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Helm with Glasses

A. E. Lowan

Forum Mom
Leadership
I have a combat magician I'm sending into battle and I need her in a helm for her protection, but she's wearing glasses. Can this work? Does this work? All I can think of is my martial arts classes when I was a kid, and how much it hurt to get hit in the glasses through my head protection, some of which I can use, but that was a foam headpiece.

Any ideas? Thanks!
 

Insolent Lad

Maester
Plenty enough modern soldiers have worn glasses with their helmets, both prescription and sunglasses. Or you might opt for some sort of prescription goggles instead of normal over-the-ear glasses
 

A. E. Lowan

Forum Mom
Leadership
Plenty enough modern soldiers have worn glasses with their helmets, both prescription and sunglasses. Or you might opt for some sort of prescription goggles instead of normal over-the-ear glasses
All great ideas, except I'm stuck with the glasses due to time constraints. If worse comes to worse, I can rewrite a section of the book and give her contacts, but that sucks, so I don't want to do it. :D She's being equipped at the last minute in dwarven armor that's basically fantasy/medieval/Renaissance with room to wiggle. Clockwork wouldn't be outside the realm of possibility, for example.
 

Devor

Fiery Keeper of the Hat
Moderator
I think he'd just have glasses under his helm and have that be uncomfortable. I mean it's not ideal. They could probably be redesigned to be more durable. If he takes a mace to the head they'll probably break, but at that point he's lucky to be alive anyways. In a battle he's going to be full of adrenaline so having his glasses bumped painfully into his head probably wouldn't phase him, but it'd be a thing he complains about later, which might be character building.
 

Malik

Auror
A couple of things. You need to make sure the earpieces of the glasses are wide and flat--look at Oakley Gascans for an example--this will ensure that they don't blister or dig into the scalp. Also, it's important that they don't extend past the natural curve of the head. Lastly, they absolutely need to be tethered to the back of the head with something like a sports band. There is no way to adjust your glasses inside a helmet. Once they slip--and it gets pretty sweaty in there--it's over.

In The New Magic, Carter Sorenson wears prescription Oakleys inside his helmet, both for vision and for extra protection. He had the armor custom-made to fit, though. It's doable.

An easier way to do this would be to use a half-helm with a mail coif or attached aventail, and maybe a Hutton Soo-type faceplate.

However, you can see here, if the visor was attached to the outside of the helmet--as they typically were--it would clear my shooting glasses no problem.

Turret Small.jpg
 

A. E. Lowan

Forum Mom
Leadership
What are you doing to Jessie, you cruel, cruel women!

Does it have to be a close faced helmet or can it be an open one? Maybe they can just rip off the visor as a last minute modification?
I'm a terrible person. :D

It can be open or closed. She's going to be pretty far back from the front line with the rest of the magicians. I love Malik's idea of something prescription and something well-fitted. Jessie has earned a black belt in Judo, so she's going to have a reason to have that in her nightstand within easy access. Yis! Thank you guys so much! I think I can make this work and be plausible.
 

Mad Swede

Auror
A small but awkward question. Are her glasses made of glass? Malik mentioned those Oakleys and posted a photo, and I've worn similar things under my helmet in the past. But the sort of glasses we've worn under helmets don't usually have glass lenses, they're usually made of some form of plastic so that they don't shatter (eg because of a blast shock wave) and blind you. If you're making her prescription glasses out of glass then she may need some form of protective anti-shatter spell on them to prevent injury to her eyes.
 

A. E. Lowan

Forum Mom
Leadership
A small but awkward question. Are her glasses made of glass? Malik mentioned those Oakleys and posted a photo, and I've worn similar things under my helmet in the past. But the sort of glasses we've worn under helmets don't usually have glass lenses, they're usually made of some form of plastic so that they don't shatter (eg because of a blast shock wave) and blind you. If you're making her prescription glasses out of glass then she may need some form of protective anti-shatter spell on them to prevent injury to her eyes.
A very good thought and one I've been turning over in my mind. I've given her a set of glasses for Judo like Malik described which are made of plastic, unlike her daily use glasses which are glass and have already given her trouble in the previous books (fogging up and falling off, etc.). I love the idea of also enspelling the Judo glasses, though. Am definitely going to have to run with that idea. Can't be prepared enough in combat. Thanks for the suggestion!
 
Hi,

As a new wearer of glasses, one of the things I can say is that when I was fitted for them I got the smallest, lightest pair possible. So can you take that a step further and go with those Matrix style glasses?

Cheers, Greg.
 

A. E. Lowan

Forum Mom
Leadership
Hi,

As a new wearer of glasses, one of the things I can say is that when I was fitted for them I got the smallest, lightest pair possible. So can you take that a step further and go with those Matrix style glasses?

Cheers, Greg.
I think it's a good thought, but they'd fall off pretty easily. Look awesome, totally, but wouldn't do well in a real fight.
 
A very good thought and one I've been turning over in my mind. I've given her a set of glasses for Judo like Malik described which are made of plastic, unlike her daily use glasses which are glass and have already given her trouble in the previous books (fogging up and falling off, etc.). I love the idea of also enspelling the Judo glasses, though. Am definitely going to have to run with that idea. Can't be prepared enough in combat. Thanks for the suggestion!
I haven't had a pair of daily wear glasses with glass lenses in decades.

The character's sport glasses should be safety glasses. ANSI Z87.1 sets the standard safety glasses must meet. Not suggesting you go into that level of detail in your story, but it gives you an idea what you're looking at.

Back in the day, a friend of mine and I made boffer swords, swords made of PVC and foam and went at it. Both of us wore eyeglasses. After getting the bridge of my nose cut by the eyeglass frame, we both donned full faced motorcycle helmets which helped a lot. Motorcycle helmets would be almost useless against real steel, however.

A quick internet search of safety glasses turned up some interesting options I'm going to have to look into.
 

Aldarion

Archmage
I have a combat magician I'm sending into battle and I need her in a helm for her protection, but she's wearing glasses. Can this work? Does this work? All I can think of is my martial arts classes when I was a kid, and how much it hurt to get hit in the glasses through my head protection, some of which I can use, but that was a foam headpiece.

Any ideas? Thanks!

If it is medieval period (and I understand it is), what about giving her a helmet which does not fully enclose head? There are plenty of helmets to choose from which leave both face open and a lot of room for accessories. Sallet / salade, chapel-de-fer, morion, iron hat, pikeman's pot... or if it is 11th century or earlier, conical helmet works fine, though I imagine chain mesh that was worn alongside it as head protection (hanging from the helmet, or more commonly, coif) might cause trouble. But 15th century and later types were often worn without any additional head protection, or indeed without any additional metal armour.

Here you can see what these helmets look like (as well as evolution):
9177d28fb3f6bea6f9e830ce2611562a.jpg
 
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