For sale is a side-pivoting houndskull bascinet, suitable for historical living history as well as combat. The helmet was made by Jeff Hedgecock, custom for me in 2012.
It is not the same as the models available on the Historic Enterprises website, this was a custom piece. It's 1050 spring steel, heat hardened and tempered (I do not have final hardness data). Skull began as .083'' and visor .062'' thick. The aventail was purchased separately by me through Icefalcon (9mm, flat ring, wedge-riveted, stainless medium aventail). The aventail is currently lined. I added the liner myself, and it was a little bit of trial-and-error. It also has 3 years worth of sweat and spit on the inside from sitting against my face and mouth.
I will remove the aventail liner prior to shipping as it should really be replaced or left off by the new owner anyway. The regular liner is in good condition and will remain in the helmet.
The only thing I would consider a flaw on the helmet is that the visor does not go up quite as high as I'd like, and it will not stay up in any position. It will fall closed if you let it go. The other thing that people may care about aesthetically is the verveilles only go about halfway up the facial opening.
My head is 22.5 inches at the brow. The helmet was always a little bit big on me, especially side to side. This could be remedied by adding some padding into the helmet where necessary if you have a head similar to mine in size. If your head is slightly bigger it will fit better with the historical liner. The liner is adjustable with a tie at the top, and I've always had it as tight as it would go and still had some extra room in there.
The skull liner is sewn in to the skull and was provided by Hedgecock, and is padded, quilted, and adjustable via a tie at the top, and removable by cutting the sewn cord around the edge of the helmet skull.
I built up the mail around the facial opening using spare 9mm rings. I never bothered riveting them shut, so they are easily removed. This is good because I made it very tight on me, and so they may need to be adjusted slightly or re-tailored to the new owner anyway.
It has been worn at living history demonstrations for the last 3 years. It has never been fought in. It has minor surface scratches here and there, and it has always been well maintained. I keep a light coat of BreakFree CLP on it when it’s not being worn.
Price for this sale is
$1,900 + actual shipping, price negotiable (insured UPS ground) via PayPal.
Will consider all serious offers though.
This album was just shot a little over a week ago after I cleaned it. Click the link to view all the photos (**
note that in the photo with the visor up I wedged a shim in there to get it to stay, it will not stay like that without help**). There are several more photos than displayed in this post. This listing will be posted on multiple sources. Please ask any and all questions in this thread or via private message.
Bascinet Photo Album