Hey everyone,
So a quick and kind of foolish thing to ask, how tight should your mail hauberk be? I understand that mail was custom built for knights and other warriors, except those looted in battle which would have to be altered. But how tight or loose would you want it? I've been looking at photos from reenactment of Bouvines and similar era reenactments and seem to have tied points on their arms. Was that a common practice or just something to help with the shiftyness of mail? For of a reference point I'm looking at say a well armed knight in the late 12th/early 13th century , so he would be wearing a gambeson or some type of thick padded armor underneath the mail.

It should be form fitting without being restrictive. The more excess you have the heavier it becomes. It was not uncommon to see bindings at the wrist or knee, though I've never observed any around the elbow. The wrist has to be large enough to allow the hand through, and as the hand has a wider circumference around the first knuckle of the thumb than the wrist does, some binding at the wrist is useful.

I'm sure not all mail was tailored to fit the person, and many men must have used "off-the-rack" shirts made in one of four generic sizes. Miniatures certaily suggest that more padding was worn beneath mail in the 1330s than in the 1230s, so the tightness might also have varied by date as well as by social and economic class.

If you can put it on you over the head while wearing your under armour padding, it's not too tight. :-) Pointing points on arms may be very useful if your leeves are a bit floppy on your arms. :)

What would be the ruleset on laced up mail, like what is common is Middle Eastern and Indian mail? You could make it fit tighter to your padding/ clothing because you don't like to slip it over the head?

Well, it is more comfortable to put on. I often wondered why it wasn't more popular in Europe.

Have a look at this Facebook photo album by Arne Koets for an example of how close-fitting mail can be made to be without being restrictive: https://www.facebook.com/arne.koets/media_set?set=a.10154096682929761.1073741832.605814760&type=3