MODERN

COMBAT HELMET (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5SWndDnRzM) TIMOTHY

Helmets are among the oldest forms of personal protective equipment and are known to have been
worn by the Akkadians/Sumerians in the 23rd century BC, Mycenaean Greeks since the 17th
century BC,[1][2] the Assyrians around 900 BC, ancient Greeks and Romans, throughout the Middle
Ages, and up to the end of the 17th century by many combatants.[3] 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 950 AD. 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[3] but the Napoleonic era saw ornate cavalry helmets reintroduced
for cuirassiers and dragoons in some armies which continued to be used by French forces
during World War I as late as 1915.[4]
World War I and its increased use of artillery renewed the need for steel helmets, with the
French Adrian helmet and the British Brodie helmet being the first modern steel helmets used on the
battlefield,[5][6]soon followed by the adoption of similar steel helmets, such as the Stahlhelm[7][8] by the
other warring nations. Such helmets offered protection for the head from shrapnel and fragments.
Today's militaries often use high quality helmets made of ballistic materials such
as Kevlar and Twaron,[9] which offer improved protection. Some helmets also have good non-ballistic
protective qualities, against threats such as concussive shock waves from explosions.[10][11]
Many of today’s combat helmets have been adapted for modern warfare requirements and upgraded
with STANAG rails to act as a platform for mounting cameras, video cameras and VAS Shrouds for
the mounting of night vision goggles (NVG) and monocular night vision devices (NVD).

GRENADES

Early grenades (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvDDlKrfgps) KYLE

Rudimentary incendiary grenades appeared in the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire, not long
after the reign of Leo III (717–741).[4] Byzantine soldiers learned that Greek fire, a Byzantine
invention of the previous century, could not only be thrown by flamethrowers at the enemy but also
in stone and ceramic jars.[4] Later, glass containers were employed. The use of Greek fire spread to
Muslim armies in the Near East, from where it reached China by the 10th century.[4]
In China, during the Song Dynasty (960–1279AD), weapons known as Zhen Tian Lei (震天雷, "Sky-
shaking Thunder") were created when Chinese soldiers packed gunpowder into ceramic or metal
containers. In 1044, a military book Wujing Zongyao ("Compilation of Military Classics") described
various gunpowder recipes in which one can find, according to Joseph Needham, the prototype of
the modern hand grenade.[5] The mid-14th-century book Huolongjing (火龍經, "Fire Dragon Manual"),
written by Jiao Yu (焦玉), recorded an earlier Song-era cast iron cannon known as the "flying-cloud
thunderclap cannon" (飛雲霹靂炮; feiyun pili pao). The manuscript stated that (Needham's
modified Wade-Giles spelling):
The first cast iron bombshells and grenades did not appear in Europe until 1467.[9] A hoard of several
hundred ceramic hand grenades was discovered during construction in front of a bastion of the
Bavarian city of Ingolstadt, Germany dated to the 17th century. Many of the grenades retained their
original black powder loads and igniters. Most probably the grenades were intentionally dumped in
the moat of the bastion prior to 1723.[10] In 1643, it is possible that "Grenados" were thrown amongst
the Welsh at Holt Bridge during the English Civil War. The word "grenade" originated during the
events surrounding the Glorious Revolution in 1688, where cricket ball-sized iron spheres packed
with gunpowder and fitted with slow-burning wicks were first used against the Jacobites in the battles
of Killiecrankie and Glen Shiel.[11] These grenades were not very effective (probably because a direct
hit would be necessary for the grenade to have effect) and, as a result, saw little use. Grenades
were also used during the Golden Age of Piracy: pirate Captain Thompson used "vast numbers of
powder flasks, grenade shells, and stinkpots" to defeat two pirate-hunters sent by the Governor of
Jamaica in 1721.[12]
Improvised grenades were increasingly used from the mid-19th century, being especially useful
in trench warfare. In a letter to his sister, Colonel Hugh Robert Hibbert described an improvised
grenade that was employed by British troops during the Crimean War (1854–1856):[13]
MODERN GRENADES

The lack of an effective hand grenade, coupled with their danger to the user and their lack of utility
meant that they were regarded as increasingly obsolete pieces of military equipment. In 1902, the
British War Office announced that hand grenades were obsolete and had no place in modern
warfare. Within two years, following the success of improvised grenades in the trench warfare
conditions of the Russo-Japanese War, and reports from General Sir Aylmer Haldane, a British
observer of the conflict, a reassessment was quickly made and the Board of Ordnance was
instructed to develop a practical hand grenade.[15] Various models using a percussion fuze were built,
but this type of fuze suffered from various practical problems, and they were not commissioned in
large numbers.[14]
Marten Hale, better known for patenting the Hales rifle grenade, developed a modern hand grenade
in 1906 but was unsuccessful in persuading the British Army to adopt the weapon until 1913. Hale's
chief competitor was Nils Waltersen Aasen, who invented his design in 1906 in Norway, receiving a
patent for it in England. Aasen began his experiments with developing a grenade while serving as a
sergeant in the Oscarsborg Fortress. Aasen formed the Aasenske Granatkompani in Denmark,
which before the First World War produced and exported hand grenades in large numbers across
Europe. He had success in marketing his weapon to the French and was appointed as a Knight of
the French Legion in 1916 for the invention.[14]
The Royal Laboratory developed the No. 1 grenade in 1908. It contained explosive material with an
iron fragmentation band, with an impact fuze, detonating when the top of the grenade hit the ground.
A long cane handle (approximately 16 inches or 40 cm) allowed the user to throw the grenade
farther than the blast of the explosion.[15]
Early in World War I, combatant nations only had small grenades, similar to Hales' and Aasen's
design. The Italian Besozzi grenade had a five-second fuze with a match-tip that was ignited by
striking on a ring on the soldier's hand.[16] As an interim measure, troops often improvised their own
grenades, such as the jam tin grenade.

