Hello all,

I've recently been looking for evidence for mail in 6mm rings that would be documented for the viking age. Very soon I will have a 6mm hauberk for my early 15th century kit, but wanted to see if there was any evidence that suggested if it was used during that period.

I had spoken with William Short from Hurstwic about this and he had said he had documented it, but can't find his notes and that it'll be some time.

The link to Hurstwics page.
http://www.hurstwic.com/history/articles/manu...g_mail.htm

So, if anyone has any information on this that would be greatly appreciated :D

-Reece

Are your 6mm links measured from the inside or the outside of the ring? Most listed 6mm rings are actually around 7-8mm, as the manufacturer measures the diameter from the inside of the ring. Most museums and collections will list measurements from the outside of the ring, so a 6mm hauberk in a museum might have an inner diameter of 4mm or so.

As for references, there are many knowledgable forumites about who can list links to useful webpages and .pdf documents; I tend to just download the documents and forget the links...

Here you have some examples: http://www.vikingsonline.org.uk/resources/authenticity/chainmail/

http://members.ozemail.com.au/~chrisandpeter/mail/birka_mail.htm

Here they list quite a bit of 6mm and smaller rings, as far as inside diameter goes.

If that's what you mean, doesn't seem that there were any as small as 6mm of external diameter in Birka.

Wow! Looking at the charts, some of those hauberks must have been very impressive! 9mm external measurements with almost 2mm wire? That, and the Gjermundbu shirt have some beefy links

The measurements of the links today may not have any relation to the size of the links when they were first made. Iron can increase to more than twice its volume as it oxidises.