and your interest in Ops-Core.
If your RBR helmet has similar (low) hole placement to the ACH/MICH helmet,
like the RBR Elite Law Enforcement Helmets
) then any of our chinstraps should
fit.If, however, your helmet has a high hole placement, like the RBR Combat
Military Helmets ), then the
chinstraps will not fit.If for some reason you purchase a chinstrap and it does not work with your
helmet, please let us know and we will be happy to accept a return.Best Regards,
Viktoria Rogers
So after reading about it, writing the company, and hemming and hawing about it, I finally decided to pull the trigger on purchasing this chin strap system, and here is the cost and type.
1 ACH Head-Loc™ Retention System – XL
DG2 Urban Tan $55.00
1 FedEx 2day $11.78
1 HANDLING $2.00PRODUCT SUB-TOTAL: $55.00
TAX TOTAL: $0.00
SHIPPING: $13.78
INVOICE TOTAL: $68.78
So it sounds pricey, and it is, but hey, I like good gear. And when I got this in the mail within a few days and got to see it first hand, I was certainly impressed.
My first impressions was that the finished product looked really good, and they did not go cheap on materials or hardware. Matter of fact, the cinch system is what caught my eye. I could see that kind of cinch system being used on other tactical nylon items in the future. Although, I really can’t vouch for it’s sturdiness, but it seemed strong enough.
After taking it out of the box, and doing a thorough inspection, I then proceeded to attach it to my helmet. I first had to remove the old chin strap, which was not hard, and then simply mount the new chin strap in it’s place.(you can use a screw driver, dime, or even a shell casing if you play around with it) I used my Leatherman Wave to do this very easy task, and the instructions were very clear and concise to follow along. It even came with a parts bag, filled with specially designed washers for mounting the chin strap to a MICH or ACH. The chin strap did not interfere with the Oregon Aero pad system I installed earlier.
So after everything was installed, cinched down, and positioned just right, I put my helmet on to give it a try. It fit well, and it was sized correctly surprisingly. The best part of all, was being able to cinch down the chin strap so easily. That was one of my beefs with the RBR chin strap, or the old military chin straps. They are so cumbersome to adjust, and the Ops-Core chin strap is very easy to adjust.
The comfort of the chin cup was noticeable as well. I like the fact that it is an open chin cup, and lined with a really soft leather. Although I have heard of guys sewing in a small fleece cup, in place of the leather. To me, the leather is fine, because I do not want my chin sweating out in a closed off chin cup. And for the beard wearing guys, the open chin cup is nice as well.
The placement of the fastex connector is great for us us right handed shooters, because it is located on the left hand side. I had no problems getting a good cheek-weld with this chin strap either. If you are a lefty, you can have them place the buckle on the right hand side.
As far as the ‘H’ style nape system, versus the ‘X’ style, I went with the H system. I was reading that the H style has better stability, if you are wearing NVGs on your helmet. I was not able to test this out yet, but if I do in the future, I will be sure to add that to this review. The comfort of the ‘H” style nape system felt good, and I can definitely wear my Peltor Tac 6’s under this system.(I am sure MSA Sordins will fit too)
So this is my initial review of the Ops-Core chin strap. I like it so far and can’t wait to abuse it for awhile. Once I take this out in the field, I should be able to add some more detail to this review. If you have any input about this chin strap, or have any questions, feel free to use the comments section.(on a side note, I thought that this company’s website was well designed and easy to use) Cheers.