The Armour Archive

Anyone gotten a hold of one of the SCA heavy-legal burgonets Von Sussen's selling on eBay with the bar-grill?

http://sussen.com/shopsite_sc/store/html/product17.html

EDIT: And, if so, what did you think of it?

I have.

meinhard115 wrote:I have.

What did you think of it? How's the quality, etc?

I've seen it. A friend of mine bought one and I helped him get it ready to fight in. Like most of Sussen's products, there are some defieciencies in workmanship, particularly sharp edges that need to be filed down, or mis-shaped pieces that aren't quite fitted properly. But, with a bit of work they're usable.

I think there must be some sort of defect in their jig in Pakistan (or India) because all of the burgeonets I've seen from him have cockeyed bar grills. Even the one in the pic is cockeyed.

The neck lame on the back fit too close to my friend's back, so he can't move his head up very far.

All in all, a usable helmet if all you have is $400. But, that's a lot of money for an entry-level helmet. Personally, I'd rather use that $400 for something of better quality from a better armorer:

http://www.armour.cz/galerie/1617/index.html
http://www.bestarmour.com/sturmhaub2.htm
http://www.varmouries.com/cgallery/misc_32.jpg

I haven't gotten a concussion or anything, but it's by no meanst top-of-the-line. Fits a little tight if I need to talk. I can't see anything above 10 degrees north of my eyebrows. Also, the brim attracts a lot of attention from enemy weapons, but that may just be a range-adjustment problem on my part.

Ultimately, it's a decent starter helm, if you like burgonets. The lack of a chinstrap is a good enough reason to like this design. Obviously, for such a complex helm design, $400 isn't going to buy you the moon, but it will keep your melon from getting the Gallagher treatment.

Regardless of its faults, it is leaps and bounds better than the rust-bucket greathelm I started out using. That whole seeing/breathing thing is a plus for me.