Wearing Late Roman Helmets

[Salvianus]

Salvete.

I'm on the lookout for a helmet to suit my 4th-5th century milites infantry impression and wondered if anyone could advise about any differences in the way they actually feel to wear.

I like the well protected look of reconstructed 'Burgh Castle' types, with large cheek pieces & nasal . It being found here in Blighty is an authenticity advantage too. However, I'm not the strongest man on Earth and overheat easily, so I would be interested if anyone felt that the lighter looking Intercisa / Augst types were particularly more comfortable.

I also wondered whether ear holes made much difference & whether hinged cheek pieces made much noise, for example compared to strap attachments (my problem is sensitive hearing - what a wreck!).

Cheers

[Arthes]

Greetings Salvian,
hinged or not, cheek flaps can clank and squeak and rattle, let alone slap you in the face at the most inappropriate moments .....but I still love them..... :lol:
Wearing the Germanic/Eomer style cavalry helm most of last year and having some hearing problems, there were a few embarrasing incidents :oops: , having ear holes does make a difference, in the helm I mean :roll: I personally found the Intercissa a little uncomfortable when trying one on and am not too keen on the style, much preferring to look like Eomer unsaddled.....however,
I am sure others will totally disagree with that...... :lol:
regards
Arthes

[FAVENTIANVS]

I wear the earholeless burgh castle type and it's quite confortable after few adjustments as lifting up the neck guard and folding it upwards.
I also had to bend the nasal outwards...
But have some listening problems and my ears bend down when I put it on... :? But I still love it!

[Robert Vermaat]

I would be interested if anyone felt that the lighter looking Intercisa / Augst types were particularly more comfortable.

I wear an Intercisa IV with earholes and I think it's very comfortable!

Indeed, i find the more enclosed helmets much hotter, not to mention pressing on the nose and eyelids. Of course they look better...

[Viventius]

Ste, as you might know, I've got a large Intercisa! Just showing off :lol: But my Intercisa is pretty big, so I have to wear a lot of padding under it to make it fit OK. This may mean that the neck-guard and cheekpieces jiggle around more than the comfy looking thing worn in the post above (lucky beggar!).

The neckguard certainly does clank on mine. The cheekguards are not quite so bad. But get a well fitting one. I can hear OK, but my hearing is not a problem, even when the padding comes perilously close to covering my ears. As I said, get one that fits proper, and you'll be happier all round :evil:

You will get hot, and will be dying to strip the helm off after displays. Since you're a bloke you'll be able to take it off as soon as it ends; us girlies have to wait and find a quiet spot ... If you're going for mail as well, and already have heat problems, just make sure you're very well hydrated indeed! Have you invested in a water bottle? People always share, but the more the merrier.

Dunno what it is, but I have bought two helmets (a Viking nasal helm and this one) and didn't get much choice of size - they must see me coming ... :roll:

[Salvianus]

Thanks for the replies, folks. I guess that ease of communication must have been worth the extra vulnerability of the earholes.

hinged or not, cheek flaps can clank and squeak and rattle, let alone slap you in the face at the most inappropriate moments .....but I still love them.....

I'm starting to realise re-enactment is a labour of love

I supose that in an historical unit there'd be plenty of different sized blokes to swap helmets with until everybody had a good fit, even if they didn't have a blacksmith on staff customising everything to perfection. Isn't it frustrating that we're not sure whether a unit would have a mix of styles!

Robert, you do look particularly comfy in your Intercisa IV - does that crest make it unstable at all, or does it just encourage good posture?

[Robert Vermaat]

Robert, you do look particularly comfy in your Intercisa IV - does that crest make it unstable at all, or does it just encourage good posture?

You don't feel the crest in any way. Only when I bend over I sometimes hit a wall with it, or a doorpost.. :lol:

[Salvianus]

Only when I bend over I sometimes hit a wall with it

Ever tempted to charge a formation? I bet they'd scatter pretty quick!

On a more serious note, am I right in thinking that the original artefact lacked guards? The reconstruction looks very natural.

[Robert Vermaat]

am I right in thinking that the original artefact lacked guards? The reconstruction looks very natural.

No, there were guards there, but since this type was reconstructed out of a mass of parts from 40 different helmets, we can't be absolutely sure they belonged to that bowl.