More about bascinet helmets and how medieval helmets protect

[@KnyghtErrant]

There is only one source I'm aware of that mentions anything like a chin strap for a bascinet. It's mentioned in the specific context of a tournament, and it describes a man who chose to use what was essentially a 'break-away' thong to secure his helmet hoping that it would knock his helmet off presumably to reduce his risk of unhorsing in the lyst. It's buried in Froissairt - "It was then the usage (or at least, it seemed to me that it was) that one laced on their bascinet with a mere thong (une seule laniere), so that the point of the lance wouldn't set itself." Whether it applies to anything outside of that tournament, who knows, but it's kind of a cool reference. Personally, I don't see chin-straps as necessary on bascinets intended for war for all the reasons you mention.

[@scholagladiatoria]

Thanks Ian, good to have your say on this specific point. I've never seen anything looking like a strap in all the manuscript images which sometimes show the inside of these things. Though I suppose I should have mentioned the straps sometimes shown at the back of the aventail.

[@kahunab7400]

i think about the mass that it's also important that the center of gravity for this type of helmet is lower due to the attached maille.

[@JackJonValois]

There was a wenzel bascinet at a museum I went to with a chin strap I think that was part of the higgins collection, the helmet had some weird features on it especially with the aventail lining just being fixed in with metal.

[@TheOhgodineedaname]

I like this passage referring to the battle of Agincourt: ‘The Duke of York was also lost, For his king, no foot would he flee Til his bascinet to his brain was bent.’ Indicates his helmet absorbed shocks well enough that the only died when it crumpled into his brain.

[@RobanyBigjobz]

The crucial thing in brain injuries is the peak acceleration experienced by the brain. The large mass of the helmet makes it slower to accelerate than a lighter helmet which in turn reduces the acceleration experienced by your skull and thus your brain. The floating padding does a similar thing but in a different way. Because the padding is attached to the helmet but not rigidly it starts to move your head as soon as the helmet moves but the acceleration is lower. This is down to the give in the padding and the slight stretch in the the suspension. The total energy to be dissipated is the same but by spreading that over a larger time, the peak force is reduced and thus the peak acceleration is reduced. A similar idea applies with modern cycle helmets and even airbags, spread the acceleration out over time to reduce the peak acceleration.

[@DrSmokeTrees]

The main thing that causes more brain injuries in Boxing is the Gloves. Boxing Gloves protect your hands, so you can hit people in the head much harder than you can, that if you were bare-knuckle fighting. This causes the fighters to take far more hits to the head than they would otherwise. Bare-Knuckle Boxing *looks worse* because the hits break skin easier, fighters are more likely to get "cut" and look bad by the end of the fight, *but* they're far less likely to get a concussion, because if you hit someone full power, with a bare fist, and hit them in the hard part of the head, you'll break your hand. If you connect with the same punch, wearing a glove, you'll be fine, but the other guy's brain will be concussed.

[@scholagladiatoria]

Yep, agreed with all that - plus, the gloves add mass to the fists, which increases impact energy.

[@McFasty3924]

Indeed, i boxed at super heavyweight and the mechanical advantage of basically wrapping tape around the wrist and hand until it is like one single piece of concrete - and then adding padding to it is just crazy. You can pretty much punch an oak tree non stop full force. I used to hate wearing headgear because if you get hit on the headgear itself there is more momentum for the twisting force (centripetal?) that acts on the neck. On a related note, do you know much about the great gauntlet's use as an offhand weapon? It's something i'm looking into for the HEMA highland broadsword club i go to. Cheers!

[@andybaxter4442]

9:42 he made himself nervous about getting hit in the head by a pole axe unexpectedly. Smart thinking, mate, keep the helmet on, you never know when it is coming.

[@eidechsentyp1236]

Andy Baxter No one ever sees the suprise poleaxe coming!

[@bolttracks]

Thanks so much for actually speaking with the helmet on. This is a super handy reference video for sound designers like me who might be trying to decide whether a helmet should drastically change how a character's voice should sound in-game :)

[@hemaccabe4292]

Never thought about shock absorption. Very interesting. Thank-you.

