15th C. Sallet

Got another armor delivery today - a sallet based on the one found in the church at Witton-le-Wear in Durham, England. The helmet and bevor are 14 Gauge steel, and weigh around 10 pounds together. It's well balanced, and once strapped on doesn't feel heavy at all. Putting on and wearing armor is how I get my cardiovascular work out and weight training.

Without the bevor.

Although it was found in England, it is believed to have been made in the Northern European style for export. The original is dated to the Mid to Late-15th Century.

With the bevor worn.

The thickness and weight of this reproduction is a bit more than the original, but not by too much. With proper padding this would hold up pretty well in full contact reenactments. The eye slits a little bit wider than the original, but thrusting and stabbing aren't allowed in full contact reenactments - go figure.

The helmet was listed as new, and the liner looks clean and never worn, but I think it laid around somewhere for a while as it had tiny spots that look like rust and the finish is a bit tarnished. Nothing a little bit of scouring with fine steel wool won't take care of. I think the woman who sold this on ebay didn't really know much about it - her ebay store had no other armor listings or anything remotely military. Everything else in her store was either ceramics or quilts and such. I can't say it was 50% cheaper than from a retailer, but it was close.

The over-sized brass rivets are actually authentically reproduced. When I first saw it I thought it looked odd, but here they are on the original sallet in the image below.

The visor stays up by friction if pushed up all the way. Saves me the trouble of trying to peen the rivets tighter, or replace them with lock nuts like I did with the bascinet.

The leather liner that is glued to the inside is not historically correct, but I don't plan on replacing it with a more correct padded fabric liner. I would just wear a padded coif in addition to the liner if I thought someone was going to clobber me on the head. I plan on dyeing the helmet straps a darker brown to match the one on the bevor.