12-05-2008, 09:30 AM
Ave,
Just thought I would jump in on this one. Wearing a helmet without a padded cap underneath can be dangerous to your health,... as any blow to the helmet is transferred to your skull. The helmet would have saved you from the cutting effects of the blow but the shock force of the blow might put you out of action. Our Roman troops understood this simple fact. So what did the cap look like? At this point pretty much open to creative speculation. However, the size and shape are pretty much dictated by the helmet. Materials also offer options, leather, with padding, wool with padding, linen with padding or maybe a sheepskin glued or otherwise fastened inside the helmet. I believe that in the Netherlands some helmets were found with some organic material inside, but hard to say exactly what it was.
Other than decaying over the millenia, I have found that any military item that has any possible civilian use tends to be used up and practically disappears. As an example from much later periods,... the lack of pristine period military footwear. I would think that the the arming cap / helmet suspension fell into a similar category. Sort of a " Hey, Publius, neat cap , is it warm? " Sure is, I had one when I was with the Legion in Germany'.
Regards from the Balkans, Arminius Primus aka Al
Just thought I would jump in on this one. Wearing a helmet without a padded cap underneath can be dangerous to your health,... as any blow to the helmet is transferred to your skull. The helmet would have saved you from the cutting effects of the blow but the shock force of the blow might put you out of action. Our Roman troops understood this simple fact. So what did the cap look like? At this point pretty much open to creative speculation. However, the size and shape are pretty much dictated by the helmet. Materials also offer options, leather, with padding, wool with padding, linen with padding or maybe a sheepskin glued or otherwise fastened inside the helmet. I believe that in the Netherlands some helmets were found with some organic material inside, but hard to say exactly what it was.
Other than decaying over the millenia, I have found that any military item that has any possible civilian use tends to be used up and practically disappears. As an example from much later periods,... the lack of pristine period military footwear. I would think that the the arming cap / helmet suspension fell into a similar category. Sort of a " Hey, Publius, neat cap , is it warm? " Sure is, I had one when I was with the Legion in Germany'.
Regards from the Balkans, Arminius Primus aka Al
ARMINIVS PRIMVS
MACEDONICA PRIMA
aka ( Al Fuerst)
FESTINA LENTE
MACEDONICA PRIMA
aka ( Al Fuerst)
FESTINA LENTE