[@Ultramasterjedi]

Ah the Houndskull Bascinet, or as I like to call it, the Phineas helmet

[@MrVvulf]

Modern safety helmets (those worn on construction sites), use a suspension system much like in your medieval helmet. Military helmets also still use suspension straps inside the helmet.

[@flintlocke1001]

I find it interesting that the concept of a "floating" helmet was conceived so long ago and is still in common usage today. I believe I saw a system of a cradle on a sallet that is remarkably similar to the German helmets of WWI and then copied by US helmet designers of WWII. Best part, I find, is how the Great Bascinet utilizes an inner bascinet as a liner much like the US M1 helmet used a separate inner liner that contains the suspension system and had a the actual armor seated on top of it.

[@Maedelrosen]

wearing my bascinet whilst playing my clarinet, throwing a fishing net catching a trout that's wet, plowing this girl Annette, afterward saying "well met"

[@deektedrgg]

You should look up some Roman graffiti or medieval dirty rhymes man. Nothing ever changes, everything always stays the same. Especially humour.

[@sharpie443]

It's a lot like a steel shooting target. A stationary target is more likely to be damaged, penetrated, or ricochet a round. One that swing dissipates the majority of the energy with movement. You can use a thinner steel target if the target can move.

[@XanderCottrell]

modern military helmets are designed with a sort of floating cradle padding aswell :)

[@scholagladiatoria]

Yep :-)

[@XanderCottrell]

thats really cool that, that sort of thing was implemented so early.

[@gso619]

Literal centuries of RnD went into making good armor. Since having a good helmet's literally a matter of life and death, it makes sense that smiths would constantly be experimenting and improving their designs, so they can boast that THEIR helmet is the best and most protective and rake in all the money.

[@Chasmodius]

As are some new bicycle helmets, though they are using a very thin floating outer layer where (I think) rubber bands are taking a great deal of that energy transfer, rather than mass.

[@xToddmcx]

American football helmets don't float, they're held tight to the head with foam padding attached directly to the plastic. And there are major problems with short and long term brain injuries in that sport.

[@FlubbersQuid]

When it comes to headgear used in martial arts training like boxing as mentioned the main focus of the item is to protect from common injury. Examples of these are cuts, bruising and to some extent the gear also helps reduce swelling since a typical boxers glove for instance is too large to pass the padding of the headgear. If we would take a practical example for comparison to a bascinet I would consider a full faced motorcycle helmet since it's job is very similar to that of the medieval helmet. And also here a well fitted helmet will move some on impact during the impact. A motorcycle helmet however is designed to be lightweight and to absorb as much of the initial force of the impact as possible. Thanks to using composite materials and different folds, thicknesses and softness of material it's possible for such a helmet to absorb quite a high degree of force to lessen head injury. This works one once however and after a crash such a helmet should be replaced or it's protection will be compromised. As for a war helmet like the bascinet repeated assaults to the head would be common hence the outer shell needed to be durable and hard to withstand the abuse. Having a looser fitted helmet was certainly a good way to reduce the force from impact. Theoretically if the helmet could be as hard on the outside while having a progressively stiffening padding inside it would both stay more firmly on your head and offer better protection, of course something like that was not present until resent years. Simply it's easy to conclude that the design of these helmet was sound and functional indeed.

[@kampar82]

The spectrum of bare fisted hit on cranium is suboptimal for energy transfer. The half sine form of the padding in gloves increases the chance of being knocked out greatly.

[@Jack2Japan]

Very good presentation. Interesting topic.

[@metatronyt]

Beautiful helmet, my I ask where you got it from?

[@0clock275]

Metatron no reply :(

[@revolverocelot6334]

Mortenick Whaaat, I am really sad

[@YLS8763]

Hey, Metatron! I’m from two years into the future. Love your vids!

[@darkmattergamesofficial]

I'd like to know too!

[@joegillian314]

Very interesting point about padded helmets in boxing. I have heard that boxing gloves also, ironically, make the sport more dangerous because they allow a person to throw punches to the head that might result in a broken hand otherwise (for example: a strong hook-punch to the side [temple] of the head could break the hand of the one making the punch, and the top of the skull is very hard as well, of course).

