The Armour Archive

I am having trouble lining my helmet with foam. How do you make a pattern for that sort of thing?

Triangles. Possibly with curved sides. And rectangles/ arcs. Make patterns from paper first.

Look up "helmet padding" on the search function in the AA.

http://www.forth-armoury.com/photo_gall ... _liner.htm

Klaus the Red had an excellent tutorial up too, but I can't find it.

Meanwhile, how is the "trouble" manifesting itself? Is it slipping around inside the helm? Too loose on your head? So tight it gives you headaches around the brow?

Once you finally get around to at least a quilted coif of linen as part of your head padding, you will, they say, never look back, but will go all-linen all the way, scalp to steel.

And at discount online prices, the cash outlay isn't much greater than a roll of closed cell either.

Remind me if there's parental or SCA local Marshallate influence involved here. We've seen that before too.

Konstantin the Red wrote:Meanwhile, how is the "trouble" manifesting itself? Is it slipping around inside the helm? Too loose on your head? So tight it gives you headaches around the brow?

Once you finally get around to at least a quilted coif of linen as part of your head padding, you will, they say, never look back, but will go all-linen all the way, scalp to steel.

And at discount online prices, the cash outlay isn't much greater than a roll of closed cell either.

Im thinking of ordering one, I might have a friend who will make me one. In the meanwhile, I cant find the right size to fit inside the helmet... I measured every which way and cant figure it out.

Remind me if there's parental or SCA local Marshallate influence involved here. We've seen that before too.

Too old for parental influence, don't care about the marshals

In the meanwhile, I cant find the right size to fit inside the helmet... I measured every which way and can't figure it out.

Hmm. I don't think I'm any the wiser about your exact problem even now. Most people who line with foam just cut it by guess and by gosh: a rectangle as tall as the helmet is and as long as the helmet is around, trimming out a face opening and cutting the upper half of the rectangle into a crown-pointed shape like Jughead Jones' hat, only bigger fewer points. They keep trimming foam off until it fits in there without squeezing their skulls and giving headaches. Start an inch too big, trim off bits until it fits inside. Really, I think that's all anyone does.

What kind of helmet do you have? Any pix?

Have a look at this thread from about 14 months ago, called up from searching on "helm and foam and padding" in the Search box (heap of hits too):

http://forums.armourarchive.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=90927

http://forums.armourarchive.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=103202 -- this one's got that parental feature I was mentioning

Here is how I pad all of my helmets, and I have many helmets.

In the diagram you see the basic shape of the padding. I make this padding to fit MY HEAD. 1 layer all the way around. None of the pieces are overlapped to create 2 layers of padding. All joined pieces are held together with duct tape.

Once I have the "helmet pad" (it should look like some kind of bicycle helmet when done), I put it in the actual helm and put that helm on. If more padding is required, I remove the pad and add more strips of foam to the needed areas.

Ie, if I need more foam up top to raise the helmet, then I make a "+" strip out of foam and tape it to the top of "helm pad". If I need to move my head forward in the helm I make an upside down "T" and tape it to the back of the helm pad. Vice Versa for moving the head to the back of the helm.

Once the head sits right inside the helm, I pad out from the helm pad to the helm to stablize it. I ONLY put extra padding on top of the existing helm pad. That way you get more air flow inside the helm, much like a football helmet.

Finally, I hold the pad into the helm with adhesive side out duct tape rolled over, usually about 4 sections. If you padded the helm right, you should not need anything more than that. NOTE: do NOT glue the pad into the helm, it will be a total bitch to remove later if you need to replace foam.

NOTE: on foam type, I colored the foam in the diagram the ubiquitus blue camp foam. HOWEVER I do NOT use this foam in my helmets. I use the black EVA foam from Windrose, it is a FAR superior foam to the blue camp foam, and with the option of getting it in different thicknesses, I am able to tailor fit each pad to my head and helm. IF I need to add a lot of extra padding to a helm, as noted above, I THEN use the blue camp foam on the outer layer of extra padding.

Since you are a Tuchux, I am assuming you are not padding to SCA regs. The diagram is set up for SCA regs of 1/2" of padding in the helm. You can change the thickness to suit your needs, but if you are going to SCA events, I suggest you sticking with the minimum of 1/2" padding.

Irish,
I am glad you posted that picture. It is so hard to explain how to do that with most new guys in my area. It works well though and has the added benefit that "if" you were buying a custom made helm, you could send your proposed liner to the armourer for fitting....

Konstantin the Red wrote:Once you finally get around to at least a quilted coif of linen as part of your head padding, you will, they say, never look back, but will go all-linen all the way, scalp to steel.

And at discount online prices, the cash outlay isn't much greater than a roll of closed cell either.

Has any from the West Kingdom used this to your knowledge?

Does it really cost $10 or less? (That's the cost of a roll of foam, duct tape, & scissors)

-Ivan

It's an SCA-standard sort of construction, and surely would be found somewhere in West inside of more than a few helmets. I moved out of the West in 1997, so I can't offer any current data. Hell, I couldn't've then, and couldn't offer any details on Caid now, where I live. But no need to obsess about its details, really. With Irish's illos, you've got quite enough to go on. All those holes between bands help keep heat from building up.

As for linen... I'd guess $25 for materials, plus whatever shipping is. Not that different, for anybody with an income, from ten bucks. Locally in WK, if the SCAdians see enough of you, you want to consult with your Shire's sewing maven, as she's likely to have a line on any discount fabric place anywhere near you, or even some linen she's tired of making space for and would unload on you. And teach you the Way of the Needle to make up an arming coif or three, so you'll always have a clean one. Cotton will work, and is cheaper, but also somewhat sweatier.