The Armour Archive

Today I received my order from Ben at Atlanta Armory, which is a stainless steel aventail for my helm.

First off, the communication was top notch. During the process of construction I got a weekly update on the status of my order. I didn’t even have to email him first for an update, it’s like he scheduled the updates which if so, is a good practice to have. Also Ben is friendly and easy to approach. There are too many armourers out there that get cranky when you are wondering where your gear that’s paid for is. He is certainly not one of them.

Now onto the stuff that you guys really give a damn about, the product. I will admit I had mixed feelings about his work, having only seen examples online and never in person. My aventail kicks ass! The welds on the links are solid, the maille is woven even and all the links are perfectly uniform. Obviously he knows his maille. The maille itself is tough as a cinder block outhouse on a corn farm, I have tugged, yanked, and pulled this thing in all directions and there is absolutely no warping of the links or deformity of any kind. I feel very good about this aventail and trust it completely to protect me in combat.

Overall from the time of the transaction, the wait time, and the arrival of the aventail(which was insanely fast, he shipped it yesterday and I got it today), Atlanta Armory is a great place to buy from, and one of the smoothest and worry free transactions I have made with an armourer. Thanks Ben!

That reminds me to get off my *ss and finally write a review of one he did for me...

I'm glad to hear you like it. I'd love to see it on the helm.

-Ben

I am just waiting for Titanium for a hauberk.

Hey Ben if I can get the rings think we can work something out?

I doubt it since the rings have to have a small overlap for me to be able to weld the ring. I still need to work out the ideal overlap for the change in wire size (my stainless is 0.048" while the titanium is 0.045") and material. My ring supplier should have gotten the wire for the trial run today. If everything goes well I should be taking titanium orders in less than a month.

-Ben

atlantaarmory wrote:I doubt it since the rings have to have a small overlap for me to be able to weld the ring. I still need to work out the ideal overlap for the change in wire size (my stainless is 0.048" while the titanium is 0.045") and material. My ring supplier should have gotten the wire for the trial run today. If everything goes well I should be taking titanium orders in less than a month.

-Ben

Cool man great to hear. I am eager to have one made.

I will try to get it on my helm as soon as I get a chance, however I don't have a camera but one of my good friends is a professional photographer. I will be sure to have him snap a few pics at Pennsic