Recently I came into possession of an old military-style helmet, and I've been thinking about getting it all camo'd up and started thinking about what else I would like to do with it. Something I was thinking about was having a way to be able to keep things strapped and/or held to the helmet. Primarily I was thinking about being able to slip branches/leaves into the "web" so that I can more adequately blend the helmet into the surrounding environment. Having some paracord laying around got me thinking, and this is the result.

NOTE: I finished this before I took any pictures, and took pics as I undid and repeated the process. So I will try to make sure that the pics are adequately explained. Any questions just ask!

N.B. It probably goes without saying, but whatever you do for one side, you're going to do for the other.

Step 1: Supplies

A helmet (really any will do, as long as it's got holes in the top. I like this one, it's comfy, sturdy, and pretty inexpensive)
Paracord - about 25-30 feet of it
Scissors
Lighter

Optional:
Pencil - to sketch out what you'd like the web to look like, where you want it to go, etc.
Allen wrench/screwdriver: I used these to remove the straps and side rails, but I realized you didn't need to after I finished.

Step 2: First Paracord Wrap

So the first thing I decided upon was that I wanted to have a lower wrap of paracord as well as the top portion wrap. Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures of this part (mostly because I was happy with how it came out and didn't want to ruin it :P). I do have some closeups of it though. Basically I weaved the paracord around the helmet counterclockwise through the holes, and then cut the cord once I had the length I wanted.

To secure the cord, I tied two double fisherman's knots on either side of the NVG mount. It looks kinda nice, and it's pretty taut around the helmet. Exactly as needed.

Step 3: Here Comes the Fun

This part required a good bit of work, and a lot of undoing. That's why I would suggest using a pencil to mark out where you want the cord to appear.

Again, I took most of the pictures as I reversed the process, but wherever I got stuck I tried to take new pictures, so things should be reasonably clear.

First up, I started from the back once again, folding the cord in half to make sure both sides were even. Then I threaded the cord through the two rearmost bottom holes, and up through the accompanying holes above them wrapping the cord around the first wrap. Then I threaded the cord through the rearmost holes on top of the helmet, so that they crisscross inside the helmet. (Pic 1 and 2)

Pic 3: View from the front of the helmet

Then into the middle holes, cross over to the actual middle hole, then come out of the front two top holes. Confused yet? (Pic 4 and 5)

From there, out the top front holes (above the NVG mount), cross over into the holes once more, and back up and out of the top front holes. (Pic 6 and 7)

Step 4: More Fun

Pic 1: Out from the bottom holes, in through the middle holes, then back out the top holes (viewed from the front).

Pic 2: Crisscross the cord, thread it back into the top holes, and out the bottom holes

Pics 3, 4, and 5: Cross the cord over the middle hole, then wrap each over the opposite cord that is going into the middle hole (confusing, but check the pic)

Pic 6: In through the top holes (from the front) then out the bottom holes.

Pic 7: Weave through the next two holes, then wrap it around the back of the helmet.

Step 5: Even More Fun

Ok, almost there. Coming from the front, you want to weave the cord in the rear topmost hole, out the bottom hole, back up into the top hole. This time, we're coming back out the same hole, by weaving it under the original wrap and up toward the front/middle of the helmet.

For some reason I decided not to take pics at the next part, so I'll use an overall picture to show you where to go from here (Pic 4). Basically in the top hole, out the bottom one, back up to the middle, do a little wrap around there and angle it out to the opposite side.

Step 6: Almost There

Ok, from here we've got a tiny bit more to go to finish this up. Hopefully by now you're running out of cord, which is a good thing. Now we just need to use up the rest of that cord.

This part is easiest to describe using the pictures, so refer to them. Basically you want to connect the cord coming from the top of the helmet, and bind it to the first wrap, as well as the part of the cord that wraps above the rails.

Step 7: Finishing (Finally!)

Alright, time to finish it up!

Now the cord should be riding toward the front of the helmet above the rails. Now you've gotta tie it up, and I used the double fisherman's knot again, just to keep things regular.

Once it's cinched up, you can trim the cord as short as you need or want it to be.

And that's pretty much it! Again, it's kind of confusing, but if you work it through, and do what works for you, it'll turn out great.

If you need any more info, let me know! I'll see if I can get a video going (that will probably be easier to understand).

Thanks for reading!