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Steve Grisetti




Location: Washington DC metro area, USA
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PostPosted: Sat 09 Sep, 2006 12:41 pm    Post subject: Mercenary's Tailor Fixed Neck Sallet         Reply with quote

I recently acquired a Fixed Neck Sallet from Mercenary's Tailor. My sallet is slightly different from Allan's standard offering, as pictured on his website. The difference is in the visor, which is modelled after one on a German sallet pictured in Chapter 5 of Arms & Armor of the Medieval Knight, by Edge and Paddock. If I recall correctly, Allan said that this alternate visor came about as a result of discussions with our own Jean Thibodeau.


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"...dismount thy tuck, be yare in thy preparation, for thy assailant is quick, skilful, and deadly."
- Sir Toby Belch
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J. Bedell




Location: Maryland, USA
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PostPosted: Sat 09 Sep, 2006 3:51 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Very nice Steve! I was thinking of eventually getting a sallet from them. What do you think of it?

Congrats,
-James

The pen may be mighter, but the sword is much more fun.
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Jean Thibodeau




Location: Montreal,Quebec,Canada
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PostPosted: Sat 09 Sep, 2006 5:41 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Steve;

Mine has the segmented tail. I did a bunch of Photoshop versions at some point giving Allan some alternate versions of the visor just for fun and as part of discussions about the helm type and many months later he decided to use one of them.

I'm not 100% sure but I think the intent is to offer these as an alternate design or as a replacement for the earlier design as the new standard one. I would guess that someone wanting the old version could still have it made if they like it better.

The fixed neck version sure looks good also. Cool

What I like about the segmented neck is that if one pushes the helm back the neck protection doesn't jamb against the shoulders if the head is tilted back: Tilting the helm back does clear the eye line without opening the visor if one doesn't want to open the visor for a quick peek. With the visor open one doesn't have to tilt the helm back to improve vision but one can do both for maximum unobstructed vision. ( Playing around with it or any other helm you discover all the possibilities, some more useful than others, some redundant in that doing both is not needed i.e. do one or the other. )

You can easily give up your freedom. You have to fight hard to get it back!
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Steve Grisetti




Location: Washington DC metro area, USA
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PostPosted: Sun 10 Sep, 2006 6:45 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

J. Bedell wrote:
Very nice Steve! I was thinking of eventually getting a sallet from them. What do you think of it?...

I am very pleased with my new sallet. As funds and priorities permit, I would like to get more of Allan's work. I already had one of Allan's other helms (the Anglo-Saxon Helm), and I really like the look and feel. The important thing to keep in mind is that the Mercenary's Tailor catalog does not offer works "fit for a king". These are munitions grade pieces - functional, solid construction, appropriately finished. However, as munitions grade pieces:
- They are not custom sized. These are off-the-rack pieces. So, if you have a very large or very small noggin, the fit might pose a problem for you. My head is not particularly large, at a 22-1/2 inch circumference, but I am able to get a good fit with the adjustable liner (which I find very comfortable, by the way).
- The finish is not taken to a mirror polish - you can still see the hammer marks.
- The helm does not have perfect symmetry - for example, you may notice from the photos that the rivets on the brow of the helm are not in a perfectly straight line, and the crease at the front/center of the visor does not line up perfectly with the crease in the brow reinforce.
These characteristics (in my opinion) fall well within the "spec" for munitions grade armour, and they certainly meet my requirements and expectations, so I am very happy with it. However, it would be important for someone with other expectations to be aware of these things.

Does that answer your question, I hope?

"...dismount thy tuck, be yare in thy preparation, for thy assailant is quick, skilful, and deadly."
- Sir Toby Belch
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J. Bedell




Location: Maryland, USA
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PostPosted: Sun 10 Sep, 2006 6:49 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Yes Steve, that answers my question perfectly. Thank you very much. I like how it sounds, functional and rough, not a polished up showpiece. Thanks for the info and once again congrats on the new sallet!

-James

The pen may be mighter, but the sword is much more fun.
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Steve Grisetti




Location: Washington DC metro area, USA
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PostPosted: Sun 10 Sep, 2006 7:01 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Jean Thibodeau wrote:
...I'm not 100% sure but I think the intent is to offer these as an alternate design or as a replacement for the earlier design as the new standard one. I would guess that someone wanting the old version could still have it made if they like it better....

