EGYPTIAN HELMETS

 

CAIRO – Egyptians created helmets for protection during the protests.  The U.S. Military is adopting them for American troops.
Egyptian protesters had to come up with makeshift helmets – some made of bread – to protect them from the rocks throw during the protests and from the bullets shot by the Egyptian army.
What was surprising was how effective the helmets were.  “Not one Egyptian was injured while wearing a makeshift helmet.  These helmets were crude but they worked extremely well,” said General Robert Bontempo of the U.S. Army, stationed in Cairo.
He has the U.S. Army wondering why they spend some much money – over $5,000 per helmet – on their gear.  “We are reconsidering spending the money on these advanced protective helmets.  We may just have our troops make helmets from plastic bottles,” said Bontempo.
Here is the helmet that Bontempo was referring to:

It’s impossible to get hurt wearing a rock tied to your head:

This is an old standby, maybe not as creative, but “bucket on the head” has worked for over two hundred years in many battles:

Well, putting a pot on the head is an old standby too… but sometimes when you get hit by a rock in your pot, it can cause some ringing in the ears.

Even though you have to use one of your hands to hold it on, this bowl from the family china closet was extremely effective:

For centuries, people have used bread to protect their skulls:

There’s always an American in the crowd.   Some Americans got stuck in Cairo and had to improvise as well.  Here’s Jeb Jeffers from Little Rock, Arkansas.  He said his hat, “done work real good.”