Sooo.....

[Revere]

Why dont resistance members just wear helmets to protect themselves against headcrabs? Cos apparently the Combine tactic seems to be bombarding humans with headcrab shells and sitting back and watching.

 

[JUL3]

Hah, that's funny. I'd never thought of that.

 

[Acepilotf14]

Holy shit.
I think this guy is onto something.

 

[kupocake]

I'd post about those German World War 1 helmets, but I'm certain I'd be infringing on someone in this forum, circa 2004...

 

[Darkside55]

It's nice to know that, even when you haven't been on the forums for awhile, whenever you come back the general HL section will always be full of idiots.

 

[ríomhaire]

Darkside I was thinking of looking up your email address and stuff to make sure you weren't dead.

On the actual topic at hand, helmets don't protect from headcrabs:

 

[IronicBob]

They probably vom acid or something to get through the skull. Just look at the Gonarch.

God I hate that Gonarch.

 

[Shakermaker]

It's nice to know that, even when you haven't been on the forums for awhile, whenever you come back the general HL section will always be full of idiots.

Welcome back dude. It's been a while.

 

[Lobster]

They will bypass the head entirely and go for the neck!

 

[Reflex]

...they wear hats.

They will bypass the head entirely and go for the neck!

and this just looks like fanart, I've not seen this happen in the game.

 

[kupocake]

It's like how people don't always wear bicycle helmets. People just don't wear protective headgear if they can get away with it.

and this just looks like fanart, I've not seen this happen in the game.

Learn to Raising the Bar.

 

[Reflex]

Learn to Raising the Bar.

What?
:hmph:

 

[kupocake]

First own a copy, and then post obscure art and development insights as if they hold some kind of canonical value. That is how we Raising the Bar.

 

[ríomhaire]

Raising the Bar is basically a book that has a load of concept sketches for Half-Life 1 and 2 with some stories on the various enemies and locations as well. That's an official piece of Valve concept art.

 

[Shem]

Aren't beanies enough protection for the Resistance?

 

[Krynn72]

Yeah, who gives a shit about the Combine or Xen, its ****ing cold out.

 

[Chrash]

plus, they are quite stylish.

 

[Kyzr]

I swear this is at least the tenth topic about headcrabs and helmets.
Guess people are unaware of the search function.

 

[Drackard]

Cheese with your whine?

On a more related note, I'd simply wear a dead headcrab, thus tricking the attacking one into mating with the dead one, rather than attack me.

 

[spooky]

Those who protect their heads just end up as Poison Zombies.
:cheers:

 

[Otto-Grainer]

Simply, they are rare and hard to obtain. Look down at the following image.
Rebel in the middle. Eighth from the left. The only official rebel concept that I am aware exists with a helmet:






.

 

[Colonel Kernel]

^
I wonder, they didn't manage to find helmets for everyone, but they did manage to find Combine bullet-proof vests, weird.

But that's just pre-release concept art, ya know.

 

[Otto-Grainer]

Yeah, I know that's really old art, and it's a shame they didn't use all the characters
because I think it's a great variety. More ammunition, gear, colours and clothed masks.


And yeah, I know they have a lot of stolen kevlar and other armour pieces, but there's no actual Combine unit
that has a real "helmet", per se. Gas masks and head protection, no doubt, but I suspect they're too integrated
into the actual wearer. So in other words, unless you surgically transform your face or successfully pin the suit
to the back of your neck (not that this is how it works, just an example), you can't comfortably put it on for
practical safety. Wherever that rebel in the concept got his from, it looks pre-invasion ex-military to me.
Someone may have even kept it their house for safe-keeping. A wise move.

I completely agree though, nobody's really made anything to cover their head throughout the whole city.
There's bound to be something lying around or at least some good material to make something out of.

 

[Colonel Kernel]

I completely agree though, nobody's really made anything to cover their head throughout the whole city.
There's bound to be something lying around or at least some good material to make something out of.

A tinn bucket.

I'd guess those kevlars on the rebels in the middle look suspiciously Combine-ish (Overwatch-ish to be exact). Just note the gray and the camo and compare to the Overwatch.

On a side note, I've always thought the Combine soldiers (not CPs) used some kind of flexible material that on impact hardens like kevlar or beyond, just like that plasticine-like material that's in some skiing hats, to protect the head from blunt trauma, I don't remember it's name.

 

[Otto-Grainer]

Hmm, that's interesting. I don't think I've seen it before, unless you're referring to something more like polystyrene?
That would be great though, as you said. Very flexible. If it were anything like a PCV used by the HECU, it could also absorb
damage from bullets at the cost of its reactive power. I've no reason to believe the Combine suits are charged though.


Oh yeah, and the image is a lot larger, by the way. Just click it to enlarge. The fifth rebel from the left has the vest that is
seen in-game, and I'm pretty sure it's confirmed that they're using Civil Protection gear there, so I'd absolutely agree the
others are using vests taken from killed Combine Soldiers. I really wish there were more of that kind in the game.

.

 

[Colonel Kernel]

You do know that in-research tech (probably out in some form now), liquid body armor? Neat stuff, I might say. It's basically a couple of kevlar sheets soaked in a special substance.
That substance, Shear-thickening fluid, might be used - in some more or less advanced form - by the Combine for the Civil Protection body gear/shoulder/knee pads (maybe that's why they're weaker/have less health compared to Overwatch/Elites).

As for the Combine soldiers, they might be using Magnetorheological Fluid-enforced kevlar vests, that actualy require recharging and drug restoring (hence the recharge and health nodes in the game) - much like the HEV/PCV exoskeletons do.

And why not HEVs use that too? Have the Combine stolen the technology from dead HECU/? soldiers or HEV-wearing scientists? We don't know for sure.