[James Anderson III]

For those unfamiliar with The Order of the Marshal, we do full contact unchoreographed medieval combat, both unarmored (blossfechten) and armoured (harnessfechten).

Bear with me for a minute while I talk about the importance of GOOD armor when doing combat. To start with, I broke my nose in harnessfechten. This wasn't because of a cheap helmet. It was somewhere around $350. It is 14 gauge mild steel, well padded, and it's battle worthy. Helmets also protect your face. It's kind of important. Here's why:

Sir James's broken nose, Armored Demo, 2014-06-01

You can see where my visor popped down and I got stabbed right through the opening - within seconds. Why? Because a klappvisor has a removable face plate. It was great for taking the visor off after combat, or for getting the helmet snugged down prior to combat. It's also a HUGE safety risk, as I clearly could have lost an eye or had some serious damage done. Don't fool yourself and think "if it fails I'll notice it right away and just say stop". I didn't think that, but I want to make sure no one else does. It truly happens in the proverbial blink of an eye.

If you fight with a klappvisor, or any kind of removable face plate helmet, I HIGHLY suggest you permanently attach the visor by solid rivets. A safety strap goes without saying, and popping a strap or rivet on the rest of the harness isn't usually a major safety aspect - but respect the helmet. It only takes a second for really bad things to happen.

And to close with something we mention at every demo we do - the purpose of a fight is to walk away - as safely as you can. Don't skimp on safety, and remember how critical a helmet is to your safety. Gauntlets are a close second. If you aren't sure if it's safe to fight in, ask someone who knows, or don't fight in it.

[Shahril Dzulkifli]

Injuries do happen during full contact unchoreographed medieval combats like that.
We need pros to handle that, I guess.

[Michael B.]

A good warning to people.

Before full contact fighting I go over every rivet, buckle and strap on my armor to make sure it won't fail in the fight (though accidents still do occur). The helm and gauntlets get special attention. One of my opponents didn't have his visor strapped properly during a fight, the visor flew up and my armored fist hit him right in the face, breaking his nose. If I had known he hadn't strapped his visor, I wouldn't have gone into the fight, and the marshal also did not catch it. My helm actually has a spring clip pin that locks the visor in place, it's very effective, and fast in the account of having to get the helm off or air to me. I've seen whole arms fail, legs lock up, visors fail, and gauntlets come apart. Don't assume armor doesn't need very careful attention to keep it functioning and doing it's job. Stay safe out there!

[Harry Marinakis]

There are many different ways of attaching a visor. Please attach a close-up photo of your hinge and latch mechanism.