BLOK DPM helmet preview

BLOK DPM Helmet "preview"
review and imagery by Arnie

	Stock Specifications
RRP	Unknown at this time
Size	One size fits all
Weight	360g
Features	- mist proof lense - ventilated - washable - modular

In associaton with ExtremeProcurement and MasterChief's

It's always a nice surprise to receive interesting things in the post. This time we've taken on the prototype BLOK DPM helmet to use, abuse and generally mess around with, courtesy of Extreme Procurement. So what does BLOK stand for? That's a jolly good question, and one that we've gone back to the manufacturers to ask about. ^_^

One point of note, please take into account that this is a prototype that we have received, and as such the final release is certain to improve upon this model.

What's in the box? The first thing I noticed about the BLOK DPM helmet was that it is amazingly light, and I hadn't even taken it out of it's delivery box yet! A quick check with the kitchen scales show it to weigh in at a mere 360g.

Once you've got over the weight issue, and finally rip open the box to see if there's anything in it the second thing to amaze me was how solid, and well kept the form of the mask is given how light it is. What do I mean? Well for a mask that's made of fabric, it's incredibly rigid. It's actually quite difficult to put the look and feel of it into words, but it's almost as if the mask was fitted to an invisible manikins' head, and then placed in the box.

Still got no idea of what I'm on about... okay I'll take a photo. ^_^ - which you can see it to the left.

In with the mask in the box I received a set of instructions (more about that later), and a handy lense/visor cleaning cloth.

The visor: The visor is made of a thick fog proof material. Despite the fact that the visor is thick, there is no visible refraction of light, so the image isn't bent in any way it any direction.

The inside of the visor has been coated in a 'magic film' of some description that stops it misting up, I was a bit doubtful myself, but after sitting here typing this review in a very warm room, and making several extended trips to the coffee machine, I still couldn't fog the thing up. Now that's impressive, as I'm quite a warm blooded creature, and can normally mist up the most 'unfoggable' of glasses.

The manufacturers note that the outside of the lense will fog, but the inside will only fog up if part of your face touches the lense itself. A special cleaning cloth is provided to clean the inside and outside of the lense, and finger marks and grease from mucky hands will lead to mist/steam forming on those marks.

Bottom of the mask with the neck guard removed, showing the breathing hole

Breathing: "Coffee, you can't drink that in a full face-mask!" Ah.. but yes you can - under the nose of the mask you'll find the only access point to the mask. This hole is where all that lovely and much needed fresh air gets in. Handily it's also the perfect place to poke a straw in. (Yup that's how I drank my coffee).

So why was I drinking hot coffee? Well to be honest at 11pm on a Saturday night I really couldn't justify running round the block in a full DPM mask. Drinking a mug of coffee was a handy way to elevate my body temperature, whilst still sitting here typing this review. Don't worry I will get out to testing the mask on the skirmish field, but sadly I haven't had a free moment to do so yet.

Dimwit Test II - 'the revenge': Yup it's back, my very own "DimWit test" (as seen in GunMart - thanks Roger!). For those of you that don't know the Dimwit test is, it's my own patented test for masks and goggles. What does it incorporate? Well it's simple really, you fire a few shots point blank at the mask/lenses, and a few volleys of full auto AEG fire at a range of about 2-3 feet from a reasonably powered rifle (at least 300fps/0.2g). Needless to say, until the mask has been tested, you don't carry out the above tests whilst wearing it, unless you are a real Dimwit!

If the mask survives with no marks or damage, then you can be fairly sure that the mask and lenses are suitable for the purpose that they are intended. You'll notice that if you carry out the Dimwit test on your average ski goggles your be left with some beautifully perforated and ventilated lenses. But I digress from my point.

..Back to the point, the BLOK mask and lenses passed the test extremely well, neither the external material, nor the lenses showed a single mark from where they were shot in the tests. In short - it passed with flying colours. Now all I had to do was to test the mask whilst someone was wearing it. As I'm such a glutton for punishment, and the only person mad enough to volunteer for such a duty, it was down to me to wear the mask and get shot.Now all I needed was a good friend who'd be more than happy to take pot shots at me. I didn't have to look far...

You want me to what? My housemate was most concerned when I asked if she's be kind enough to shoot me in the head. Erm.. well actually no she wasn't, it just would have been nice if she was. ^_^ After explaining that I wanted to carry out some scientific tests on some new equipment she was slightly less enthused with the whole"let's go and shoot Arnie with my pistol" idea.

Notably the mask comes with the warning:

"use of this prototype is solely at the risk of the owner. It claims no specific protection at this point in its development, and is purely for use in reducing the risk of injury"

You may have noticed the letters 'AS' in white on this prototype. These letters indicate this the model is intended for Airsoft use, and the letter from the manufacturer indicates that at this stage it is intended for use with 250-270fps (0.2g) equipment.

Given these two points and that all the AEGs in the house clock in at over 300fps, I was reduced to using our TM MK23 springer at point blank for these tests, it's a pokey little pistol, and more than up to the job.

"Plink.. thud": I was shot point blank several times all around the mask and lenses, and although you can hear and feel the BB impact, I'm happy to say it's not a painful experience. The only slight problem I had was a shot on the ear cover, that caused a slight ringing in my ear, but that was more down to the side of the mask being pushed up against my ear quickly.

So what's it like to wear? It's actually a very comfortable item to wear. Personally I prefer to just wear eye glasses for skirmishes, but after a few nasty hits to the neck and head, I'm a bit more conservative in what I wear. I have a roughly 7 3/4 size head (sorry I can't remember the modern measurements, but I have quite a large head), and it fits me quite comfortably, and doesn't restrict my neck/head movement in any way. The fact that the mask is so light also goes a long way towards making it a very comfortable item.

