How to tie a Roman Helmet?

[Gaius Colletti]

Once again, thanks guys. I should have asked this earlier, but never thought about it. The inside of my helmet is painted black. From what amateur research I have done on armor replica's, I understand this is to prevent rust on the inside. Is this correct? Do I need to ever oil the underside of the helmet, or will the "black paint" be all I need?

[Magnus]

The black paint simulates the blackened, forged inner surface. Shouldn't need to oil it...I'd keep it clean and watch for any chips in the paint, then re-paint it where necessary.

[A_Volpe]

An alternative I've been trying out for the cheek-guard pads/liners:

I cut out a piece of leather about the same shape as the cheek guard, and a little smaller. I punched two holes on the corners on the "top" and one on the "bottom", near where it will be close to the brass chinstrap rings.

I then took a piece of string (could also be thin leather, waxed linen thread, et cetera), and tied a loop, so that the thread goes around the top edge of the guard, where the hinge is; and tied the bottom point to the chinstrap ring at the bottom of the cheek guard, threading it inside the ring-holder-loop.

The leather pads do "float" and kinda flop around, but they've stayed in my helmet for about a year now, I think I've had to replace one of the threads once when the hinge pinched and cut the thread. (which is the only downside to this method I think)

I'm trying this because I got sick and tired of the pads falling out when the glue didn't stick, got dried up in colder weather and flaked off, or, melting off in the heat and leaving a sticky, stinky mess. I also switched to leather as the linen pads I sewed and glued in there very quickly became soiled and nasty. The leather doesn't seem to have gotten as bad.

You'll want to check out Graham Sumner's newest books on Roman Military Clothing (Osprey) and Roman Military Dress (The History Press) - the latter has some nice reconstruction art of hats and what can easily be thought of as 'helmet liners' that were found in Egypt. They appear to be made, as Matt Amt suggests, from chopped-up wool scraps, and in a variety of clashing colors! 8-) I hope to make one or two of these hats this year, and replace the wool stocking cap I've been using forever.

Sumner's books are invaluable references to help you make your own clothing for your kit; and Matt's Leg XX page is indispensable reference for just about everything.

I think that once you acquire a good repro Roman helmet, you'll be amazed you allowed yourself to suffer with a Trooper the whole time ;D Although one of our members in Leg. III Cyr. managed to heavily modify and re-work a Trooper he had into a pretty decent piece, although it helps to have blacksmithing and metalworking experience to really get into that; and another member [almost literally] banged around a Trooper to use as a Cornicern/Signifer helmet to hold the animal pelt (as the tell-tale Trooper bits were hidden by the pelt!)

Good luck with your developing kit!

[M. Demetrius]

What's the latest thinking on what kind of surface oil the Romans used? Olive oil, on metal, seems to yellow and get sticky, at least in Texas. They probably had neatsfoot (calf ankle oil) and of course pig fat, as well as beeswax. I've used wax on metal with mediocre success.

What say you all?

and thanks for the correction on the mineral oil. I still stand by the one part, though: no WD 40 for backrubs. 8)

[Paullus Scipio]

Lanolin ( from wool) in liquid/spray form, or as a paste works well for me, and solved a rust problem I had - living beside the sea, it used to recur with everything else I had previously tried.

It works exceptionally well, and must have been readily available 2,000 and more years ago....just as it is now in most hardware stores ( at least here in Godzone...as in "God's own country) :wink:

[Gaius Colletti]

I used the mineral oil (too much I think), and the other day I wiped the excess off. The helmet still has a slick feel to it, probably just the right about to keep it from rusting.

Going back to olive oil, I have a sizable collection of Roman coins that I got about 2 years ago. On some of the coins that were already bad, I experimented with olive oil to clean them as some sites suggested, all the coins went from a sandy tan color, to nearly black, (I guess it is common when cleaning ancient coins with olive oil, at least the bronze ones). I drained the olive oil, and tucked the coins away where I found them yesterday. The olive oil remnant on the coins, which was never wiped off, had become green but was still slick.

I don't know what olive oil would do to steel and brass, but given a second thought about the coins, I wouldn't try. And olive oil has a distinct smell to it, that hadn't left after two years, so I'm not going to try (on the plus side it wasn't that hard to remove, and didn't go rancid)

[Paullus Scipio]

Matt C. H. wrote:-

My bigggest concern is that while I am moving my head around, that the helmet stays in place, which for the most part it does. However is it possible to keep the helmet stable while say looking at the ground. I use a cut up, and folded up shirt as arming cap, but is there anything else I can do to make the helmet more stable while I am moving around?

Matt A. wrote:-

Generally there is a ring or pair of rings under the neckguard, in the middle, and the chin ties hang from that. Bring them forward alongside the neck, cross them under your chin, and stick them through the loops on the cheekpieces, then tie under the chin. Very stable.

I expect by now you have discovered that this method, when combined with a separate padded skull cap ( which seems to have been one of the most popular 'helmet linings' in all ancient and mediaeval times) provides a secure helmet fastening, so that even sword-blows won't dislodge it - which is as it should be.mile:

Since I live in a hot climate ( similar to the mediterranean), I also line my cheekpieces with felt liners( there is Roman evidence for this) glued in. In my case it prevents sun-heated cheekpieces from burning one's cheeks but also works against freezing cold cheek-pieces! If lightly glued, they can be removed and changed/replaced from time to time.

The scotch-brite scrubbers mentioned previously, sometimes augmented by fine steel wool for the crevices, and a coating of Lanolin ( see previous post - BTW, it has none of the problems - smell, stickiness etc - of other oils....) are all that is required for maintenance, even near the sea.......

[Gaius Colletti]

Thanks Scipio, I have already gotten a skull cap, which makes a world of a difference, especially since the trooper helmets are all about 26.9" really helps.

I am already, as Matt Amt predicted, looking into a more accurate helmet. Besides the spade shaped neckguard, "eye brows" on the helmet that meet in the center, a movable and too high mounted visor, as well as too large neck ridges, is there anything else that I should look into before checking out other helmets to tell the difference between a good helmet and another piece of junk?

[Magnus]

If you stick to reputable sellers, you'll be fine. Soul of the Warrior will take care of you and won't sell you junk, as well a few others both in N. America and UK/EU.

Just study the image base here, get an eye for how the actual helmets were made, and can start picking up what a fake looks like.

[Matthew Amt]

There's also a list of Legio XX-Acceptable helmets at the bottom of our Helmets page:

http://www.larp.com/legioxx/helmets.html

Matthew