+ศานต์ไท หุ่นพยนต์ Have you ever seen an English effigy without one?? :) I'm just kidding of course, but it certainly completes 'the look.'

Knyght Errant looks like the black prince

@@l.cressey6806 Knyght Errant needs a great helm to complete the black prince look.

+1 This is a massively important point that seems to fly completely over many people's heads.

This is why they had a light cavalry and archers riding on a marsh you know

another point, that is already somewhat between the lines of what you said; in a tournament you probably know quite well which weapon the enemy has at hand and wear armour that properly counters this very weapon, same as your opponent does. There are various examples of tournament armour designed especially for lance breaking, others for fencing competitions ... the variaty of different helmets for late medieval/renaissance tournaments is huge. And the later in time we are, the more rules are applied to tournaments as it became more and more of a show-off event for noble men and soldiers of fortune (~14th century onwards) instead of warfair training for the troops (9th/10th century) which again, made it much easier to prepare for a very specific tournament fight than to prepare for warfair where you might break lances with enemies on first charge in a rain of arrows and then it goes against clubs, pikes and daggers in the mud ... much more chaotic than tournament, much more need for mobility and quick adaption.

+Blank- blade Thanks man! Spread the word! ;)

Knyght Errant Will do my best on FB tomorrow :D

+Knyght Errant Duly Shared, Noble Sir!

Exactly. That point is lost on a lot of people :)

why thank you i always thought it would be obvious after all if you are to burdened by your equipment to fight effectively your chances of being killed are going to go up significantly its simple common sense

ps i only just found your Chanel yesterday and i think you do a fantastic job keep it up

Thank you sir, I'm glad you'r enjoying it!

+IGCommissarJake Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed it, and I agree with what you've said. I think where the problem arises is when people start to take this stuff too personally, but as you said, our modern reproductions are not meant for real medieval warfare, so modern concessions aren't a statement on the value of the individual wearing it, even though some people tend to take it that way.

Thanks. In this 're-enactor' world, a lot of people go out of their way to feel like people are telling them they're not doing it 'right.' Hence the disclaimer :) Some people take great offense to factual historical information if it doesn't align with the stuff they bought, heh...

+Roran Hawkins At 7:26 I tried to quickly mention that some bascinets do exactly like you say ("Historical bascinets kind of close in ((as I gesture the closure near the chin)) or the side of the opening...") I think it just kinda got lost because I spent a lot more time talking about the types that cut back. I should have been more clear.

No criticism at all :P There's a limit to the amount of information you can put inside a single video as opposed to an essay etc. These are mighty informative already, as per the usual.

+Roran Hawkins Thank you for understanding :) I'm generally hit from both sides in that some say my videos aren't long and detailed enough to give the whole picture while others insist they are too long and boring so the balance is quite difficult to strike :)

A tight hinge and close fit are a big part of it, but there is more to it than that. On far too many helmets to ignore, not just bascinets, but other side-pivoting visored helmets as well (like sallets) the pivots are not perfectly aligned. So if you tried to put an axle between the pivots through the inside of the helmet it wouldn't line up right. It tends to put enough force on the arms of the visor to both keep it pretty securely down or up. Some have attributed this to sloppy medieval technology, but I think they've demonstrated their ability to align holes if they wanted. The phenomenon seems too widespread (to me anyway) to attribute it to sloppy craftsmanship when the benefits are a pretty darn nice feature to have on a visored helmet.

Aaaah, that's the same asymmetrical phenomenon Toby Capwell attributed to allowing visors to be wedged open. And you reckon it helps wedge them closed too. It's such a beautifully simple solution. Very good. Thanks for the swift and informed response.

When it comes down to it, they really have no reason to make a better product. The demand is there for the lower end stuff, and until it dries up they can comfortably keep doing what they're doing. I think we'd all like to see the bar raised on the low-end market and it's my hope that if we get the knowledge out there about how these objects should really look and function that people will drive that bar a little higher, but that may be wishful thinking :)

I agree with you and I have the same goal for Samurai Armor. To produce the most authentic and economical armor available. I will pass your videos along to some factory owners in India with hopes they might find inspiration to raise their own authenticity to find more satisfaction in their work, if not maybe more sales. In the meantime, keep up the great work. You are very much appreciated!

+Tyler Pulkkinen There might be a sallet sitting just off camera left waiting to get its own video :)

+Knyght Errant Hope it has a matching bevor - sallets without it are IMHO incomplete.

+Almus Quotch As you can tell by looking at any of his videos, the era he covers in his videos is (approximately) 1350-1420... So I highly doubt he ever does something about Imperial Gallic helms. And I think it's better this way; the strenght of this channel is its high level of specialization... If he would start to cover other periods, it wouldn't be as good... In my opinion.