[@kamilszadkowski8864]

3:51 We sometimes need those chin straps now for reenactment purposes, since we had many nasty accidents involving bascinets falling off someone's head. Especially during grappling. It most likely wasn't a problem back in a day (especially that most users of such type of helmet would fought on horse back). But it's certainly a problem now. Well, in HMB using chin strap can be dangerous (because of reasons you mentioned), but for normal reenactment I would advise every novice to have a chin strap, even if it's not historically accurate.

[@JustGrowingUp84]

Maybe they're too large? I remember that a few videos ago Skallagrim presented some helmets and they were waaay too large. From what I've seen, this type of helmet should be molded to the user's measurements. Of course, not everybody who does reenactment can afford that, so they might end up with some stock, "off the shelf" helmets that don't perfectly fit their heads...

[@kamilszadkowski8864]

TheFilthyCasual I speak about reenactors not LARPers. Most helmets that Skallagrim received certainly were far from being historically accurate. All of our stuff (for reenactors) is custom made. Especially if you take part in battles reanacments or bohurts. As I said it mostly happens during grappling (it's easy to take off someone's helmet by accident) or when someone suddenly bend over (as a result of tripping / losing balance for example).

[@JustGrowingUp84]

Kamil Szadkowski Aha, sorry, my bad, I misunderstood. I was thinking that regular blows from weapons were knocking the helmets down - which seemed very weird to me. Thank you for clearing things up.

[@gamer85p]

I really wish the aventail on my bascinet had the stitched on padding! Mines a separate padded collar that sits underneath

[@BlueLobster92]

trying to find a mantle to stitch to my aventail before i mount it on my bascinet currently. it makes alot less noise with padding but makes it heavier and hotter to wear

[@caman5]

I don't think a GoPro will work for the 1st person helmet view. Another small camera might, depending on how it handles various lighting conditions. I don't believe the GoPro has manual focus options, so likely you'll just end up with a dark, ill-focused view of the inside of the visor with a washed out light emanating from the eye slits. I could be wrong, though. Technology is funny like that.

[@extrasmack]

Great explanations! More like these please.

[@andy4an]

as an engineer, I usually have issue with physics related things you say, but I'm impressed with your presentation of the layman's physics in this case. As a nitpick, I don't really like the word "absorbs", because that implies that the force went away. What is really happening is that greater mass takes more force to accelerate, so greater mass for a given force causes less acceleration of the helmet, and less acceleration of your head, and less acceleration of your brain inside your skull.

[@thedamnyankee1]

+scholagladiatoria already has a Grail. It is very nice.

[@ImZyker]

greetings from greece, i'm glad i saw this video 'cause unrelated to helmets i learned that there is a hema scene here by reading your t-shirt lol

[@JanetStarChild]

That helmet has a very friendly face for a warrior.

[@JonSnowize]

At seeing the thumbnail, I could only hear at first the faint echoes of a cry, but it grew and grew, louder in my head, until I could clearly understand the words, words meaning death, words which said EASTON RAGE.

[@nellyboy86.02]

I'd love to see matt do a video on gentleman dueling.... Lindybeige would also be great to hear his opinions as well for the historical accuracy etc and his general style of broadcasting but I feel matt has more experience with actually fighting and can tell us what really works and not just what the books tell us, love both of your vids in general, would be great to see more footage of you fighting in the competitions matt really admire your fencing skills.....also wonderd how much does "sport fencing" with foils actually translate to fighting with an actual sword, like just because someone's a great fencer in the Olympics etc does this automatically mean they would be excellent with most other blades? Anyway love your work, keep it up and peace :)

[@JosefGustovc]

Matt, there are records of bascinets having a chinstrap. Can't come up with the specific source, but you can ask Mart Shearer over the facebook group. It's late XIVth century, 1380ish.

[@scholagladiatoria]

Interesting thanks. If there are some examples, I think we can still say that most bascinets did not have them.

[@JosefGustovc]

Well, probably yes. Thing is that we only have one surviving liner and very few depictions of the inside of bascinets. So lot of room for chinstraps. Then again, I think it was down to personal preference. Some might have found it uncomfortable, others necessary.

[@PJDAltamirus0425]

So the padding in this sorta isn't for spring compressing surface, but more of something to keep the rivets and inside of the helmet from colliding with your head in a particularly hard hit and to adsorb sweat, preventing inside of helmet rust?