I think that Allan does intend to offer this as an alternate design. In fact, he called me up specifically to ask which visor I would prefer.

Quote:
What I like about the segmented neck is that if one pushes the helm back the neck protection doesn't jamb against the shoulders if the head is tilted back: Tilting the helm back does clear the eye line without opening the visor if one doesn't want to open the visor for a quick peek. With the visor open one doesn't have to tilt the helm back to improve vision but one can do both for maximum unobstructed vision.

Good point. I can push the helm back with visor closed to get better vision, forward and side-to-side. However, with the fixed neck, I cannot tilt my head back very far, without interference.

"...dismount thy tuck, be yare in thy preparation, for thy assailant is quick, skilful, and deadly."
- Sir Toby Belch
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Marc-Antoine Jean




Location: Canada
Joined: 10 Dec 2005

Posts: 71

PostPosted: Sun 10 Sep, 2006 10:19 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

My opinion...
while many of you are swords collectors on my own side I collect armour pieces. Indeed, that one is really great for its price As you are sooo serious when it is time to get the finest sword from the best smiths around the world I still wonder where is your interrest of collecting LARP-quality pieces of armour?
That is not munition grade. Real "munition grade" were from the pieces used mostly by foot soldiers,. They were made in mass production. in the mid 15th in Augsburg a big smith shop was able to produce full equipment for more than 50 men. We believe black sallets come from that type of production. They were using some sorts of patinas or blued steel to prevent from rust instead of mirror polish that is really much longer to produce (but it works really well, trust me)

If you don't want to spend too much money on a beautiful helm you shuld take a look on www.illusionarmoring.com where a great italian sallet is only 315$..........There are too many great armourers now to go purchase to Mercenary's Tailor wich I really believe he is way too much expensive for what you get...
Ok, there are no bad purchases when it is about armour pieces. There is only better purchases....

I still love you anyway (O:
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Randall Moffett




Location: Northern Utah
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PostPosted: Sun 10 Sep, 2006 11:15 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Marc-Antoine,

I am not sure I agree 100% with your assumption on munitions armour. They were making munitions quality armour from at least the late 13th. 1297 the king of france orders 1000's of 'plates and other armours from Bruges (I think via italy but not sure I can say that as bruges had many armourers). In the second decade of the 14th Edward II buys the same items in great numbers plus others from London armourers. If munitions means mass produced armour for mass soldiers it has existed for sometime. I will not even look at helmets as literaly thousands of helmets go through Bruges, Ghent, London, North Italy, and others. Augsburg was just one of many great cities who sold munitions quality armour (Nuremburg likely sold more munitions quality armour than any in Germany in the late 15th I guess by the huge numbers ordered and their reputation for such in the late 15th). Now very true Augsburg did have many productions of munitions armour in the mid to late 15th.

I am not sure I see why this would not be classified as munitions armour. I have seen some lower quality historic armour through my work and don't think it lacks anything overwhelming. In fact it looks fine to me. I also own alot of armour and make some as well so repo armour is not new to me either. I am glad Merc's Taylor changed the old visor to one that looks more correct. I agree they are somewhat expensive for 'munitions armour' Overall a functional helmet it would seem.

RPM
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Marc-Antoine Jean




Location: Canada
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PostPosted: Sun 10 Sep, 2006 11:44 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Indeed, I know "munition grade" was made before mid 15th and I also know there were other cities known for their mass production of armour. The point was not to make a list of them, but to use it as an example, only.
But, your precisions are really appreciated.
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Randall Moffett




Location: Northern Utah
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PostPosted: Mon 11 Sep, 2006 12:53 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Marc-Antoine,

sorry I thought you were saying that munitions armour only came from second half of 15th augsburg. My mistake.

RPM
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Chad Arnow
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PostPosted: Mon 11 Sep, 2006 6:26 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Folks,
This is not the thread in which to discuss munitions grade vs. other finishes nor to advocate for or disparage anyone's wares. The latter, especially, is downright rude in this thread.

If you want to get into that stuff, make a thread elsewhere.

Happy

ChadA

http://chadarnow.com/
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Randall Moffett




Location: Northern Utah
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PostPosted: Mon 11 Sep, 2006 8:55 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Chad,

sorry about that.... will do for next time.

RPM
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Nathan Robinson
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PostPosted: Mon 11 Sep, 2006 5:02 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

The discussion about Illusion Armoring has been moved to its own topic.
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