I was going to post this in the interesting finds thread as its new info on an old piece but it seems to deserve to stand on its own.

Testing the Black Prince Helm BBC

Can anyone here enlighten on the mechanics of how the neutron "Blast"? works to describe the material and the science behind the interpretation of that material. I do not question their findings at all just want to know more how one deciphers what they have found. I have seen first hand, how blows in pieces that have been worked out can be detected from the inside but the outer was pretty indistinguishable. But this would add a great tool to looking at pieces and understanding them better.

Best
Craig

As a gross simplification, neutron imaging is a lot like X-ray imaging but in many cases much, much more informative: you shoot a stream of neutrons, electrically chargeless particles that only interact with atomic nuclei in very close proximity, through an object into a receiver on the other side, and analyze the patterns formed by the particles that make it through and those scattered on the way to form an image of not only the object's shape and density (as with X-rays) but also its precise internal structure and material composition.

("Neutron beam" and "neutron imaging" are more productive search terms than "neutron blaster", here, unless you're specifically looking for info on video game weaponry. :))

I kinda doubt the whole story. I don't doubt that the helmet was _used_ back then and not made simply as a piece for parade (or the grave), but I doubt that they can say that it suffered damage during war and at the same time rule out the possibility of damage by tournament....

Toby Capwell has made presentations about the differences between tournament gear and combat gear. Tournament gear tends to be overbuilt in an effort to ensure maximum protection. Combat gear must be light enough to permit mobility not only for a brief period of time, but for the duration of strenuous combat. I don't believe the Black Prince helmet falls into the former category, so that would leave the factors causing damage to the latter. Of course, this position from my end is also speculative, but I think it bears decent grounds for support!