[@secularnevrosis]

Taking the residual force of the blow, make it comfortable and absorbing sweat..preventing it to run into your eyes. Helmets and armour needs cleaning after any kind of prolonged exertion.

[@get953]

Amateur boxers don't wear headgear anymore, as studies found they cause the wearer to suffer brain injuries more often than people who don't

[@scholagladiatoria]

Well, there you go. So I wasn't talking rubbish. :-)

[@RobKinneySouthpaw]

It is hard to tell how much of that is the helmet, and how much of that is sparring partners who don't hold back on head shots because they trust the helmet too much.

[@Southpaw535]

It's a few factors. The biggest two are people either hitting harder or not protecting their head because they think its safer (I think there's similar studies about people driving more dangerously near cyclists wearing helmets because there's less fear of hurting them) and the second major reason which from my experience is why I despise wearing them and one that's hard to fix, is that the padding cuts out your peripheral vision a lot as Matt talked about with these ones and that means you take more hits you can't see. So you take more hits, they're the ones you don't see which are always the worst, and sideways punches naturally are more often hooks which rattle the brain more. I don't think those are really issues you can fix. The safest solution seems to be to not train or compete with headguards.

[@Oberstgreup]

The trouble is developing a helmet that's sturdy enough to survive being hit numerous times but also deformable enough to absorb some of the momentum. It's easier to design a helmet for something like bike riding because the helmet only has to work once - you fall and crack your helmet and you throw it away and buy another. A helmet for boxing or hand-to-hand combat has to go on working even after being hit dozens of times. (Modern bullet-resistant armor works on the same principle: if you get hit by a bullet the armor is ruined, you toss it and get new armor.)

[@thumper8684]

Given that the objective is to concuss your opponent I am not surprised. I respect the community but I wonder why it is legal.

[@ironpirate8]

4:49, might want to loosen your codpiece slightly Matt. :)

[@jetcat6156]

Best thumbnail of all youtube

[@anthonypantano2627]

think of it like an egg your head being the stuff inside the hard shell the shell protects you inside from damage outside from impact

[@Ken19700]

The weight is probably offset by the weight of the rest of the armor as well.

[@kknots]

So to end someone in a helmet rightly you should strike directly downwards at the top, into the suspension system where it can't wobble away from the blow. This might be why the bascinet cap is shaped like that - to make it more difficult.

[@ninjatakes4321]

do any old or modern helmets attempt to incorporate neck support for helmets? I know not turning your neck would be quite the disadvantage, but when it's an armored dude's primary weakness (assuming he has minimal gaps in his platemail and helmet) you'd think there would be at the very least records of an attempt at a neck support.

[@scholagladiatoria]

Yes, see great bascinets or frog-mouthed jousting helmets.

[@ninjatakes4321]

scholagladiatoria oh that makes a heaping lot of sense, it seems most people only care about covering their skull, leaving alone the one thing that keeps their poor bodies intact.

[@henriquenakamura5752]

I fight in IMCF armor, so my globose bascinet is a little heavier than most historical armor. My chinstrap has slipped off in more than one occasion while fighting, but I've never had the helmet knocked out of my head. I still wouldn't risk not having a chinstrap, especially if anyone were actually trying to kill me.

[@lucasfsm51]

you're point about it not having a chin strap got me thinking. Was de-armoring your opponent ever a viable tactic?

[@duchessskye4072]

No, definitely not

[@TheLewras]

Any chance you will do a video on kettle helms in the near future? If not are there any resources you could direct me to? I would really like to learn more about them and don't know where to look.

[@jmolama]

Hi Matt. Who made this quality bascinet? I would like one the same. Thanks John-Paul.

[@jameskerry2560]

Do an episode on mercenaries would they fight to the death for you and how do you pay them would they change teams in a battle

[@marianpalko2531]

May I please ask about some details about the three vertically hanged swords behind you? What type of swords are they, and what period do they come from? They are very beautiful.

[@BlueLobster92]

those look like calvary sabers. I have a 1860 heavy cav saber with the same guard

[@snorg70]

Awesome video! Can you make one on closed helms/armets??

