Cabasset

From Karate, Kungfu, Wrestling, Mixed Fighting Information Source

The Cabasset is an open-faced helmet characterized by its almond shaped top (often called pear shaped) and the curious little point projecting from the apex of the helmet. The cabasset was most popular among infantry soldiers and pikemen during the 16th and 17th centuries in Europe. The cabasset was very similar to the morion helmet and is often mistaken as a version of the morion. Because of the stalk like protrusion on top of the cabasset (see lower left), it has been suggested its name came from the Italian word for pear, hence the nickname for the helmet “pear-shaped cabasset.” It has also been suggested the cabasset was really a form of the Spanish morion and that cabasset was an anglicized form of the Spanish word for helmet.