The Helm is HERE!
The folks from whom I ordered my jousting helm said that it would ship in 4-5 weeks... 10 weeks to the day, I received it. Huurm. The good news is that that day was Monday of this week, Dec 1. Woot!
My first reaction was -- holy heck, this thing is HEAVY. They are listed at 8 pounds. And that is with 16 gauge steel. In fact, the equestrians are only required to have helmets of 18 gauge -- however this particular manufacturer doesn't deal in 18 gauge at all, 16 gauge being the standard for heavy (sword) fighters. A number of folks warned me that the extra, unnecessary weight would be a burden. But in fact, searching for a helm I saw very few who did offer an 18 gauge option, and the guy I went with said the difference would only be about 8 oz. AND, those with more flexibility were all MUCH more expensive.
I chose mine as it was really affordable -- less than $100 total. I saw helms all the way up to $750 - so I figured this was a steal. And I think it's pretty attractive, actually.
The helms come bare bones - no padding or straps. Just a metal shell, literally. While I was shopping around, I noticed a riding helmet Ginger had brought up to the house that needed repair - the decorative plastic shell had come off. What a perfect insert into a helm, I thought! So I sent the dimentions to the manufacuterer and he said it ought to fit.
Of course it needed some shaping to fit well - so out came the dremel tool. We shaved away 2 sections of the plastic sheeting, and a little bit of the foam to alieviate areas where it rubbed. Really - very little modification was needed. 4 or 5 iterations of this and it was slipping, with pressure, all the way to the top of the helm!
I love the slip-fit nature of this arrangement... Theoretically we could possibly swap out different riding helmets to fit different riders... Would have to try that in practice to see if that is actually true. Also I suspect we still need to do some additional padding - particularly at the back of the neck as when you look up the back of the helm hits the top of your back/spine. I plan on taking it to one of our armour experts in the barrony to get his suggestions.
And, it turns out that once you have the thing actually strapped to your head, as opposed to just wobbling there, the weight is much more manageable. Never the less, wearing 8# of steel on my head is... something I'm going to have to get used to. Wonder if my personal trainer has any neck strengthing exercises. LMAO!
My first reaction was -- holy heck, this thing is HEAVY. They are listed at 8 pounds. And that is with 16 gauge steel. In fact, the equestrians are only required to have helmets of 18 gauge -- however this particular manufacturer doesn't deal in 18 gauge at all, 16 gauge being the standard for heavy (sword) fighters. A number of folks warned me that the extra, unnecessary weight would be a burden. But in fact, searching for a helm I saw very few who did offer an 18 gauge option, and the guy I went with said the difference would only be about 8 oz. AND, those with more flexibility were all MUCH more expensive.
I chose mine as it was really affordable -- less than $100 total. I saw helms all the way up to $750 - so I figured this was a steal. And I think it's pretty attractive, actually.
The helms come bare bones - no padding or straps. Just a metal shell, literally. While I was shopping around, I noticed a riding helmet Ginger had brought up to the house that needed repair - the decorative plastic shell had come off. What a perfect insert into a helm, I thought! So I sent the dimentions to the manufacuterer and he said it ought to fit.
Of course it needed some shaping to fit well - so out came the dremel tool. We shaved away 2 sections of the plastic sheeting, and a little bit of the foam to alieviate areas where it rubbed. Really - very little modification was needed. 4 or 5 iterations of this and it was slipping, with pressure, all the way to the top of the helm!
I love the slip-fit nature of this arrangement... Theoretically we could possibly swap out different riding helmets to fit different riders... Would have to try that in practice to see if that is actually true. Also I suspect we still need to do some additional padding - particularly at the back of the neck as when you look up the back of the helm hits the top of your back/spine. I plan on taking it to one of our armour experts in the barrony to get his suggestions.
And, it turns out that once you have the thing actually strapped to your head, as opposed to just wobbling there, the weight is much more manageable. Never the less, wearing 8# of steel on my head is... something I'm going to have to get used to. Wonder if my personal trainer has any neck strengthing exercises. LMAO!
Labels: SCA
posted by Monica |
7:13 AM
3 Comments:
Scary! Guess you're all set for next Halloween too!
So what's next chain maille? I knew some people in college that made their own shirts from thousands of little rings.
Ha! Actually I don't really know where we are going to go as far as body armour -- For the crusades, for example, chain mail was very popular as it's easier to transport. But my persona isn't going on a crusade. So plate armour, and even leather armour is a possiblity. That's the NEXT research project. ;-D
OMG!!
YOu look FIERCE !
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