"Best head protection for cavalry? " Topic

I have always assumed that the best head protection for a cavalryman must have been the casque type as worn by later cuirassiers, carabiniers, etc. A piece of metal on one's head seems obviously better than a shako (probably mainly cardboard) or a bearskin (which would give way under a blow if it hadn't already fallen off).

De Brack's writings make me question this:

The shako is an inconvenient head-dress; it parries a sabre cut indifferently…never carry into the field anything but a stout leather shako….At Essling I saw the metal helmets of the cuirassiers cut completely through by sabre cuts, and how many troopers have I seen killed in consequence of their having lost their shakoes.

So he seems to be saying that anything's better than nothing but that cuirassier headgear was not up to much. I'm surprised that a sword would cut through a helmet – I thought swords were pretty blunt and would be likely to dent a helmet (alomng with the head inside it) but evidently not.

The sheetmetal was pretty thin I guess otherwise the weight would be too much? Anyone handled a real one? I am not expecting these to be as these to be as thick as a ww2 helmet.

The 'comb' or cimier running fore-and-aft on a Neo-Classical helmet was intended to absorb vertical blows, but repeated cuts from a heavy cavalry sword, especially sweeping from the side, could evidently cause serious damage even on a cuirassier's steel casque. The helmets of dragoons and carabiniers would be even less effective. The first line of defence was the cavalryman's own sword.

It's interesting that heavy cavalry only adopted helmets en masse during the Napoleonic period, while British light cavalry, for example, having adopted 'helmet caps' in the 1750s, ended the period in chacos and 'busbies.' Light cavalry were not meant to engage in shock action, but as we know the British light dragoon specialised in hell for leather charges.

I think the Tarletons warped out of shape in the rain and were too hot and heavy for the Spanish summer.

I suspect a tricorne with an iron casque underneath it would be pretty good, but not nearly as fashionable

At least some shakoes had an iron hoop running around the top of the hat, so it would offer some protection against an overhead cut.

Back in the tricorn wearing days cavalry troopers sometimes wore iron skull caps. Would they be any better at protecting their head ? Were they still used in the Napoleonic Wars ?

Back in the tricorn wearing days cavalry troopers sometimes wore iron skull caps.

…That's a secret!

Hang on.

The quality of the metal headgear means nothing if the shock of a massive sword impact is transmitted to the cerebral contents.

The lining is more important than the resistance of the metal headgear. It must turn an incredible momentum into something the brain can survive. Applies to this day. Keep out metal fragments……but rarely high impact stuff.

OK, a metal helmet can protect against a glancing blow, even to this day…..we all know about the spent bullet which was stopped by a bible or a coin, in the same way. Some protection, compared with the scalp and skull, alone.

You were less likely to have your skull split into two halves, if wearing a metal helmet, I agree. You just died as a result of the sheer impact.

I can only talk about Household Cavalry Museum (HGP, London) where you can pick up and don a basically Victorian helmet, when the kids have gone past, …….and it is not exactly thick.

It is not a WWII steel helmet

The Russians, Austrians, and Prussians appeared to use cuir-boilli (sp?) for their heavy cavalry helmets.

I wonder if these would cushion a blow better than an all-metal affair?

Those leather helmets all had a crest of sorts- although not particularly substantial- to absorb the blows. That was a-top a high dome-like crown that would to some extent deflect the energy away from the top of the head but, as deadhead says, if the energy of the blow could still be tranferred to the skull, the helmet did not need to be penetrated to cause damage; a concussion at least.

However, the basic design was thought effective enough to be adopted for Prussian and Russian infantry in the 1840s.

My wife has a winter hat of fur in the shape of a colpack …. I do not know the animal it is made from, but it has very thick, soft fur on a rather thick hide, then some padding, then a dear leather interior and finally a silk lining.
I have often thought that it would really protect the head quite well …. but it would be quite hot to wear the thing in more than about +15 degrees C.

Sorry, but when I read this, my first thought was that the best way to protect the head was …to duck.

"Sorry, but when I read this, my first thought was that the best way to protect the head was …to duck."

Young Cossacks were trained that way – with wooden sabres and lance poles without the lance head – but otherwise "full contact".

How do you persuade the duck to stay on your head, though?

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