Of all the pieces of defensive armor, the most popular was the helmet. Almost everyone wore one when he prepared for trouble. Most of those worn at Plymouth were undoubtedly open helmets which left the face uncovered, although it is possible that a few completely closed helmets were also used. These open helmets were of three principal types: the cabasset, the morion, and the burgonet. The cabasset was a simple, narrow brimmed helmet with a keeled bowl and a tiny apical peak pointing to the rear. The morion had a larger crescentic brim pointed at the front and back and a high comb along the center-line of the bowl. The better specimens of both these helmets were forged from a single billet of steel, and both were very efficient defenses. The curving lines of the bowls caused most blows to glance off without imparting their full impact, and the comb of the morion presented an extra buffer of metal through which a sword would have to cut before it reached the bowl. Inside each helmet was a quilted lining held in place by a row of rivets around the base of the crown which acted much like the modern helmet liner in holding the steel shell away from the wearer’s head. [Illustration: _Cabasset._] [Illustration: _Morion._] The burgonet was a slightly more complicated helmet than the morion or cabasset, and it was made in a variety of styles. Basically, it was an open-faced helmet which covered more of the head than the other two. Usually it had a peak or umbril somewhat like the visor of a modern cap over the eyes, a comb on the bowl, and movable plates to protect the cheeks and ears. Often there was a defense for the face in the form of a single adjustable bar which passed through a hole in the umbril or by three bars fashioned like a muzzle and attached to the umbril which was pivoted at the sides so it could be raised or lowered. One form of the burgonet which became popular in the second quarter of the 17th century was known as the lobster tail burgonet because the wearer’s neck was protected by a series of overlapping plates which somewhat resembled those on a lobster’s abdomen or “tail.” A fourth and final type of helmet was known as a “pikeman’s pot.” This greatly resembled the morion, but had a broad flat brim instead of a narrow crescentic one. As its name indicates, it was worn primarily by pikemen in conjunction with a specific type of corselet which was generally designated pikeman’s armor.