The first part of this paper presents a comparative study on the design, protection mechanisms and performance evaluation of three modern ballistic helmets namely, Personnel Armor System Ground Troops (PASGT), Advanced Combat Helmet (ACH), and Enhanced Combat Helmet (ECH), based on a review of current advances and findings of related investigations. I n the second part of this paper, the deformation, impact resistance and shock absorption properties of a ballistic helmet similar to the PASGT helmet are determined experimentally via a stiffness test, resistance to penetration test, and shock absorption test. This paper discusses the results obtained from the experiments and compares them with the performance of the other types of helmets with respect to their designs, comfort levels and protection mechanisms. The result of the shock absorption test shows that the helmet absorbed 78% of a nominal impact energy of 49 J. The 8-mm thick helmet resisted full penetration at an applied impact force of 132.3 N with an average penetration depth of 4.52 mm. These results indicate that the ballistic helmet being investigated provide a good impact protection but not superior to that of the ACH-type helmet.