Here's a video specific to linings if you haven't seen it yet (kzfaq.info/get/bejne/n9p_aZeLp76Vmok.html), but to answer your question the lining was generally integral to and sewn into the helmet. Bascinets tend to use a lining that is sewn directly to the helmet. Surviving bascinets have two series of holes around the bottom edge and up and around the facial opening, the lower, more numerous and smaller holes are there to stitch the lining into the helmet with the top row of holes for attaching the verveilles and ultimately the aventail. Other styles of helmets like sallets, kettle hats etc., often use a leather band riveted to the inside of the helmet to which the liner is sewn to. The modern use of a helmet with no integral lining and just a big padded cap is more of an artifact of modern re-enactment, not how these things were commonly done historically. It's nearly impossible to achieve suspension within the helmet if the liner is not attached to the helmet itself, and that's the mechanism by which your head was primarily protected.

Thank you so much! I'll definitely do some more research in order to make a more historic lining for my helmet. The suspension definitely sounds a lot safer than the unattached lining Ive seen often in the combat sport I'm getting into.

+godofimagination I have often wondered about that same fact. Although many modern makers place a cross reinforce over the front of the great helm, (perhaps to make it more "Crusader"-like?), we don't really see those until sugarloafs arrive about 1275. Helms like the Pembridge, Black Prince, or RA IV.600 have the flares around the occulars, but we don't find them on the earlier helms. It's curious that it took them so long to refine the design.

+godofimagination As we always said in the military, most safety changes, warnings and cautions are written in blood. :)

+Mart Shearer The weird thing is, cross reinforcements are older than the helmets I just mentioned.

+godofimagination That's true, but the reinforce accomplishes the same purpose with an extra layer of metal. It makes it harder for a blade to slide across the surface into the eye by creating a raised area around the occular opening.

Which is what makes me wonder why they didn't keep using it.

Thank you. Mine is 0.3% carbon steel, hardened to about 30 HRC. Made by Piotr Feret (www.platener.eu)

+Akiralisk Spring pins also existed on later helmets, but we start to play very fast and loose with history when we make assumptions that things could have existed earlier without any evidence. The whole 'absence of evidence is not evidence of absence' is usually used to justify things that suit an individual's preference rather than what historical sources tell us is likely. Like I said in the video, the last thing I want to do in a fight is try to reach back with gauntlet clad hands, let go of my weapons and try to manipulate a fine buckle when I need to get my visor up.

Hi! All of my personal armor is custom made, yes. I commissioned my pieces from Jeff Wasson here in the US ( www.wassonartistry.com ) with the exception of my bascinet which was made by Piotr Feret in Poland ( www.platener.eu ). I would highly recommend both. Most of the 'production model' companies out there do absolutely cater to the sport combat and fantasy markets like you noted. The more historical you want your armor to be, the more you're going to be funneled into going the custom route. I'm always hesitant to try and list off a bunch of reputable custom armorers because I will inevitably leave people out, but there are a number of options in Western and Central Europe depending on exactly where you are. I do fully intend to start making videos about the process of forming a living history impression very shortly though, which I hope will help the prospective 'kit builders' out there.

+Nope Probably couple of guys who bought cheap helmets, thinking they looked authentic, and now are butt-hurt;)

Love

+Kieron Gaming You don't have to correct him.

+Corbin and me haha, it is the same profile, he is just correcting his own mistake.

The armorer's name is Piotr Feret, here's his website - www.platener.eu

+ClockworkHobo It's hard to say as so few bascinets survive with their original visors (a lot of complete bascinets in museums are really mis-matched). Pivots also loosen up over time. When made new they could made pretty tight and tightened over their working life, so I don't think it would have been a tremendous problem. If someone's in a position that they can grab and lift your visor by hand, you've probably already lost the fight.

Knyght Errant Thanks for the info. You make great vids, can't wait for the next one.

+ClockworkHobo I read in a watchmaking book that even the most tightly fit pins can be pivoted, so long as they weren't pushed into a hole that gets deformed by their presence. So especially if you have the leverage of the entire visor it shouldn't be problematic, at least it makes no sense to me that a blacksmith in the middle ages would really make a contraption to force a rivot into a hole, when the solution at hand is to enlarge the hole ever so slightly.

+Ikraznek The overwhelming number of side pivoting visors (not just bascinets) have slightly mis-aligned pivots. When the visor is in the up position, the torque placed on the arms of the visor by the misalignment holds it in place pretty well. Friction will work as well, and most modern helmets do this, but it is my belief that this was not just an accident or sloppy work by medieval craftsmen, but rather an intentional way to keep the visor up (at least after the benefit was discovered).

+Knyght Errant I wished you actually showed this is the video. I found it extremely neat when I first heard about it, but is one to visualize something in your head, another thing to eaxmine and study the thing you are trying to visualize.

