Combat Helmet

High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! A combat helmet is a type of personal armor designed specifically to protect the head during a fight. Helmets are among the oldest forms of personal protective equipment, and are known to have been worn by the Assyrians around 900BC, followed by the ancient Greeks and Romans, throughout the Middle Ages, and up to the end of the 1600s by many combatants. Their materials and construction became more advanced as weapons became more and more powerful. Initially constructed from leather and brass, and then bronze and iron during the Bronze and Iron Ages, they soon came to be made entirely from forged steel in many societies after about 950AD. Bronze Corinthian helmet, ca. 500 BC, Staatliche Antikensammlungen. At that time, they were purely military equipment, protecting the head from cutting blows with swords, flying arrows, and low-velocity musketry. Military use of helmets declined after 1670, and rifled firearms ended their use by foot soldiers after 1700. By the 18th century, cavalry units often wore steel body cuirasses, and frequently metal skull protectors under their hats, called "secrets".