The Kanohi Hau was the Great Mask of Shielding. The mask created a force field around the user, protecting him or her from physical attack. Its sole limitation was that it could only protect against attacks that were expected, so it was ineffective against ambushes.1
Notes
The Hau was the Great Mask of Shielding. It provided protection against any attack the user was aware of, but not against ambush.2
The Kanohi Hau was the Great Mask of Shielding. It protected its user against attacks but had no effect against ambushes.3
If a being kept the Hau's shield up, it would protect them from ambushes. Hau users didn't tend to do this because of the mental strain involved in maintaining the shield.4
Hau were created from Kanoka disks with the growth and regeneration powers.5, 6
The Hau was the symbol of the Great Spirit Mata Nui.1 The Great Kanohi Hau was traditionally used to symbolize the Great Spirit Mata Nui.7
The Hau could protect its user from gas or fire attacks.8
Affecting the air within the Hau's defensive bubble would arguably not be considered a physical attack.9
The Hau protects users, but does not prevent them from firing projectiles through the shield. However, a user would likely not be able to maintain the intense level of concentration required to keep the shield up and fire a projectile at the same time.10
The Noble Hau produced a weaker shield which did not last as long as the Great Hau's shield.11
An Olmak user could teleport inside a Hau user's shield. A Kualsi user or a being with Vanisher's powers could likely do the same, as arguably they wouldn't be occupying the same physical space as the shield while teleporting. If the being wasn't in the same physical space, there would be nothing for the shield to repel.12