Small Sized Corinthian Helmet  SBH-CORINTHIAN-SM   $49  Expedited Shipping Available! E-mail service@strongblade.com or call 866-7SWORDS In Stock - Ships in 1-3 days    The Corinthian-style military helmet has got to be the coolest helmet in ancient history. Don't just take my word for it though. Take a look at historical artwork, decorations, pottery and ceramics: almost every ancient Mediterranean civilization used images of this helmet to signify power. Roman emperors were often depicted wearing these helmets, and in just about every major archaeological dig another piece of pottery or artwork shows someone with one of these babies on his or her head (yes, I said her: There were certain ceremonies where very attractive women were dressed up in armor and given non-lethal weapons to beat the snot out of each other. This was in tribute to the warrior Goddess Hesta/Athena and was no doubt quite popular with the men back then. Come to think of it, it would probably be fairly popular today. I'm picturing a pay-per-view event... say Paris Hilton versus Charlize Theron ... hmm....). The helmets themselves were a marvel of design in the classic world. Typically made out of a single piece of bronze, this helmet looked killer and provided fantastic protection. The long cheek plates protected the cheeks (duh) as well as the neck and jaw. The jutting nose piece provided protection for the nose both from attacks delivered by your enemy and head-butts delivered by the wearer. Visibility in these helmets was surprisingly good despite the full enclosure style. Early versions of these helmets had perfectly rounded tops, which often gave soldiers headaches (and usually death) when they were struck on the top of the head. Later versions developed a larger, beveled top segment which still led to headaches, but tended to avoid the whole death part of the equation when they were struck on the top of the head. Soldiers used leather arming caps or cloth wraps on their head under this helmet to fit it correctly. Higher ranking soldiers bore horse-hair crests like the one on this helmet to identify themselves.

The flintlock pistol was the greatest advance in pirating since the wooden leg. The concept was fairly simple: gunpowder was stuffed into the barrel. A lead ball, usually wrapped in some sort of fabric, was stuffed in. A hammer was then pulled back half-way and left that way until the gun was ready to fire. The pistol technically was not meant to fire in this position, although sometimes they were known to go off half-cocked (and yes, that is the origin of that expression). When the gun was ready to be fired, the hammer was pulled back all the way and the trigger was squeezed. If you're feeling flinty, go check out the Strongblade selection of flintlock pistols, blunderbuss pistols and flintlock rifles.