Philip Dyer I don't have an example to show you.

+Philip Dyer kzfaq.info/get/bejne/f66hopek3q_VdGw.htmlm35s

+JopezStags I think it's a biproduct of what you're describing. The incorrect facial opening would make it very difficult to fit a proper aventail, which would in turn make it difficult to get the visor to fit correctly without the mail getting in the way. I also think they realized the aventail is completely nonfunctional around the face for their purposes. Because of the rules of the game, they can't fight with no visor, and visors have to be locked down, so there's no need for secondary facial protection via the aventail, so they decided to not worry about it. The only problem I have is that a lot of people see these types of helmets without an understanding of how a real aventail works and it perpetuates a re-enactorism because people copy their design instead of going to the originals first.

I've thought about making a second part to this video. Visor arms and hinges are another pet peeve of mine. The real ones are very gracile compared to the overbuilt, fat modern ones that usually have the wrong number of knuckles. If I ever decide to make videos again, I'll have to address the crush space as well.

@@KnyghtErrant Yes, those are also excellent points. The biggest problem with helmet skull proportions seems to be the modern unconscious bias that assumes the helmet skull should be equidistant from the wearer's skull. Not many real helmets are like that, even the Greek ones, which often have some extra space in the top. I keep thinking of doing a short video on how 16th c. helmets with high combs, looked at head-on, are actually very well shaped to deflect pole weapon strikes, since when people are actually in formation halbardiers are limited by those around them to strikes that are very close to vertical. Otherwise, you risk entanglement! In single combat, this is less of a problem. ;-)

+Mêlées de béhourd Other than tight pivots, there were no features designed to keep the visor down.

i might explain why the great helmet was so popular finally

+No Free Will Helmets MUST conform to the shape of your head to provide protection. If they're loose they'll swing and potentially amplify the impact force. Instead of being hit by a sword you'd be hit by your own helmet. This actually applies to any kind of helmet. As a former HSE officer I'll explain this way: People in the modern world who've worn construction hats often make the mistake of thinking that a helmet doesn't need to conform to your head because the hat doesn't, but what you're actually wearing in the case of a construction hat is the framework of high-tensile-strength straps hugging your head. The hardened hat portion is actually a separate elevated shield placed away from your skull. That's why it's important to always always always adjust the strapwork! Ian might have created a misconception by making the contrast with SCA padded helmets. The padding in SCA helmets is intended to distribute impact force over a wider area, much like the padding in motorcycle helmets. What should be understood here is that proper SCA helmets must conform to the wearer''s head. The outer shape will not conform due to the padding and other safety features, but the helmet + padding should conform and hug your head when you wear it. Otherwise the helmet will not function. In short, the part of the helmet you wear must conform as close as possible to your head to provide protection. In historical combat helmets this would be the helmet itself. In construction hats this would be the strapworks, and in SCA helmets - like motorcycle helmets - you're actually wearing the padding.

+No Free Will One advantage of having a helmet that conforms to the shape of the head well is that the helmet exerts less force onto the head when it is struck. This is because more of the helmet directly touches the head and therefore distributes the energy of a blow more evenly.

+No Free Will What do you mean by the 'chain design' ?

Knyght Errant Oh, I was referring to 'the use of a chain to secure the visor'.

The only methods I talked about in the video for modernly securing a bascinet visor are a leather strap and spring pins. If you're talking about the chains that you see on my personal visor, those are just there so that you don't lose the pins that hold the visor *on* they don't do anything to keep the visor down. The chains on my visor are used on originals.

Not the types of errors we see in modern armor reproductions. A lot of the 'errors' observed in modern armors are the result of optimization for distinctly modern activities or a lack of understanding of historical shape, function and aesthetic (sometimes a combination of those things). For example, the massively oversized modern bascinets, usually overly rounded and missing the subtlety of shape to them are the result of the need for overbuilt helmets with copious amounts of padding made exclusively for modern full contact combat sports. They are an artifact of that modern activity, not a reflection of lower end armors in history. 'Low quality' armors in the historical sense are a very different thing than what we think of as 'low quality' in a modern reproduction. Low quality today usually translates to a missed attempt to imitate a high end object, not a purpose-built low-end object which still requires a skilled craftsmen to produce. This is a video topic I have near the top of my priority list because I think it's a very important concept to get across.

Thank you for the reply! Can't wait for the video.

+Sean Brindley The leather strip at the top of the mail collar is just an leather edging for the collar itself (kzfaq.info/get/bejne/g9h2qqxlyqzMlmQ.htmlm5s) There is also a chin strap hanging down from the sides of my kettle hat in that image, but the strap is not fastened. The link I put in here is my 'throat' defense video, and you see the collar pretty clearly there. Let me know if that helps.