ROMAN EMPIRE
PUGIO (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1t_X9TZlkQ) JR
A pugio was a dagger used by Roman soldiers, likely as a sidearm. Like other items of legionary
equipment, the dagger underwent some changes during the 1st century. Generally, it had a large,
leaf-shaped blade 18 to 28 cm long and 5 cm or more in width. A raised midrib ran the length of
each side, either simply standing out from the face or defined by grooves on either side. It was
changed by making the blade a little thinner, about 3 mm, and the handle was also made out of
metal. The tang was wide and flat initially, and the grip was riveted through it, as well as through the
shoulders of the blade.
Around 50 AD, a rod tang was introduced, and the hilt was no longer riveted through the shoulders
of the blade. This in itself caused no great change to the pugio's appearance, but some of these later
blades were narrower (under 3.5 cm wide), and/or had little or no waisting, and/or had reduced or
vestigial midribs.
Throughout the period, the outline of the hilt remained approximately the same. It was made with two
layers of horn, wood or bone sandwiching the tang, each overlaid with a thin metal plate. Often the
hilt was decorated with inlaid silver. The hilt was 10–12 cm long overall and the grip was quite
narrow; which produced a very secure grip. An expansion or lump in the middle of the handle made
the user's grip even more secure.

Gladius[edit] (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4L_o4niRog) NICA

Main article: Gladius

Re-enactor with Pompeii-type gladius

Gladius is the general Latin word for "sword". In the Roman Republic, the term gladius
Hispaniensis (Spanish sword) referred (and still refers) specifically to the short sword, 60 cm (24
inches) long, used by Roman legionaries from the 3rd century BC. Several different better-known
designs followed; among collectors and historical reenactors, the two primary kinds of swords are
known as the Mainz gladius, and the Pompeii gladius which follows the Mainz type, which had itself
followed the 'Hispaniensis' (these names refer to where or how the canonical example was found).
More recent archaeological finds have confirmed the appearance of the earlier version, the gladius
Hispaniensis. The legionaries wore their gladii on their right hips.

Viking

Knife (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6Cs9TQi0pM) ANGEL

Two distinct classes of knives were in use by Vikings. The more common one was a rather plain,
single edge knife of normal construction, called a knifr. These are found in most graves, being
the only weapon allowed for all, even slaves. Smaller versions served as the everyday utility tool,
while longer versions were likely meant for hunting or combat or both. Weapon knives
sometimes had ornamental inlays on the blade.[8] The construction was similar to traditional
Scandinavian knives. The tang ran through a more or less cylindrical handle, the blade was
straight with the edge sweeping upward at the tip to meet the back of the blade in a
point.[8] The knife apparently played an important role for all Scandinavians. This is evidenced
by the large number of knives found in burial sites of not just the men, but the women and
children too.[9]

The other type was the seax. The type associated with Vikings is the so-called broken-
back style seax. It was usually a bit heavier than the regular knife and would serve as
a machete- or falchion-like arm. A wealthier man might own a larger seax, some being
effectively swords. With the single edge and heavy blade, this somewhat crude weapon
would be relatively simple to use and produce, compared to the regular sword. A rather
long tang is fitted to many examples, indicating they may have had a longer handle for
two-handed use. The smaller knife-like seaxes were likely within the fabrication ability of
a common blacksmith.
The Seax was in widespread use among the Migration period Germanic tribes, and is
even eponymous of the Saxons. It appears in Scandinavia from the 4th century, and
shows a pattern of distribution from the lower Elbe (the Irminones) to Anglo-Saxon
England. While its popularity on the continent declines with the end of the Migration
period, it remained in the British Isles where it was taken up by the Vikings. The large,
sword-like seaxes are primarily found in connection with Viking settlements in England
and Ireland, but do not appear very commonly in Scandinavia.[3]

AxeEdit (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6R8FhWnLvmA) RENZO

Main articles: Bearded axe and Dane axe
The most common hand weapon among Vikings was the axe – swords were more
expensive to make and only wealthy warriors could afford them. The prevalence of axes
in archaeological sites can likely be attributed to its role as not just a weapon, but also a
common tool. This is supported by the large number of grave sites of female
Scandinavians containing axes.[20] Several types of larger axes specialized for use in
battle evolved, with larger heads and longer shafts, including various types of bearded
axes. The larger forms were as long as a man and made to be used with both hands,
called the Dane Axe. Some axe heads were inlaid with silver designs. In the later Viking
era, there were axe heads with crescent shaped edges measuring up to 45 centimetres
(18 in) called breiðöx (broadaxe). The double-bitted axes depicted in modern "Viking" art
would have been very rare as it used more material and was seen as a waste during hard
times, if they existed at all. No surviving examples, authentic artwork or clear
descriptions from records support the existence of double-bitted axes used by vikings.
Vikings most commonly carried sturdy axes that could be thrown or swung with head-
splitting force.[21] The Mammen Axe is a famous example of such battle-axes, ideally
suited for throwing and melee combat.[22]
An axe head was mostly wrought iron, with a steel cutting edge. This made the weapon
less expensive than a sword, and was a standard item produced by blacksmiths,
historically.
Like most other Scandinavian weaponry, axes were often given names. According to
Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda, axes were often named after she-trolls.[23]