Helmets?

[Allen Johnson]

There is a nifty tutorial on making period liners on the Forth Armoury site:
http://www.forth-armoury.com/photo_gallery/helm_liner/helm_liner.htm

I'd love to do this to mine when I get it but I'm not nearly smart enough to make something like that- So I'm trying to see if there is anyone I can pay to do it for me. Either way it would be a little nicer to see something that looks appropriate as opposed to blue foam- though I'm sure it does the job and is going to be much, much cheaper.

Speaking of velvet helmet covers...Valentine shows off some stuff... http://www.varmouries.com/gallery/arch_06c.jpg
gaudy....but that was the point <img src="/forum/images/icons/smile.gif" alt="" /> Though a deep blue or green velvet without so much ...accesories, would look really cool!

[Brian Hunt]

That's a good article,

if you wanted to, you could also stuff the tubes with high impact foam instead of the cotton batting. The foam absorbs impact better than the batting.

just a thought

Brian Hunt
GFS.

[Matthew_Anderson]

Well, you make some good points Shane, a poleaxe probably wouldn't penetrate the grill and all the other drawings show very clear and recognizable detail. Maybe it is a bar grill.

[GeorgeHill]

Couldn't the top spike on a poleaxe easily break the grill apart with a solid thrust? Espeically the quatrangular type topspike?

[Casper Bradak]

There are several surviving examples of helms using only wider perforations for both breaths and sights, though none with grills like that shown that I know of. Those sort of turn out to be a checkered grill in effect, but nothing so open as an SCA style bar grill.
Now that I look at those in Fiore's manual, they do look like grills. But there are also numerous examples of artists using a simple method for representing a complex pattern, such as with breaths, banded visors or mail, etc. Then again, they could be tourney or training visors. They are obviously removable and interchangable.
My main doubts are due to the majority of extant poll axe technique and advice vs armour involves thrusts. Master Fiore only shows one thrust to the face with the poll axe in that manual (tourney style?), but if that visor is grilled as it appears, it wouldn't put up much resistance, though it's obviously far more protective than an SCA style grill due to the crossing bars (if that is actually what they are) and distance from the face.

[philippewillaume]

the grill "visor", more a cage than grill, was used in tournament and is clearly depicted in rene d'anjou book of tournament.
It is really a bacinet and is designed for rebated tournament sword and clubs.