Thread: Chainmail

I believe any dense, quilted fabric or leather worn under the mail disperses the force of the impact. My son and I tested it on me lol. He said it felt like hitting a matress. I can tell you, some padding is a must. And this stuff will pull your hair out. Probabably why the Norman knights shaved their heads lol. And it is heavy. I coiled and cut each link. I made and used wedge rivits and peened each link. I used a 2 lb pound hammer to flatten each link after anealing the iron with a blowtorch. I had a little system going for sure. A 3 inch square segment takes 49 rings. A completed 3 square inch segment takes 2 hours. I've timed it. Several different ways. Some very interesting armor was made by the Japanese if anyone cares to read about it. They made solid, flexible steel plates overlapped and laced together. I highly recommend looking that up.

Originally Posted by HaiKarate

And this stuff will pull your hair out. Probabably why the Norman knights shaved their heads lol.

kind of like those old twisto-flex watch bands? (any one remember those?) Thanks for the useful information, absolutely fascinating. always wandered how it was made.

Its not done yet. here it is going down my arm...



Like I said it takes 2 hours to do 3 sq inches.

I order Whiting & Davis metalmesh when I need to do combat in slaughterhouses.

That wouldnt stand up to a swipe. Thats a knife protector.

Um...thats thin.

Originally Posted by HaiKarate

Um...thats thin.

Battle was limited to unintentional slips and stabs with 6" boning knives. True, we were not trying to slay people.

Hai, that's some excellent work there.

Cangooner is spot on with the English Longbows. Examinations of skeletal remains of the period even showed shoulder deformities which were attributed to the tremendous draw weights.
While chainmail would not stand up to such a weapon (for that matter neither will a level 2 bullet proof vest) it is still useful for a slashing or stabbing attack from a thug with a pocket knife.
I used to wear a chain vest sewn inside my leathers for that very reason, back when I spent too much time in the company of not so nice people.
I would love to get one made of stainless one of these days.

Originally Posted by MisterMoo

I order Whiting & Davis metalmesh when I need to do combat in slaughterhouses.

Why on earth would you put a glove on the hand that holds the tool you wish to protect yourself against lol??

Because it's a right-handed glove, duh!

Yeah, our butcher walks around with a chain glove on his non-cutting hand.

I like the chain mail. I dunno about the undergarments for force dispersion, make sense I guess. I'd be more interested in undergarments for the body hair aspect. After 10 minutes of battle with the mail ripping out my chest hair I think I'd welcome a sword through the guts.

James.