[@simmons865]

getting a modern liner for this would probably help reduce the "sweatiness" that will develop.

[@MegaSuperpotter]

Wonderful! thanks again. Could you please tell me who made this helmet for you.

[@lilalmonds4595]

From what I know the head guard doesn’t really change anything about trauma (it’s for cuts) apart from a bigger target, but the problem is the belief that they protect from concussions

[@beachmaster3486]

Given how the weight and the looseness of the helm is important, why would people go with a sallet instead? Are armets and close helms also loose like the bascinet?

[@scholagladiatoria]

Sallets are a compromise - they are lighter, cooler, smaller and you can talk/breath/hear better. They also work better for light infantry such as archers. Armets and close helmets are kind of between the two - they are smaller and usually lighter, but still substantial helmets that can be used for heavy close combat. They do move on the head to some extent yes - all medieval helmets do.

[@beachmaster3486]

That's very interesting, so despite being later designs armets and close helmets aren't necessarily better at everything than a bascinet.

[@ShaggyLunchCake]

9:41 "I'm just gonna put the helmet back on, just cus i feel like it" SCHOLAGLADIATORIA 2016 EVERYBODY!!!! SAVAGEEEEE

[@duaneburd9350]

Another misconception is people think during war at a battle that there were mass casually wich isn't the case or wasn't to be accurate,a battle could last 3 to 9 months on average, some into the years if it were a seige situation were alot of nothing was going on.

[@BigZ7337]

Thanks for the video

[@MisterKisk]

Will you ever do a video on armets in the future?

[@O.LEO.N]

If you've ever watched gore videos of people getting stabbed or shot in the artery in the neck, you'll know JUST how important neck protection really is. Those videos are terrifying.

[@chrisk9613]

Just saw a documentary on modern military helmet design. Looks like having a "floating" helmet secured to the head by webbing is a fundamental feature of modern helmets. If it ain't broke, don't fix it!

[@Tork789]

So Matt, with this helmet on, how many strikes to the head with a poleaxe you think you could take without getting unconscious?

[@JustShotsForMeh]

You'll be surprised.

[@scholagladiatoria]

I think the main problem would be neck injury.

[@SurmaSampo]

Neck injury results from the range of motion that the head travels through. Brain injury results from the acceleration of the head. Having done SCA (a martial sport entirely focussed on blunt force delivery) I can tell you that neck injuries are much rarer than brown-outs and black-outs. For the OP, I am in pretty poor physical condition but I could brown-out someone wearing that helmet given an easy opening and something as mass centric as a poleaxe or one of my hammers from the workshop.

[@VallelYuln]

What sort of armour would a late medieval day-to-day guard wear? I had a discussion about this with a guy in an RPG who was a guard in full plate, which seemed rediculous to me. Ideas?

[@BlueLobster92]

depends on what he's guarding, what his lord demands for guards to wear, is there an enemy army near country or is it peacetime, what kind of weapon is he using. me personally if i had watch duty at a keep id wear full mail with a lightweight brigandine and probably an open face sallet with an aventail

[@alcibiadesW]

Putting a camera may prove difficult for various reasons. Perhaps a simulation would be enough?. Rather than putting the camera in a helmet, just cut a couple of slits in some cardboard. That might demonstrate a field of view much like what someone wearing the helmet would have.

[@Chopsisity]

iirc he said the visors are removable. why not remove the visor and hold it in front of the camera?

[@alcibiadesW]

***** Good Point

[@lordllewellynofdarkdelight2613]

To put the camera in the helmet, try carving a foam mannequin head to fit your action cam. Make a cyclops.

[@retepish]

I'm not sure about this, but wouldn't the aventail kinda act as a loose chin strap?

[@scholagladiatoria]

Yes.

[@jon-paulfilkins7820]

I wonder what the weight of that aventail and padding under it is? That must help hold it on to a degree.

[@scholagladiatoria]

Yes certainly.

[@EdsEnemy]

Hi Matt, interesting points as always. Not sure I believe some of the claims about boxing headguards you made, but I'm no boxing expert either. I was wondering if you've seen recent images of police forces in Germany wearing [chain]mail[le], with claims that they are using it to defend from knife and possibly axe attacks. What surprised me about the images is that it appears to be worn with a minimum of padding, even over the head. I'm sure you can find the images easily on google. Thoughts?

