New to this

[Fabricius Carbo]

Less is more. nice helmets, lovely Gallic but I wouldn't have the stones.

[Decimvscarrervs]

Yea... I'm not paying close to a grand for a helmet... this is a hobby afterall right? There has to be a cheaper solution to reenact. I can't afford getting everything custom made. I'm sure these indians have means of production better then a 1st century smith anyways. I rather have a full suit of lesser quality then have a glorious helmet and march around in a loincloth. Although your helmet looks great, there's no way that's your average joe helmet in a roman legion. I'm not looking for perfection, as I'm sure no one can be 100% accurate. I just want to be in the right ball park.

[Damianus Albus]

Yea... I'm not paying close to a grand for a helmet... this is a hobby afterall right? There has to be a cheaper solution to reenact. I can't afford getting everything custom made. I'm sure these indians have means of production better then a 1st century smith anyways. I rather have a full suit of lesser quality then have a glorious helmet and march around in a loincloth. Although your helmet looks great, there's no way that's your average joe helmet in a roman legion. I'm not looking for perfection, as I'm sure no one can be 100% accurate. I just want to be in the right ball park.

This clearly shows that you want to reanact but you don't know what excatly because roman smithing was truly high level. In fact we don't even know how excatly they produced some pieces of armor. Same thing for your segmentata. Do you know which type of segmentata have you bought? Does it fit timeline and location you want to reanact? As you see reanacting is not like going to market for a t-shirt. Proper reanactment requires high knowledge, digging for sources and combing everything together.

And yes, it is average helmet for a Late Empire.

As for hobbies... Isnt it the whole purpose of a hobby to spend money on it? Plus no one is forcing you to get whole gear at once.

And you missed the point. Why would you have glorious helmet and nothing else? Why would you start from the end? You start with simple things. Armor, sword and helmet are cherries at the top of you character.

I see many groups which call themselfes "reanactors" but many of them have nothing to do with reanacting since they truly lie and show fantasy to the people. As a reanactor I can't show people false history, just like teacher won't teach you that Rome was christian since 1AD because it wasnt.

Each reanactor should take some responsibility for what he shows to the people.

[Decimvscarrervs]

That's impossible though. We don't know 100% about gear.

[Damianus Albus]

That's impossible though. We don't know 100% about gear.

But we know like 95%. Types of segmentata are well know for their differences, time and location and high level reanactment demands not to mix pieces from I AD with IV AD or items occuring only in Germany with items from Spain. If you ask me about any piece of my eq from shoes, shield to helmet, I will be able to talk about it, show finds and disscus all possibilites.

Proper reanactor should take to hands every single piece of his equipment and be able to talk where is was found, how it's dated, what were bases for this item, was it practical, was it useful, where it was found etc etc etc.

I saw already too many "reanactors" who in fact didnt know much more than hollywood movies.
I mean, it's history and history should be as precise as possible.

[Flavivs Aetivs]

I have a Deepeeka Gallic helmet purchased new a few weeks ago, it's one of their latest and it is well made, solid and of good materials. I paid  under a hundred pounds for it including shipping from a place in Wales.
While I appreciate a custom made helmet may be of good quality and accuracy and probably worth the money  I feel there is a touch of snobbery around.

I would ask a simple question.

If you want to buy 50" TV, do you buy Sony for 1000$ or similar looking for 500$ but made by some weird, unknow firm?
I belive 905 of us would choose Sony/Samsung/whatever for the sake of quality and certainty it will work without any issues for years.
Or a smarphone. Do you choose 100$ unknown from aliexpress or 300$ made by a good brand?
If so, why don't people apply this to hobby and choose way worse stuff just becasue it's cheaper?


Difference between proper made helmet and indian one (no need to say more):

And this applies to everything, that's why I'm trying to keep people away from indian stuff so they won't waste money.

1. I have NEVER, EVER recommended the Deepeeka Berkasova-I Helmet, it is completley unacceptable.

2. That Berkasova-I looks off, although I can't quite place my finger on it while looking at the original. Eh, whatever.

3. Those are two different types of Gallic Helmets: Gallic-G and a Gallic-D. And having seen photos of the Gallic-G originals, it's pretty decent.

4. 450 Euros still equals ~ 600 USD, + Shipping which will run you another 50-100 dollars from Poland. So not much different.

But we know like 95%. Types of segmentata are well know for their differences, time and location and high level reanactment demands not to mix pieces from I AD with IV AD or items occuring only in Germany with items from Spain. If you ask me about any piece of my eq from shoes, shield to helmet, I will be able to talk about it, show finds and disscus all possibilites.

SaveYes, I know this. I constantly bitch about using stuff out-of timeframe like Early 4th Century Swords when the rest of the gear is mid-late 4th century. Mid-5th Century (what I do) is even harder.

[Damianus Albus]

1. I have NEVER, EVER recommended the Deepeeka Berkasova-I Helmet, it is completley unacceptable.

2. That Berkasova-I looks off, although I can't quite place my finger on it while looking at the original. Eh, whatever.

3. Those are two different types of Gallic Helmets: Gallic-G and a Gallic-D. And having seen photos of the Gallic-G originals, it's pretty decent.

4. 450 Euros still equals ~ 600 USD, + Shipping which will run you another 50-100 dollars from Poland. So not much different.

SaveYes, I know this. I constantly bitch about using stuff out-of timeframe like Early 4th Century Swords when the rest of the gear is mid-late 4th century. Mid-5th Century (what I do) is even harder.

Does not matter what type. Differences in quality are huge.

I checked shipping price to USA with a declared value is 32$. With current exchange it would be 495$ + 32$ which is 527$.

[Robert Vermaat]

People, I am calling this one to order.

ONE, it's moving away from the original question, FAST.
TWO, this is a discussion that wil never be solved, because it's mainly based on a personal appoach towards the material side of reenactment.
You have one opinion, you have another opinion, I have a third opinion.
It's good to discus these opinions but but points of view have been amply put in the limelight. Best stop here.