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Safety in armored combat - a note on helmets

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Sir James A:
I'm posting this video here in The Armoury in case people don't see it from our VARF thread. Bear with me for a minute while I talk about the importance of GOOD armor when doing combat. To start with, I broke my nose in harnessfechten. This wasn't because of a cheap helmet. It was somewhere around $350. It is 14 gauge mild steel, well padded, and it's battle worthy. Helmets also protect your face. It's kind of important. Here's why:



You can see where my visor popped down and I got stabbed right through the opening - within seconds. Why? Because a klappvisor has a removable face plate. It was great for taking the visor off after combat, or for getting the helmet snugged down prior to combat. It's also a HUGE safety risk, as I clearly could have lost an eye or had some serious damage done. Don't fool yourself and think "if it fails I'll notice it right away and just say stop". I didn't think that, but I want to make sure no one else does. It truly happens in the proverbial blink of an eye.

If you fight with a klappvisor, or any kind of removable face plate helmet, I HIGHLY suggest you permanently attach the visor by solid rivets. A safety strap goes without saying, and popping a strap or rivet on the rest of the harness isn't usually a major safety aspect - but respect the helmet. It  only takes a second for really bad things to happen.

And to close with something we mention at every demo we do - the purpose of a fight is to walk away - as safely as you can. Don't skimp on safety, and remember how critical a helmet is to your safety. Gauntlets are a close second. If you aren't sure if it's safe to fight in, ask someone who knows, or don't fight in it.

Mike W.:
Have you considered posting this to MyArmoury or ArmourArchive?

Sir William:
Sir James, hopefully you'll post this to AA as well.  Who was that you were fencing with? 

Sir James A:

--- Quote from: Sir William on 2014-06-03, 19:24:12 ---Sir James, hopefully you'll post this to AA as well.  Who was that you were fencing with? 

--- End quote ---

Oh yeah, good point, I will. That was Chris, my nephew. His first day on the field.

Sir Jason Simonds:
You can definitely see how one of the thrusts knocked the visor open and how quickly it turned bad. I also would recommend posting this to as many boards as possible, hopefully it will save someone else from having something worse happening to them.

If possible could a spring pin be put in to secure the rotating latch from being easily pushed open?? Looking at the front of the helmet on the right side of the latch drill a small hole and tack in a push spring pin?? Just a thought..

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