/jp/ - Otaku Culture

>>15244545
I know I'm late to the party here. But this is something I've been struggling to try to find a solution to for quite some time. How do you create a helmet for a humanoid (monstergirl) with animal ears? As it is each of the obvious answers to this all have their own drawbacks that make it very non-ideal no matter what.

>Solution 1: Ear holes in the helmet
Obviously this affords proper comfort and allows doesn't smother their hearing ability whatsoever. Yet, this also has the issue of no protecting the ears (which is more of an issue with regards to shrapnel than bullets) and also gives unimpeded access directly to the top of their skull. Another issue is that it's going to make standardization very difficult as you now have to account for not only different head sizes, but also different ear sizes and types. It also makes it difficult to wear camo helmet covers or webbing on the helmet, and makes it impossible to wear conventional radio headsets.
>Solution 2: Use a regular helmet design
As you can imagine the main drawbacks of this is that it's uncomfortable to wear as the ears have to be pressed flat (sort of, as there's some room between the inner padding/webbing and the helmet itself) and it makes it difficult to hear. It also suffers the same drawback as above with regards to using radio headsets. However, it is easier when it comes to standardization and offers the same protection as it does to human soldiers.
>Solution 3: Helmet with animals ear design
See pic related. So while the helmet design may protect much better against most shrapnel, it still doesn't provide any meaningful protection against gunfire (most NATO helmets aren't actual rifle calibre bullet-proof). It also still fucks with logistics and standardization and fucks with wearing headsets. It also makes it more difficult, but also more plausible now to wear helmet covers or webbing. It's also more comfortable than a regular helmet, but less comfortable than using ear holes. As well as still somewhat reducing hearing depending on whether the ear design is fully or semi enclosed.