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Author
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Topic: Kettle Hat
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Woodcrafter
Member
Member # 197
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posted 06-04-2004 02:02 PM
    
In 1984 I got a wide brim kettle hat. I used a modern military helmet lining system, which works great. A kettle hat is great for keeping sun and rain off you. Hail is a different matter :-)Now that I wish to upgrade it's accuracy, how would it have been worn? It is possible it may have been a padded coif, then mail coif, then just the bare kettle hat on top of that with a chin strap. It currently does not have a chin strap as the helmet band is sufficient to hold it to my head under normal conditions. However being hit with anything will send the kettle hat flying. I must assume that they had chin straps, even though I have not noticed one in the original pictures. (Bascinets, being closer fitting, do not require chin straps) The other method would be to stuff a linen helmet liner with tow and fit it in. What would people suggest I do to make this kettle hat more accurate?  -------------------- Woodcrafter
14th c. Woodworking
Registered: Jul 2001 | IP: Logged
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Martin
Member
Member # 603
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posted 06-04-2004 03:15 PM
Hi Dan,
normaly a lining is rivited into the helmet + chinstrap. That with the coif is a bit earlier, more in the direction of the crusades, they had also kettle helmets, but I think you are doing a later period! :-) Do you have Embeltons "Medieval Soldier"? In there are some nice photos of kettle helmets I think you should be able to see most details.
Looking at original helmets, in about 99,9% the lining is gone same with the chinstraps, but the holes for the rivits used for mounting the lining are still there, so you either have to look if you can find a period painting showing what you are looking for, or go by that what other people have worked out as a solution.
Well I hope that helps a little?-------------------- Verpa es, qui istuc leges. Non es fidenter scripto!
Registered: May 2004 | IP: Logged
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Erik Schmidt
Member
Member # 424
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posted 06-05-2004 03:37 AM
Personally I would suggest a suspension liner. These are generally accepted as being period, although we have no surviving examples from prior to the 15th century. Examples can be found in artwork.Make 4-6 triangular flaps, either from leather or stuffed cloth, and sew them to a leather strap that you rivet around the inside of the helmet. At the apex of each triangle you make a hole to run a cord through so you can adjust the amount of closure at the top. The chinstrap is either attached directly to the leather strap or riveted on using the same rivets that attach it. The good thing about the suspention liners is that they keep your head away from the steel and adjust to the shape of your head. So both safe and cumfortable. I like your kit. Looks great. Is that lacing up the front a pain to do? Erik [ 06-05-2004: Message edited by: Erik Schmidt ]
Registered: Feb 2003 | IP: Logged
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Woodcrafter
Member
Member # 197
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posted 06-05-2004 09:22 AM
Thank you Erik :-)The lacing takes time. But I am used to zippers or a half dozen buttons on my 21stc clothing. So to compare it to the 24 buttons of a 14thc cote, this lacing is faster. There is no chance of a button being lost, it lies flat and allows mail to slide over it. I lace from the bottom up, to allow me to loosen the neck opening if required. Finger-loop braiding a cord can be found on page 138 of Textiles and Clothing, MoL series. -------------------- Woodcrafter
14th c. Woodworking
Registered: Jul 2001 | IP: Logged
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Woodcrafter
Member
Member # 197
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posted 06-06-2004 11:40 PM
I have no idea how it was done historically, but I tied a knot in the braided cord and started the run from the inside. That way it can be removed for washing if so desired. There is not much stress at the top. So I just tuck it inside the cote. This does not cause any problems with the cote coming undone. The cord has a brass aglet or chape as per page 282 of Dress Accessories MoL series. They were made in brass, bronze or gunmetal. Some were riveted on. I tinned mine as it is inside and prone to excessive sweat. Perhaps I should redo that without the tinning. I use the aglet to start the cord through the hole, then I pull the cording. The above picture is one Mark took of me last year. The cording you see has since been replaced with a finger-braided linen cord. Mac has made me the aglets. He even made a mini mandrel to produce them. Unfortunately he has since been led astray from the 'lucrative' aglet making business :-) and is now making brooches like this.
[URL=Frankish stuff]http://www.medievalwares.com/new.htm[/URL]
Frankish stuff [ 06-06-2004: Message edited by: Woodcrafter ] -------------------- Woodcrafter
14th c. Woodworking
Registered: Jul 2001 | IP: Logged
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Erik Schmidt
Member
Member # 424
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posted 06-07-2004 03:43 AM
Thanks for the explanation. A knot seems like a pretty good way to secure the starting end.
I have come across one of those Aglets in an article about an armour find in Eastern Europe, but the article wasn't in English, so I didn't know the name of them. It was simply a little copper based metal cone and too corroded to reveal anything else.I can imagine an Aglet would be pretty easy to make, so when the time comes, I'll give it a go. I had a quick look on the web and found a statement that they were sometimes also sewn on. What is gunmetal? Erik
Registered: Feb 2003 | IP: Logged
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Woodcrafter
Member
Member # 197
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posted 06-07-2004 11:14 AM
Gunmetal is a bronze with a few percent of zinc. It would lay between brass and bronze.See page 14 of Dress Accessories, MoL series, for the indepth technical jargon with charts. -------------------- Woodcrafter
14th c. Woodworking
Registered: Jul 2001 | IP: Logged
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