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Help with completing my armour

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merc3065:
I am currently looking for a sugar loaf helmet and am trying to find reviews of what everyone is currently using and am only finding bits and pieces on fitment, padding, etc.

My main goals with this are to get into metal sword re-enactment as I enjoy the feel of the weapons and the clash of steel vs wood or cudgels.
The armour I own is only 18ga mild steel.  It will protect vs metal/wood but damage easily and it is really only good for showing off more than protection.  It was a cookie cutter style and does not fit some aspects of my frame very well in terms of sizing and flexibility.  Although it was a good price so I can't complain.  $1500cdn for entire suit including gambeson and chainmail shirt and coif.  Though the mail is butted so not the best in terms of durability.
Parts I have:
Gambeson
Chainmail hauberk
Chainmail coif
Chestplate
Backplate
Pauldrons
1 elbow cop for my sword arm
bracers
articulated gauntlets (my fingers are too long and there is not a lot of coverage on the upper portion and thumb, only thing to provide additional protection would be the cross guard of the sword)
Greaves
Knee cops
Lower thigh plates (I don't know the names of this one)

I am looking for sabatons to cover my Gore Tex boots I wear.
A large heater or kite shield
Sugar loaf or great helm
Better gauntlets (not mittens, just personal preference)
Decent combat ready longsword or hand and a half sword.

I have been eyeballing a website, "Armstreet" and looking at all of the offerings they have there and most of it fits the bill in terms of thickness and rigidity for the armour I'm after.

Anyone have experience with the Armstreet sugar loaf helmet in a combat scenario?  Visibility? Fitment? Weight? Dent resistance? Padding? etc. I read earlier that someone had one that was having issues with the visor staying up in the locked position.  Any help anyone can provide for me in deciding if it's the right helmet to go for would be appreciated.

Other suggestions are also welcome, but keep in mind that it will be for use with metal wasters.

Sir Edward:
Well, I can certainly make some recommendations for steel trainer swords.

The cool thing is that there are many choices available these days, many of which are pretty decent. No longer do you need to buy a crowbar on a hilt, which are not only inaccurate historically, but also dangerous to use. Appropriately weighted trainers can be used relatively safely.

Some options (click names for links):

Tinker Longsword: Sir Brian can talk more about this, since he has one. My impression is that it's fine for the price, but if you're willing to spend more you can get much nicer trainers from A&A and Albion. It boils down to budget and personal preference.

Hanwei Practical hand-and-a-half: This one is very good for the price. In fact, it's so light and small that it works better as a single-hand trainer than as a longsword. For single-hand use, I like it better than the Hanwei single-hand trainer. The edges are a little thin for use as a longsword, so I'd avoid using it as a two-handed trainer if you're going to use it at speed against people just wearing fabric and padding.

Albion Meyer: This is one of my favorites. It's one of the most expensive, but has a fantastic feel. It's light and agile, durable, and just the right amount of flex for free-play including thrusts. Nice thick edges. My only issue is that the guard is wide enough to get in your own way at times, but that can be adjusted for in your technique.

A&A Fechterspiel: A little more affordable than the Albion Meyer, this one is slightly more blade heavy and less agile. But still quite good, and representative of this sort of longsword. It has a little less flex too. So this one is actually better for Harnessfechten (armored combat) in which you need it to be stiff for half-swording techniques. It has nice thick edges and is extremely durable. So depending on what you're doing and what your budget is, this is an excellent choice.

A&A Scholar's Sword: Another great training piece from A&A, this is their single-hand trainer. Slightly more blade-heavy than the Hanwei hand-and-a-half, but very appropriately weighted for single-hand swords. Durable, and looks the part. Hard to go wrong here.

Sir Wolf:
muhahahaha my specialty!! but I'm at work and will have to do this later in the week ;)

merc3065:
Pot Helmet with Visor - AB3351

Any thoughts on this one?
http://www.kultofathena.com/product.asp?item=AB3351&name=Pot+Helmet+with+Visor

Sir Brian:
Well you can't go wrong with KoA as they are extremely reasonable with their prices. I would only wonder if that is a GDFB offering and how well does the visor stay in the open or closed position?  :-\
Then again at that price it isn't to difficult to add a spring pin or two if needed!  ;)

Ditto with Sir Edward's recommendations for practice steel blades. My tinker Longsword is a great 'starter' steel blade and if you watch for sales on KoA can be really affordable. They currently go for $209 but last January they were on sale for $112!  :o
http://www.kultofathena.com/product.asp?item=SH2395&name=Tinker+Pearce+Blunt+Trainer+Longsword

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