Hello:

As I've become more educated about armour, thanks to this site, I have come to deeply appreciate the aesthetics and functionality of German Gothic armour. I will never be able to afford an entire suit of armour. However, I really like sallet helmets and I want one. I tend to prefer the sallets without a visor - just a single helm with an eye slit like the one shown on page 10 of this site's armour album. I think this type of sallet was used not only by knights, but often by infantry too. I realize a bevor was usually included in the kit, but not everyone used a bevor.

Anyway ... the point is the German style sallet looks really cool and it would be cool to have one. I am wondering who makes sallets in the USA (to save on shipping costs). If I ever order one I think it should be a custom job because I am not sure about the quality and authenticity of sallets made by Depeeka and GDFB. I assume a custom sallet would be of higher quality. I know sallets are incredibly made from a single sheet of steel, but I don't how to do it. I'm content having made my own war hammer.

So ... I need a sallet to go with my war hammer and Gothic mace. Who makes them, what kind of measurements are needed, and how much money might we be talking about? I'd love to go to Germany and have one made, but I just can't do that. Also, the local Wal-Mart doesn't carry sallets for some weird reason.

In case things really do go nuts one day, I want a helmet that's fits me. :-)

Thanks guys! :-)

I share your preference for the single-piece type, but I know of no off-the-shelf options. If we can't find/afford that type, we have to make the best of the visored options.

You can find some beautiful and affordable custom sallets in the classifieds section of armourarchive.org. The best I see there are from a Czech maker, IIRC. For finer and MUCH costlier custom work, contact Francois L'Archeveque http://flarcheveque.wordpress.com/ .

The Windlass Gothic sallet and bevor set seems like a great deal to me if you can overlook the size of the sight and thin guage of the bowl. The sight looks better in some photos, and can probably be adjusted by moving the pivots back a bit. For a modern piece I think lighter is preferable to the heavier and oversized/overbuilt (I'm looking at you, GDFB). But the GDFB is much cheaper. The GDFB can be modified as I did (see below,) shedding some weight in the process and getting just into the historical weight range for this type. The Windlass appears to be of more reasonable size and weight, and could probably make a beautiful helmet with less work than the GDFB requires. This video offers a good view of the proportions, shape and quality of the Windlass sallet and bevor (both lined!). http://www.museumreplicas.com/t-medievalarmor.aspx The arming of the head starts around 1:45.

Therion has great shots of the Windlass sallet/bevor, and sells the set for $190. http://therionarms.com/reenact/therionarms_c1222.html Looking at those images, I'd definitely want to move the pivots down and back to close the sight a bit and level the lower edge of the visor.

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Hi Dustin,

you wrote, that you can't come to Germany, but I nevertheless recommend my armourer, Christian Wiedner, who lives and works near Halle/Germany. I am sure, that he is able to make a sallet from your measurements alone, which will fit your head quite snugly. Sure, it's better to come in person and try it on, but I think he is able to shape the sallet in a way, that you can regulate its fit via the thickness of the liner. It's worth to discuss your project with him, I think.

www.plattnerei-wiedner.de

Best regards,
Thomas

May try contact with that producer?

http://www.tomala.lublin.pl/index.php?strona=...mp;lng=eng

He isn't cheap but I saw his last sets and that were gorgeous! If you really want to get one high quality thing write to him.

Regards,
Mike from Poland

Hi Dustin,

Lots of threads here along the 'who makes armour' lines, which will have some leads ... as for sallets, in the US, your main options are probably Jeff Hedgecock (Historic Enterprises) and Brent Junkins (Anshelm Arms).

However, custom ain't cheap, and US custom less so. Some of the Eastern European smiths are doing fantastic work for very reasonable prices ... starting points would be Willy Trambone & friends, Roman Tereschenko, Anton / Hammer Breaker, and Maxim / Wildarmoury.

A step up from there is Stanislav Prosek (see my avatar).

Other higher-end options include Francois L'Archeveque, who has been mentioned, though not sure how much he's doing these days, Christian Wiedner's work (also linked above) is very nice, as is Peter Muller (http://www.plattnerwerkstatt.de), White Rose Armoury, who offer a one-piece sallet as a standard option (http://www.whiterosearmoury.com/gal_helmets.html), Albert Collins / Via Armorari (http://www.viaarmorari.com/) - check out Ben van Koert's thread here on myA about his sallet ... and many more.

Yes, a sallet made for you is the way to go ... couple of threads on here about the reasons why. Search for 'occularium' / 'occularia' to get you there ...

An other exceptional US armourer is Jeff Wasson http://www.wassonartistry.com/armor.php

http://www.wassonartistry.com/images/armor/helmets/IMG_0876.JPG