What was the most efficient Medieval Helm? -- myArmoury.com

Scott Woodruff · Posted: Fri 18 May, 2012 5:58 pm Post subject:

Ultimtely it comes down to personal preference based on training, physique, personal idiosyncracies etc. I personally vote for the eisenhut/sallet and bevor combo. The first time I wore one, I was extremely impressed by the enginneering. Comfortable, good visibility and airflow, but what most impressed me was how the set-up worked with the natural flinch response, as soon as somone struck or thrust at my face, the flinch response would have me withdrawing back between the helmet and bevor like a turtle into its shell, giving me excellent protection but able to emerge back into good situational awareness in a fraction of a second. Most SCA fighters I know, on the other hand, would not be able to use such a set-up so effectively due to their training with heavy, all-encompassing helmets and atrophied flinch response.

Roger Hooper · Posted: Sat 19 May, 2012 6:57 pm Post subject:

How would you folks rate the Great Bascinet from the first half of the 15th century? It looks like it gives great protection, and is well ventilated, but I'm not sure about how good the field of vision might be. The third photo, the reprduction from Buyans Armoury, looks like it has better eye slits

Antonio Ganarini · Posted: Wed 23 May, 2012 1:48 pm Post subject:

Thomas R. · Posted: Wed 23 May, 2012 2:56 pm Post subject:

Mackenzie Cosens · Posted: Wed 23 May, 2012 5:11 pm Post subject:

Since most of the time you will be on the march or waiting for something to happen so I vote for something that will keep the rain and sun off you head and won't be too heavy or get in the way too much, I vote for the veritable Chapeau de Fer, the most wonderful Kettle Hat. Protecting soldier heads from sometime in the 12th century until at least 1945.

mackenzie

Jean Thibodeau · Posted: Wed 23 May, 2012 6:15 pm Post subject:

Eye Slot Kettle Hat: Bought this one from Valentine Armoury a few years ago.

As explained in an earlier post I think that this is a very good helm and one can wear it tilted back and when " turtleling " a glance upward lets one still see what is going on.

The other option is to wear it strait but this restrict vision a bit more, but surprisingly little as the angle of the brim means that there is only a narrow blockage of vision below the eye slot because of the inclined angle of the sloping surface of the wide brim.

Tried to take a pic of this seen from the inside of the helm in one of the pics.. Wink

Note: The eyes when wearing the helm are much closer to the eye slots than where the camera was when taking the pics from the inside so that the " narrow " eye slots " gives a much wider view than shown in the pics. Wink

Sjors B · Posted: Thu 24 May, 2012 2:47 am Post subject:

my choise for most efficient helmet would go to the grand bascinet as wel.
15th c examples have been found, having three visors for different purposes: jousting, melee combat and foot combat.
The helmet could be easily adjusted to the goal of the moment.
The jousting visor has a very narrow gab giving maximum protection to the face, both for incoming blows and spinters while the melee visor, consisting of metal bars gives more vision and strong protection against clubs. The foot combat visor is punctured with a lot of holes, giving the idea of a fencing mask.
What i most prefer about the grand bascinet is that it's attached to the breastplate, making it virtually immovable and allowing it to deflect even the hardest of blows.
Below a picture of the grand bascinet with three visors, displayed in the royal armouries in leeds (sorry for the poor quality)

number one of the most funny helmets i've ever seen, also on display in the royal armouries:

16th c maximilian moustache helmet

Sam Gordon Campbell

William P · Posted: Thu 24 May, 2012 8:13 am Post subject:

Terry Thompson · Posted: Thu 24 May, 2012 10:22 am Post subject:

In the Holkham bible, I'm thinking those aren't bevors on the kettles but loose mail drapes. There appears to be a fold in it, and the blue color matches the mailled arms and legs specificially. But I'm not disagreeing with the advantages of kettles.
-Terry

Jean Thibodeau · Posted: Thu 24 May, 2012 10:42 am Post subject:

Roger Hooper · Posted: Thu 24 May, 2012 10:58 am Post subject:

Here is another kettle helm with bevor. You get good ventilation, good vision, and good, but not great facial protection. I'd want a kettle hat with rounded edges like the one below - no right angles.

One problem with a bevor - I remember a story about Lord Dacre getting killed at the Battle of Towton when he took off his bevor to drink a thirst quenching glass of wine. While it was off he was struck in the throat by an arrow. Too bad bendable straws weren't invented yet.

Maybe Jean's alternative in the above thread would work out better in a case like that.

Paul Hansen · Posted: Thu 24 May, 2012 1:34 pm Post subject:

I'm a bit surprised nobody yet mentioned the Barbute.
- Excellent visibility
- Excellent ventilation
- Extremely solid due to the lack of moving parts

http://www.bestarmour.com/helmets/barbute_5b.jpg
http://www.bestarmour.com/helmets/barbute_9b.jpg

The only problem is the protection it gives against thrusts and arrows. In modern times this easily solved by wearing safety glasses underneath. Big Grin

Alternatively, you could add a visor, but I think there is some discussion regarding authenticity of this:
http://www.bestarmour.com/helmets/barbute_6c.jpg

Alternatively, a Savoyard helmet would also be a good contestant, although I'm not sure about ventilation.
http://www.eveandersson.com/photos/malta/vall...-large.jpg

Jean Thibodeau · Posted: Thu 24 May, 2012 9:29 pm Post subject:

William P · Posted: Thu 24 May, 2012 11:09 pm Post subject:

Kalle Kylmänen · Posted: Fri 25 May, 2012 4:07 am Post subject:

I think I'm identifying the chapel de fer in Roger Hoopers post as the Burgundian one from the metropolitan museum of art
http://www.armabohemia.cz/imgnew/armures/helmy/he19v2.jpg

Cabassets remind me of a helmet a local sca knight has. I think it was made by Jiri Klepac... It was a cabasset morion with cheeckplates and a matching bevor that had a very sharp angle at the front, matching the angle of the morion's brim. Even more, the bevor had eyeslits. I didn't try the thing on back then, but I think if the bevor would be a bit loose (not directly contacting the helmet all the time) it would provide pretty good visibility, and almost complete protection if bending back (or turtleing as Jean said). Compared to a low brimmed kettlehat with eyeslits, this solution would have a plate passing back and forth over your eyes causing the wearer to loose sight for a moment, and I think it might also impair breathing just a bit more.
I'm sorry for not having pictures of such a bevor but I have never seen anything like it anywhere else, so I'm not 100% convinced it's historically accurate.

edited instead of posting: by it's fit and the eyeslits it resembles a buffe, but it was a completely seperate piece that didn't attach to the helmet itself.

William P · Posted: Fri 25 May, 2012 7:48 am Post subject:

William P · Posted: Thu 14 Jun, 2012 10:39 pm Post subject:

bu i think i have another canddate although is no really a medieval helm as such.

but the roman gallic model helmet is a very good design IMHO

http://www.larp.com/legioxx/helmets.html
things in is favor: it has dedicated cheek pieces which sem to be designed to specifically not obstruct your vision,

actually it reminds me of the chin defense of one of the vendel helmets.
no nasal so not much actual face protection.
the brim keeps downward strokes from slicing the nose on the way down.
but other plus's, a wide neck guard for the back of the neck, also the cheek pieces ingeniously protect the ears. the small strips over the top over the tops of the ears are a good protective measure.