Modifying the helmet - inside proportions

[Virilis]

Howdy rangers, this is for the "narrow-minded" for us :wink: !

When I began collecting my helmets I found from the start that off-the-shelf helmets were usually too wide for me (Deepeeka etc.). I have a head with a size of 15,5 x 21 cm. Since then it has always been a question of the bowl-sizes. I have been "squashing" the helmets ever since but unfortunately there is only so much you can attain with this method and it also usually deforms the bowl in a bad way too. Now I have settled to another solution and by that I mean drastically moving the cheekpieces nearer to my face. I have been bending the hinges of the bowl inwards (gently hammering) and also bending the hinges of the cheekpieces themselves inwards. Of course it is better to remove the cheekpieces for the duration of that operation but it is also possible to do without removing them. Almost all the Deepeeka roman helmets have cheekpieces attached in a way that they are not in a continuos line with the bowl, they are pending outside of the bowl and in this way making the bowl seem even more bulbous. Bending them inwards in my opinion makes them look much much better with a little effort.

Here is my new Armamentaria "Brigetio" helmet and I did bend the cheekspieces of that helmet (you can see "before and after" on the pic attached) and in my opinion it looks much better and best of all it feels much better and secure on my head too. Way too often I see helmets where the wearer could put sausages inside the bowl near their temples :wink: ! In fact the wide bowl feels good properly padded if you have good supporting cheekpieces to go with it. What do you think?

[Gaius Julius Caesar]

Cheek pieces look to fit better in the right hand picture. I hope that is the after shot?

[Virilis]

Cheek pieces look to fit better in the right hand picture. I hope that is the after shot?

No it isn`t :wink: ! The better fitting picture is the left one (the cheekpieces are not fastened so thight in that one and I don`t have the cap under the helmet as I should). The helmet just "sits" much solidly & comfortably in my head in this way...

[PhilusEstilius]

That does tend to pull in the cheek plates a bit better all you need now is to fit one of these toggles to the straps and it will pull in the bottom of the plates very well.

http://www.northumberland-computers.com/sextima/tog.jpg

This is the piece of wood that was inside of the Helmet bowl of the Gallic D when it came out of the Rhine at Weisenau, all you need is a piece from the end of a broom shank drill it out to a diameter where the 2 leather straps are just a tight fit in the hole.
With knots tied at the ends of the straps it cannot fall off or you can fit deer antler tips as I've done here, what you find is that with the cheekplates in the relaxed position you simply push up to toggle and your done up without having to fumble to do up the straps.

[Virilis]

That does tend to pull in the cheek plates a bit better all you need now is to fit one of these toggles to the straps and it will pull in the bottom of the plates very well.

http://www.northumberland-computers.com/sextima/tog.jpg

This is the piece of wood that was inside of the Helmet bowl of the Gallic D when it came out of the Rhine at Weisenau, all you need is a piece from the end of a broom shank drill it out to a diameter where the 2 leather straps are just a tight fit in the hole.
With knots tied at the ends of the straps it cannot fall off or you can fit deer antler tips as I've done here, what you find is that with the cheekplates in the relaxed position you simply push up to toggle and your done up without having to fumble to do up the straps.

Thanks Brian, very elegant and simple solution, never heard of it before !

[PhilusEstilius]

The truncated cone shaped piece of wood that I show has a brass band applied to the base, on the original there was this step back of the wood at it's base therefore it gives reason to believe that a metal band had been there at some time.

This would of course make sense for constant sliding up of this cone and pressure from the straps after a while could cause the wood grain to split, however with this metal band it gives extra strength against the side pull of the two straps when pushed right up under the chin and believe me this is where it sits and is indeed very comfortable.

I think this type of fastener just pushed up is ok for ordinary every day use, but then in a battle situation one would take the two strap ends and simply cross them and pull and this way it's locked and the cone will not come down.

[Doc]

Jyrki,

What Brian says is correct. I own the Gallic D he made and those attachments he posted are from my helmet. They work great. The helmet is on and off quick and once the toggle is all the way up, the cheekpieces fit snug against your face and the helmet does not move.

[Gaius Julius Caesar]

Jyrki,

Do you have any padding inside your cheek guards? This usually helps to give them a tight fit to the face,
while also removing the gap.

[Doc]

Byron is correct. I added padding to the cheek guards and it does also help along with that toggle.

[Matt Lukes]

I've tried that too Jyrki- slightly altering the position of the upper portion of the cheekguard hinges to account for a non-human head shaped helmet bowl- and with padding in the cheekguards (not much, but a little) it worked well indeed.

That slide is a really neat thing- I'd have never guessed the Romans used something like that on a helmet (or at all really LOL); certainly it's a whole lot more efficient than having to tie the thong constantly and dealing with knots that become difficult to undo.

[Virilis]

Yes, of course I have tried padding on the cheekpieces ! The thing is, anyway, that I would like the cheekpieces to follow evenly the line of my cheeks, starting from my temples. Putting the hinges of the cheekpieces nearer to my face helps the helmet fit my head much much better...

[Gaius Julius Caesar]

OK. Just from my own perspective though, it appears the helmet fits better in the small inset on the right.....
In fact it looks to be the perfect fit in that picture. But, pictures can be deceiving.....I am still trying to convince people it is padding under my hamata.... :evil:

[richsc]

I prefer the Mythbusters method of helmet expansion, though maybe not historically correct. An M-80 is a lot faster than a series of cherry bombs on depeeka steel helmets, but rip the brass ones apart. They might be a bit lumpy after the explosion, but you can see how to correct that on the Legio XX website: Matt has an entire series of photos taken before the Laurel police arrested him.

Note of caution: if it's your first time practice on some trooper helms.