Eli5 why aren’t ballistic masks more common in warfare?

Question

You very rarely see depictions of soldiers wearing bullet resistant face masks. I understand that these only protect from small caliber weapons but wouldn’t you take all the protection you could get?

In: 154

Answer 1

It wouldn’t be as useful for frontline troops that need to detect the enemy. It might be more useful for rear echelon troops if they expect to take a lot of explosions of shrapnel. Like a mortar pit, or convoy driver. It’s a trade off and usually not worth it *as things currently stand*. Might start seeing it more as those little hand grenade drones start becoming more common, as with more bulky armor.