Inside the mask the bulk of the material has a shiny coating that somewhat reminds me of an old Thermos drinks cool bag. I guess the idea is that is keeps you cool / warm depending on the given circumstances. Handy features, also include the comfy padding over the inside of the nose area.

Below the nose area, in front of your mouth (basically the inside of the muzzle) you'll notice that the material has a sort of fishnet backing to it. This is because the material that makes up the front of the mask is some sort of hardened rigid plastic, strangely the throat guard (the bit that dangles down below the chin) seems to be made of the same stuff, but is very flexible.

To put the mask on, all you have to do is pull the velcro strap at the side away from the helmet, undo the neck guard (if fitted), pull the sides of the helmet away, and poke your head in the back. Then all you have to do is pull the the two backs together, the top piece down, and pull the strap across the back of your head.

Putting the mask on (and removing it) is thankfully a very simple action to perform on your own. The manufacturers do however recommend that you put the mask on with the adjustment of a 'buddie' to ensure that there are no gaps and that all straps are down up as they should be. This is sound advice, as it stands to sense that no one can see the back of their own head.

Nail and Depardieu, separated at birth?

Some of the innovations I really love in this mask/helmet are in the way that it can be adapted to fit just about any head/face. As I've already mentioned the mask is adjustable at the back, but if you have the nose of a frenchman (Gérard Depardieu) or of a certain "Crocodile Shoes" Geordie (Jimmy Nail), then fear not.

The front muzzle can be easily adjusted and pulled away at the sides to allow it to move forward, and then be re secured on the velcro at the sides. You can't pull the muzzle completely off, as it's bolted to the bottom of the lense.

Build and design: I've mentioned some of the construction in the review before, but here's the full detail. The mist free lense is held onto the mask by three 'unscrewable' bolts. The neck guard, the top and the sides of the mask are made of a dense foam material, whereas the muzzle is made of a moulded material that keeps it's form very well, whilst still remaining flexible to a degree.

As I've mentioned you can remove the neck guard, as it is Velcro'd to the underside of the mask, and merely pulls away. This is handy, as I'm sure that the neck guard may be a bit of an overkill in terms of protection for some skirmishes, or may simply get in the way of some tactical clothing. Having said that though, whilst fitted it's very comfortable.

The ear areas of the mask are shaped to cup the ear, and have holes cut through the material better aid hearing, and.. the holes aren't large enough for anything BB like to get through. It's quite obvious that a lot of care and detail has gone into the design so far.

Left: the inside of the ear cover | Right: the outside of the ear cover

The lense is a made of a 2-3mm thick clear plastic, it's well moulded and basically 'unmistable'. The lense is held onto the mask by three bolts, one on either side, and one below the nose.

These bolts are well secured, but I'm curious as to if they will undo themselves during extended skirmishing. Personally I find it very doubtful, as they are well fitted and secured. That said, if anyone is in doubt a little blue thread lock would help ease any fears.

Build quality: It's a little unfair to be harsh on build quality at this prototype stage, well it would be if there was anything I could criticise. The build quality is top notch, and all the stitching and gluing is done to a standard that you could expect on a production model.

The only slight gripe I had was where the glue was coming away at the top of the mask at the back, where I'd somewhat excessively pulled the sides away to squeeze my head into it.

Specifications: Here's the specs as I was given them from Extreme Procurement:

1. Mask was designed for special forces training
2. It was designed to be light, flexible, protective, non - steam up, washable, one size fits most head sizes (but has size adjustment)
3. Manufactured from a laminate of materials specially created for the purpose
4. There is a skirt attachment to protect the back of the neck and the side of the neck
5. There is also a neck guard for the front of the neck
6. Most importantly, the breathing system means a shot cannot enter the guard unless shot from the wearers chest
7 The design is protected by patent application, copyright and design registration
8. When BB was fired at point blank, no pain is felt but you can hear the contact

Now if you read carefully above there's one point that I've missed out there. You can actually machine wash this mask, all you have to do is to unbolt and remove the bolts and lense. Another point that's worth noting is something that the instructions mention:

"...If multiple users transfer the guard form user to user without washing, it is suggested that the inside of the guard, and in particular concentrating on the mouth and nose areas, are wiped with an anti-bacterial wipe (such as Jeyes Wet Ones Ultra) to prevent bacterial transfer"

A basic translation would be that if your a smelly git, think twice before lending your mask to your girlfriend for use.

Conclusion: Now I've never been a huge fan of full face protection gear, but that's just my personal feeling, as I feel a little claustrophobic in them. The BLOK helmet has remedied my dislike of full face gear, you can hear and see everything perfectly well in it, and it's very comfortable and easy to breath in.

One major (and very obvious..) advantage with this mask is that it's impossible for a BB to get into a properly fitting mask to hit the wearer anywhere on the head. A couple of readers have emailed in recently (after the Guarder glasses review) with horror stories of teeth that have been shot with stock AEGs that have smashed with the impact. If you want to ensure that you walk away form a skirmish with no tell tale scars or red welts on your face, this is the mask for you.

It's comfy, it's light to wear, it's practical, and it comes in tasteful (and somewhat fashionable) DPM camo, what more can you want? It's true that wearing full face masks isn't quite as fashionable as wearing glasses for skirmishing, but personally I prefer to not have any permanent Airsoft related damage done to my head. ^_^

An official launch date and price have not been set for the mask, but you can expect to see prices of around £50 per item. I gather that for bulk orders it's quite easy to have team names printed on them.

Internal Links:
BLOK news article - please do read this article for further information imagery and photos of this product

External Links:
Extreme Procurement Limited - the (soon to be) UK retailers of this product
MasterChief's - Will also be stocking the new headgear when it's officially launched.