The Armour Archive

So i currently have a butted chain mail aventail on my current helm found here:
http://forums.armourarchive.org/phpBB2/ ... highlight=
and i am having some slight problems with the new helm. I love the look of it and i want to keep the look, but the weight of it is really putting a strain on my neck. My question is what is the lightest gauge wire i could use to make a new one, that i can weld and it still hold up to SCA combat?
The current one is 16gauge 1/4 inner diameter rings. Could i get away with lighter gauge smaller inner diameter rings that are tough enough to be welded without melting them? Anything i can do to lighten the load on the helm would be great.
thanks for your help,
Varukh

That is why I haven't put an aventail on my helm yet. I am thinking about getting a 5mm welded mail one though. It would only add 1lb.

hmmmm....where you getting that at? as it is my helm is probably (just a ballpark guess) close to 15lbs.

http://weldedchainmail.com/products.htm

Master Knutt. He makes aventails too, ya know.

any idea how long his short SS aventails are? That is the only one that might be in my price range for now.

I just got one of the short aventails from Knutt and it is awesome! It is attached to the bottom of my wolf helm ( http://forums.armourarchive.org/phpBB2/ ... p?t=127858 ) not draped from mid helm but it hangs over my shoulders a couple of inches and nearly down to my belly button. I have pretty broad shoulders and was actucally considering cutting it down ... but then again maybe not. The short aventail from Knutt only weighs total 2.4Lbs and he ships them within a day or two from the time you place your order. Should be long enough to drape from mid healm if you wanted to. A short tumble in a bag w/some sand to debur wouldn't be a bad idea either.

any chance you could measure that from the top of the maille to the bottom?
Just want to see how close it is to the length of the one i already have on the helm.
thanks!

BTW....that is a sweet helm!

Varukh wrote:hmmmm....where you getting that at? as it is my helm is probably (just a ballpark guess) close to 15lbs.

It would be from Atlanta Armory here on the archive. It is like Ringmesh and comes in two different lengths

Swete wrote:

Varukh wrote:hmmmm....where you getting that at? as it is my helm is probably (just a ballpark guess) close to 15lbs.

It would be from Atlanta Armory here on the archive. It is like Ringmesh and comes in two different lengths

got a price on those? pics? link to the armory/armorer?

Varukh wrote:any idea how long his short SS aventails are?

From Master Knutt's site:

"My long aventails consist of a truncated cone which covers the shoulders surmounted by a cylindrical section which extends upward. The base of the cone is 54 inches in circumference and the cylinder is 6 inches in height and 32 inches in circumference. My short aventails consist of just the conic section..."

So, it goes from 54 inches to 32 inches...little bit of math says 3.5 inches?

Keegan Ingrassia wrote:

Varukh wrote:any chance you could measure that from the top of the maille to the bottom?
Just want to see how close it is to the length of the one i already have on the helm.
thanks!

BTW....that is a sweet helm!

From Master Knutt's site:

"My long aventails consist of a truncated cone which covers the shoulders surmounted by a cylindrical section which extends upward. The base of the cone is 54 inches in circumference and the cylinder is 6 inches in height and 32 inches in circumference."

So, it goes from 54 inches to 32 inches...little bit of math says 4 inches?

any idea if that is with the rings compressed or spread out as far as they will go?if it only hangs 6in then it will be quite a bit too short for what i need.

Varukh wrote:

Keegan Ingrassia wrote:

Varukh wrote:any chance you could measure that from the top of the maille to the bottom?
Just want to see how close it is to the length of the one i already have on the helm.
thanks!

BTW....that is a sweet helm!

From Master Knutt's site:

"My long aventails consist of a truncated cone which covers the shoulders surmounted by a cylindrical section which extends upward. The base of the cone is 54 inches in circumference and the cylinder is 6 inches in height and 32 inches in circumference."

So, it goes from 54 inches to 32 inches...little bit of math says 4 inches?

any idea if that is with the rings compressed or spread out as far as they will go?if it only hangs 6in then it will be quite a bit too short for what i need.

Certainly spread out. But then, perhaps those measurements are dated, for the good Count's new helm certainly sports a wider band of mail than 4 inches! And, as he said, his is the short version you are considering.

Damn I would give you a hanging measurement but the helm is at the shop. I left it there with the rest of my bits I am assembling before estrella. Sorry. I can tell you it is a lot longer than six inches from the top edge of the cone to the bottom. 10" at least when stretched out if not longer.

Add: It was much longer than I expected when I got it.

Varukh wrote:Any idea if that is with the rings compressed or spread out as far as they will go? If it only hangs 6in then it will be quite a bit too short for what I need.

With the dimensions given, that has to be stretched out. Helmet circumferences fall around 25-27 inches mostly. Stretched to the fullest is the consistent way to measure mail along its resilient direction. Its nonresilient direction is always at its fullest stretch. You can always write Knuut and ask him to give it a full stretch if he isn't already.

thanks for the help guys. I am hoping to try and mail him and see how much it would cost me to get one the same size as the butted one I already have on the helm. Hopefully i can get one reasonably priced so that i can avoid picking up pieces of my maille after every tournament.