Helmet modifications

[Crispvs]

Carrying the helmet on the march by tying the ends together and passing the resultant loop around one's neck is all very well, but it means that the helmet rests against the centre of the chest, which is not where it is shown on Trajan's column or the Mainz column bases (the only contemporary depictions I am aware of of helmets being carried slung). In both instances, helmets rest against the shoulder of the sword arm. As using the chin-tie to secure the helmet here would be difficult with mail and could easily end up damaging segmentata, I would suggest that the carrying handle found on helmets dating to the mid-first century on would have been used to attach the helmet to some sort of carrying point on the armour such as a hook, which has not yet been identified in the archaeological record.<br>
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Crispvs <p></p><i></i>