[@secularnevrosis]

I'm not Matt :) but the most common weapon they face would be different kind of knives..Padding would help but isn't essential.

[@rileyernst9086]

So a pembridge great helm on top of a bascinet, both without chin straps would be what you'd want to be wearing if you were planning on repeatedly hit in the side of the head by a poleaxe?

[@Harradrush]

Bascinet looks happy.

[@spookyr]

Do you make ventilation holes in the maille padding and/or your gambeson?

[@the49thline]

I am interested in hema, but am not sure what would be considered industry standard as far as instruction/schools. Like how taekwondo and other martial arts schools tend to be rife with predatory frauds. Does the following fees for instruction seem to meet what you would see as average or is it a bit on the extravagant end? - $70cad/month for one class per week, $110cad for two classes per week and a one-time fee of $245cad?

[@scholagladiatoria]

I can't speak for clubs outside the UK, but most clubs in the UK that I know of charge about £10 ($13) per lesson. Some have a joining fee, some don't.

[@TehCthulhu]

Why was the "bucket" style, flat-top helmet more popular before these caught on? Was it something to do with the technology, or did people simply not know the advantages of a dome yet?

[@uzbekistanimale]

this is a mystery that noone send to have the answer to. Norman helmets seem to predate flat top helmets in Europe, so the technology is definitely there

[@TehCthulhu]

Yea, I was thinking that, but the Norman helmets seemed to be of different construction and do't enclose the entire head, I thought maybe that made a difference.

[@shilelea]

GatorMacheteJr early medieval metallurgy was such that it made it hard to make a helmet that came around your head from a single piece of steel the buckets were usually a two piece construction. Earlier conical helmets were usually a frame with the cone riveted to the inside of the frame. This design was weaker than the later bassinet helmets that were raised out of a single piece of metal. The sugar loaf helmet is a transition between the earlier great helmets and the bascinet.

[@duchessskye4072]

It wasn't strictly so - before the bascinet most Great Helmets were the Sugarloaf style, which were rounded.

[@wyattw9727]

In your opinion matt, what's your favorite helm?

[@JustShotsForMeh]

That's a stupid question, without experiencing medieval battle, the obvious answer would be "The most comfortable one".

[@wyattw9727]

***** Uh, no? There's plenty of reenactments where one can decide that they really don't like Kettle Sallets for example. And comfortable is subjective.

[@scholagladiatoria]

It depends what it's for. What my job is and where/when I am. If I'm a 15th century archery, then an open-faced sallet. If I'm a 14th century cavalryman, then a bascinet with visor. If I'm a 17th century pikeman, then a morion. etc :-)

[@Malagar1]

This makes me wonder: What is the earliest evidence of helmets using some form of floating cradle protection?

[@konstantin.v]

So, does the universal absence of the chin strap mean that in grappling in those times one would often go for taking the opponent's helmet off to be able to use his dagger or whatever on opponent's bare head from any angle then? P.S. Impact energy loss due to conversion into the sound made my day! It is true, or course... but so funny nevertheless :)

[@jared925]

I don't know about grappling techniques of the time, but from wearing armour myself, I think it would be quite difficult to pull someone's helmet off due to weight and how well formed it is to the head. I could see people grabbing people's visors and pushing them open though. I'd imagine that would be quite easy.

[@konstantin.v]

Thanks. Makes sense. I'm in the process of figuring out for myself what a full-armor fight or melee really looked like. And movies pretty much seem to be of very little to no help at all :)

[@adrianmanuelgarcia]

Hey Matt why are cutting weapons so common(in war) if mail was so common ?

[@geordiekimbo2]

because a lot of people didn't wear armour.

[@tohopes]

Because you need a sharp blade to open envelopes.

[@kairyumina6407]

Essentially what John Kimmins said. Only a small percentage of any given army would be what we would consider "fully" armored. Obviously the percentage is dependent on what time period we are talking about (more people would be more heavily armored in 1450 than in 1050) but a very large portion of any medieval european army would not be men at arms, and would instead be things like billmen, crossbowmen, longbowmen, spearmen, and other such lower tier troops. Said troops would likely have some armor, but it wouldn't likely be all encompassing plate, and therefore would leave plenty of places for a sword (or bill or glaive or partizan) to effectively cut, especially on the arms and legs.

