The Armour Archive

i have a 5/16 16 gauge hauberk. 3/4 sleevs.

would it survive in sca combat over an arming coat, and under a COP. just the sleeves and a bit of the bottom stick out. my spaulders go over the maile at the top, coverng most of the outside of the arms, so there is just a bit at the base.

think it'll work?

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What, drawn, and talk of peace! I hate the word, As I hate hell, all Montagues, and thee:

Well...what is it made of? Butted or riveted??

I'd like to know this answer too, as I have a real similar setup and I have been afraid to fight in it.

I'm confused. Are youwanting to wear it sandwiched between the arming coat and the CoP, or by itself over the arming coat and by itself under the CoP?

SAndwiched between the two, no there wouldn't be a problem. I don't think.

By itself over the arming coat, 16guage is thick enough. Butted you'll have to watch for missing rings, but it is used. Rivited, I personally wouldn't have a problem wearing it.

By itself under a CoP, wear a padded gambeson under the maille. Otherwise you'll have funky bruises. Again, with butted maille, watch for missing links.
Hope it helps.

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Constancius of Lincolnshire

animis corporibusque

That's what I used to wear when I fought.

Usually lost a ring once every 2-3 practices.

The cut is important though. Shear cut rings the //looking ones hold together better then the >< pinch cut rings.

Also it needs to be tailored properly or you might have troubles with the armpits comming apart.

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The budding mid 14th century German Transitional guy.
Mad Matt's Armory

It won't fall apart immediately, but you'll definitely notice the moth holes growing each practice. A squire in my shire uses maille about that size, and loses up to half a dozen links per practice. Usually it's less than that though.

It also depends on how you move and how often you get hit -I loose more rings in my 16g, 3/8" hauberk moving around then most people do getting hit.

I would only recommend wearing something of this size if:

1) You have the time to fix it on a regular basis -just in case.
2) You are a small person and thicker wire (14g) is just too heavy.
3) You plan on wearing it with other armor (like you stated you were going to do.)


(^_^)
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Kenric de la Terre
Squire to Duke Sir John The Bearkiller
House Bearkiller
"I dduw bo'r diolch" ("to God be thanks!")

[This message has been edited by hjalmr (edited 10-03-2002).]

[This message has been edited by hjalmr (edited 10-03-2002).]

[This message has been edited by hjalmr (edited 10-03-2002).]

it'll be sandwitched. over pading, undre cop.
and the rings are butted. i am a small-ish person (read 6'1", 140-50 lbs beanpole)
i can wqear 14 gauge, but cant find a decent source for it. yet.

and yea, i already tore out my pits. should probly fix that. any ideas?

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What, drawn, and talk of peace! I hate the word, As I hate hell, all Montagues, and thee:

Armpits can be tricky. I'm no expert, but on my hauberk (14 g., 7/16" ID) I just continued the rows on the body out into the arm to make a rectangular sleeve, closed up the lower edge of the sleeve and used a few extra rings to close the squared-off armpit. If you do this, just experiment and make sure the sleeve opening is big enough.

I saw a photo of (I think) a Turkish shirt of mail in which the sleeves were made separately, laced on at the shoulders, and each sleeve had a flap of mail hanging down which covered the armpit.

14 gauge galvanized wire is usually available in the form of fence-making wire; I got a quarter mile for about $22 at Home Depot.

Anyway, good luck; love to see mail on the field!

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"Come, winds! Blow, wrack! At least we'll die with harness on our back!"