[Jean Thibodeau]

Kettle Hat: First it looks much bigger than objective measurement would lead you to believe, it is not round but deeper front to back 14" and 12" wide. There is a small but very defined ridge running back to front tapering to subtle fold running to the rolled edged rim.

What is most interesting is comparing it to a Sugar Loaf Helm in terms of comfort, protection and Situationnal awareness (Bring able to see!): Comfort, well one can breathe at least and not get cooked by internal or external heat. Protection: Even without a Bevor the head is protected from blows from most directions except from below or horizontal cuts lower than the rim, but one has only to tuck in ones' chin to stop the majority of these.
What is the most surprising and different is that combined with the eye slits and looking down ones' view is almost as good as when wearing a Cervelière without any face protection: The angle of the rim viewed from the eyes is almost seen edgewise thus blocking vision only minimumly.

One danger I imagined before trying on the Kettle Hat was that having the eyes and upper face covered would make one forget that the lower face was not also protected: I find on the contrary that one is very aware of everything below the eyeline and would thus react to a strike coming from below, not to mention being able to see ones feet and the ground immediatly in front of ones' feet. (Always a good thing I would assume!)

Finally, the Valentine version is well made and a pleasure to admire as sclupture as well as armour.

As it was in stock, from order to delivery a "whole" week"!.............LOL (Would have been sooner if their shipping guy hadn't been home sick with the flu, and all E-Mail was answered within 24 hours.)

Sorry, no digital camera at the moment, it can be seen on the Valentine site. (See links on the home page of this site.)

[Gordon Frye]

Jean;

Neat... seems as though will all of the nifty stuff you've been getting lately, you're about ready to run off with St. Louis on a Crusade somewhere... Ought to go well with the maille shirt and new Sovereign!

Good to hear that the Valentine products are (again) excellent, and that their service was great. Always nice to hear such things about vendors.

Did it come complete with a liner, or are you having to make that one yourself? And are you thinking of getting a bevor to go with it? You noted that you feel pretty exposed without one!

Cheers!

Gordon

[Jean Thibodeau]

Gordon;

Yes it came with a liner, and maybe I will get a Bevor some time when I have recovered from my recent buying (Sharklike)
feeding frenzy.............LOL.

Well, exposed yes, but not any more than any open faced helmet and in fact a lot less: And using my mail coif takes care of the neck leaving only my chin and smile at risk! ( At least in theory, one should not relie exclusively on the armour for protection, skill at getting out of the way and luck also play a role. Not that I presume to have any real life skill here.)

Also I am not too strictly concerned with the historically correct combination of armour parts as I sort of "Fantasize" in an alternate Sci/Fi. mode (As you know, and I am repeating for the benefit of other not privy to our personnal E-Mail exchanges.)

[Brian M]

It would seem to be great protection for a footman to wear against a horseman, since the blow can only be downward or diagonal and the brim will protect the neck and shoulders to some extent.
It might not be so great for a horseman to wear against footmen, since the face is exposed to all upward blows and the brim is essentially useless. The advantage in vision would still be there, but the same advantage could be had with designs that protect the lower skull and face better, like a visorless bascinet.
I wonder, though, if the breath-holes in a great helm allow enough downward vision to somewhat make up for this shortcoming?

Brian M

[Jean Thibodeau]

Brian;

Good point about it being much better for a footman, altought I guess the use of a Bevor would help the horseman a lot.

At least with my cheap and low cost Sugerloaf Helm the breath-holes are fairly small and far apart so vision is sort of minimal: Some awareness of motion is better than nothing, but it is like trying to peek through a key hole.

The other problem is the lack of air or at least the illusion that one has to struggle for air: Not good if one has to be very active.

I think we need the imput of Jousters or others who train for real with a variety of types of helms: I'm just making semi-educated guesses.

[Gordon Frye]

My own experience has been with a close helmet, but it ought to apply. I haven't found it all that diffucult to see directly ahead, but one's periferal vision suffers dramatically inside one of these helmets. On a hot day, when exerting a fair amount of physical effort, they suck (because you're the one sucking air!) and indeed, it just doesn't seem as though you're getting enough air, due to the lack of ventalation. However, under conditions that most people would be wearing either a close helmet. a Great Helm or a Great Bascinet, I think that those minor shortcomings would be amply compensated for by the protection that they offer. Since your primary use of such confining helmets would be on a horse, the exertions aren't nearly the problem as on foot (though believe me, at a good solid gallop you exert plenty of energy!) I would suppose that the lack of full vision is compensated for by the fact that such helmets are also primarily used only by heavy cavalry, who's primary purpose was in a frontal lance charge against the enemy, and you don't really NEED much periferal vision. Still, the close helmet has some, and there is a lot more in a war helmet than in a jousting helmet!

It seems as though the historical record rather bears this thesis out, in that there are few illustrations showing Men at Arms wearing fully-enclosing helmets on foot (though there are some, to be sure), where as there are hundreds showing armed men on foot wearing kettle hats, burgonets, etc. which provide less protection, but also have far better ventilation and vision. Great Helms, Armets and Close Helmets seem to have been reserved for Horsemen of Quality (probably due to cost as well) while the open-faced helmets were the primary headgear of Footmen (though again, there are plenty of horsemen wearing open helmets too!)

Confusion to the Enemy!

Gordon