[@wiggumesquilax9480]

Because cutting weapons weren't always limited to cutting people. Sword points were often specifically designed to penetrate chailmail. Despite technically being cutting weapons, axe heads were decent for punching through maille. And horse armor (barding) don't come cheap.

[@adrianmanuelgarcia]

you tend to see things like falchions and broad tiped swords that would be hard pressed to punch through riveted mail must mean armor was surprisingly uncommon

[@zoichikanoe6242]

Hi there, where did you bought the bascinet with aventail having the padded layer?

[@guuuuhhhhYAT]

The human skull and brain work in the same fashion as the helmets do. the skull is a hard shell while the soft (vulnerable) brain floats in suspension in the cerebral spinal fluid to reduce the amount of energy transferred to the brain.

[@Julius_Caesar69420]

What is your opinion on the klappvisor?

[@GandBeckz]

Where do you buy your armor? I am looking for som good european websites. Cheers.

[@Mythicalmage]

This is very interesting especially looking at American Football helmets, and the brain injury associated with American football. Perhaps a medieval helmet would be better than the modern ones!

[@DrSmokeTrees]

American Football would have less brain injuries, if the players didn't use helmets. The helmets and pads they use allow them to hit much harder than they would, if they were unarmored. This leads to reckless tackling, and more injuries. Rugby has less serious injuries than American Football does. This same logic applies to Boxing, where its common knowledge that Gloves cause more brain injuries, because they protect the hands. If Boxers still fought "Bare Knuckle" they wouldn't be able to hit as hard, and the fights would be more technical .

[@Chasmodius]

I don't totally buy that argument. I think that athletes in the heat of competition will always become reckless, regardless of perceived protection. Perhaps it would be less so without helmets and pads, and training with them probably makes such actions more habitual, but I think they *do* protect significantly from other types of injuries.

[@23Scadu]

There's been promising research on helmets that can twist somewhat from its regular position on the head. Apparently they can greatly reduce the risk of brain damage from rotational forces. It's kind of the same principle as the looseness of the bascinet, but obviously geared more towards falling down at high speeds than being hit on the head with a pollaxe.

[@deektedrgg]

Well, Rugby as far less injuries because in Rugby you don't wear protection. If someone gets smacked hard in Rugby, their skin or lip splits, and they start bleeding. That's a clear sign the player needs to be taken off the field. In American Football, players get shaken all the fucking time, every game, every training, and the gear just keeps their skin nice and whole, while their brain gets a smacking over and over and over and over and over and over.

[@allgoodnamestaken123]

Matt, isnt it a problem when those eyeslits jump in front of your eyes with every fast movement in a combat? Im no pro fencer but I have some years of reanactment battles and I always find it easier to see with tightly secured helmet so the eyeslits stay in place (or is it just you really need it looser in case of sudden hard hit?)

[@jordanstewart2455]

About how much did it caust you to get that helmet, I'm interested in acquiring my own bascinet at some point and would like to have a reference point for what I need to spend.

[@crispalarm5926]

Where did you purchase this helmet?

[@TheTaquitoProject]

But what if they try to end you rightly and theor their pommel?

[@trucid2]

Could the helmet come completely off with a really heavy blow? That is, a blow heavy enough that it might seriously damage the neck. Anything in the literature to indicate this?

[@kwanarchive]

If the helmet (which is heavy) is hit so hard that it comes off, the fact that it comes off means the momentum was transferred to the helmet and, therefore, not the neck.

[@trucid2]

That's exactly right, hence my question.

[@kamilszadkowski8864]

+trucid2 It sometimes happens in bohurts. So yes, it's completely possible, although it doesn't happen often.

[@danieltaylor5542]

The thumbnail looks like you're holding a pumpkin and shouting, my first though was "Matt's doing a reading of the legend of Sleepy Hollow?" On a serious note you might want to look at the concussion and brain damage studies relating to the NFL in the US.

