http://www.kultofathena.com/product.asp?item=...el+-+Large
Does anyone have any first hand experience with this product, or have any input to give as to what they think of it? I value your opinions :D

Folks in the group that I'm involved with use this (well, the haubergeon version, but it's the same product, just shorter). What do you intend to use it for? We use it for living history demos, and light combat, in conjunction with padding. The construction is solid, however, it is a simple tube for the torso and arms, so there's no real shaping to speak of. All of the gentlemen in my group who own one have tailored it themselves to get a more period appropriate fit, especially in the arms.

Proper hauberks and haubergeons should have tapering arms as you get to the wrist. The GDFB offerings are just straight, so when you hold your arms out to the side, there will be a lot of excess maille hanging off of your arm. As far as commercial offerings of maille coats, GDFB is reputable, and very common amongst the living history / reenactment crowd. Mild steel will rust if not kept oiled, and even then it will get some corrosion, but this can be cleaned off. Also, lots of wearing tends to keep maille cleaner as it rubs against itself.

Wedge rivets, if appropriate for your time period of interest are preferable in my opinion than pin rivets for the sole reason that they are infinitely more forgiving on the clothing beneath and don't get snagged on fabric or other rings as easily.

It's not junk, it's also not historically accurate (a good historical reproduction of maille would be several thousand dollars, if not more). But it's definitely one of the go-to suppliers for period-ish maille.

I want to point out that the link from the OP is not for GDFB mail. There is no brand provided other than "Kult of Athena." If you look it up on the website the GDFB mail has no visible split in the front of the skirt. That and it has a different price, image, etc.

I just found this topic while looking for a replacemente for my old chain mail. Wich are the best manifacturers for historical riveted chainmail for XIII century? I found sone indian links, but seems that their rings are too much large in diameter.

While it's true that Cap-a-Pie's off the shelf offerings are also not truly historical, I would quickly note that they aren't simply reselling GDFB products either (see http://www.myArmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.php?p...=#260077). The wedge riveted offerings are particularly nice, especially if you have long and tangle-prone hair.

hmm at laest the closest to historical mail?

For Hema and SCA would these be as strong as the welded azon stuff? Stronger? If you wanted something for protection and threw historical out the window what would recommend?

"Most protective" depends what you're protecting against. Welded mesh, such as the Azon mail, is excellent against slices and cuts, and is probably some of the best on the market if you want something to hide under a jacket to turn a cheap knife during a mugging. It doesn't absorb impact, though, and the rings are small and deform quite easily.

Consequently, I wouldn't use it for SCA (although I have a shirt which I use for LARP, at which it performs admirably). SCA seems like it would want heavy mail in relatively larger rings, to help distribute and absorb the blunt impacts easier. And, of course, serious padding under the mail. However, the Azon type mail is apparently excellent if you're doing SCA *light* combat, to resist blunt thrusts.

HEMA is a very broad term - but assuming you're thinking of steel waster combat with some degree of blow-pulling, then the protective qualities of the mail are likely less of the relevant fact you're looking for. To my mind at least, if your aim is to reconstruct historical combat techniques, then the ideal armour is one which replicates historical armours as closely as possible. So I'd look into the appropriate forms of mail for the period/harness you're recreating/wearing, and find a maker who can provide you with a reasonable facsimile of that (with an eye particularly towards weight, and also partially ring size. as that very marginally affects how it moves).

Thank you, that answers my question quite well!

This would be for Fiore armored combat, and so it would go under "some plate". I have a gambeson and in the next couple years I see my class expanding into more armored combat. So mail, coat of plates or a breast plate, etc etc.

If the Azon stuff were far stronger I would be interested but it sounds like it isn't.

Sorry for the de-rail gentlemen!