The kettle hat or chapel der fer was widely worn on the battlefields of Europe from the 12th to the 15th century and throughout the 16th and 17th centuries in its modified form of the morion or pikeman’s pot. The same basic design of an open-faced helm comprising a bowl and wide brim was resurrected in the 20th century when helmets like the famous Brodie of WWI became standard military headgear. This simple design has remained popular over the centuries because it is relatively cheap to produce, offered good protection during hand-to-hand combat when its rounded shape would help to deflect blows from edged weapons and its wide brim helped to shield its wearer from projectiles that were dropped or shot from above without over restricting their field of vision.

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