A hand forged helmet is raised and riveted rather than pressed out of a die. The bowl is worked from flat sheet, the panels are joined with real rivets, and the brow bands, nasal bars and cheek guards are fitted individually. It costs more and it takes longer, and it is the difference between a helmet that fits a head and one that fits a shelf.
Construction and shapes
Steel is mild steel at 16 or 18 gauge. Sixteen gauge is the heavier and carries the great helms and the spangenhelm caps. Eighteen gauge covers the spectacle helmets, the nasal helms and the Roman bowls, which keeps them wearable for a long day. The Norse group includes two spectacle helmets with riveted eye guards, one with a brass brow band and a leather liner ring, a nasal helm with a riveted dome and an Elder Futhark brow band over a padded liner, a spangenhelm with a riveted brow band, leather liner and chin strap, a four panel spangenhelm cap that ships on a runed walnut display stand, and a blackened horned helmet with a runed brow band. The classical pieces are two Roman imperial gallic helmets with brass meander bands and hinged cheek guards, a legionary bowl with bronze tone trim and engraved meander cheek guards, and a Corinthian Greek helmet with a hammered crown and a Greek key border. The medieval end brings two great helms with brass cross reinforces, one with etched knotwork sights and domed rivets. Two kabuto with laced neck guards and crescent crests round it out. Prices run from 279 dollars to 429 dollars.
Fit and the rest of the kit
Measure over whatever you wear underneath and remember a padded liner takes an inch out of the bowl. Our notes on buying a Viking helmet cover sizing and what a riveted dome actually buys you over a pressed one. A helmet is the first layer most people buy and rarely the last, so the overview of Viking armour is worth reading before you spend again. The Norse shapes are in Viking helmets and the body pieces are in Viking armour.
Ransack Viking is a US company based in North Babylon, New York. These pieces are handmade in the Czech Republic, then imported, inspected and shipped from New York.
Free US shipping
On most pieces. Heavier and oversized ones carry a flat charge.
Hand Forged
Heated, hammered and ground by hand.
Engraving available
Names, dates or Norse runes on most pieces.