[@p.e.i.man-canada-1372]

Kinda looks like a guy holding a skull on a stage doing Shakespeare or something.

[@Henrik.Yngvesson]

Many helmets have no padding at all but only the cradle just like modern construction workers helmets.

[@scholagladiatoria]

Yes indeed - like my sallet which I have shown in previous videos.

[@Lionslycer]

“Some fundamentals when we talk about this type of armor”... when the enemy actually closes with you, you’re doomed! It’s to protect noblemen from arrows! Isn’t that great

[@The_Gallowglass]

Matt, where did you buy your bascinet from? I'd like to get one that is fairly historically accurate and decent quality.

[@hondaricer8528]

Where is this helmet from?

[@IISocratesII]

Any records of people headbutting an opponent with one these on? looks like it would fuck a person up if they haven't got face protection.

[@malnutritionboy]

He said face protection meaning visor

[@IISocratesII]

Not all helmets have a visor, and not every soldier in every battle of the period would have had a helmet with a visor, it's not farfetched to think it may have possibly happened in a melee once, handful of times, who knows man.

[@fabiovarra3698]

but doing and headbutt u lower u head and shoulder, quite a dangerous move to do on a battelfield and as Matt said those bacinets weith quite a lot, i think a sudden move like an headbutt would be uncomfortable

[@basilb4524]

It won't make much sense because why would you use something for protection as a weapon, when you have already have *a* weapon. It doesn't make much sense, but, as you've said, it probably happened due to specific circumstances (maybe the dude lost his weapon, then got real up close to the opponent).

[@IISocratesII]

That's goes without saying, obviously they're not going to run up to them and try a headbutt...obviously i meant if the opponent has trapped their weapon or disarmed them and they can't get to it so he has to get within the opponents weapon range so he doesn't get halberd to the head.

[@TrollDragomir]

In actual fact, all facts are actual.

[@YLS8763]

TrollDragomir is there no such thing as a “true fact” since all facts are true?

[@Robert399]

Hey Matt, is there a danger of wearing away your ears if you put that helmet on frequently?

[@scholagladiatoria]

Flattening them, maybe.

[@leekellerking]

Actually, I believe that in most cases the wearer put on a light linen coif before donning his helm. That has several benefits: (1) it an be easily removed for washing, and (2) it keeps one's ears from being folded over when donning the helm. (At least, it works that way in my bascinet for SCA rattan fencing).

[@MartyNaklo]

Can't you just unhinge the visor and let the cam look through it rather than trying to stick the camera inside the helmet?

[@scholagladiatoria]

Maybe, though I don't know if that would give the impression of being 'in' the helmet.

[@MartyNaklo]

I'm afraid a camera won't be able to do that at all, it doesn't have the FoV for that.

[@jacobstaten2366]

I want to see a Juggernaut helmet that distributes the force to your shoulders and floats above your head.lol

[@PJDAltamirus0425]

Surprised it was seven pounds, considers how complete the rigid protection and the chain. I would have guess ten to twelves pounds

[@nicholascunningham3927]

Hey, Matt. Super important question. How do you like your eggs?

[@scholagladiatoria]

Boiled, with salt.

[@nicholascunningham3927]

Ugh. And here I thought you were a gentleman. Fried, over easy, is the king among eggs.

[@nicholascunningham3927]

But thanks for answering my nonsense so much :D

[@Jmat-tc8zs]

A true gentleman on the internet takes everything with salt.

[@Rob-pl9vo]

football helmet to knee is about the same effect. person who gets popped in the head gets ktfo

[@danpit2001]

like a construction hard hat

[@pig0death]

change the thumbnail haha, just trying to help you out . cheers

[@arpioisme]

HEMA Apis project...

[@Sutorenja]

Yeah, slap dat helmet

[@scholagladiatoria]

hah

[@zerozeroone4424]

praise the sun

[@ironstark2349]

The Thumbnail makes you look like an angry old man... just saying. Good video though

[@scholagladiatoria]

The video published while I was asleep - I've changed the thumbnail now.

[@robertruizcampwolfden8579]

You keep believing that helmet was manufactured that long ago

[@TruckManThings]

my helm weighs 18 lbs. if that helm weights 6-7;bs, youre gonna get hurt