Hello guys I'm new.

I wanted to know what the minimum is when it comes to maile. I want to purchase a suit for protection against blunt and sharpened weapons, but it doesn't have to be the best.

I'm very poor so this investment has to be permanent. I need to buy armour which will be good enough to last so I don't have to buy a better one later. No costume armour, just the cheapest.

Now I've noticed aluminium chain is a chrome finished metal, very shiny. The heat treatment of genuine mail turns it black, correct? Does the black colour of these real suits wear off, or does it change deep into the rings?

RIngs come in various diameters, what is the typical diameter of a European suit? Aka 1066 - 1200 time.

Rings come in rounded and flat, what's the difference structually?

What is the lowest price i have to pay and can anyone please provide me links to sellers.

Please help to find a suit I can enjoy at a low price. Cheers mate.

Aluminium maille will NOT protect you period. You need at least mild steel 16 or 15 gauge (swg) wire (1,6-1,8 mm), 10 mm or better 8 mm diameter rings, RIVETED or welded and a good gambeson if you are planning to use this maille armor in combat against both blunt and sharpened weapons.

Want to be cheap? Make your own butted maille! Will protect pretty well from cuts, but fail miserably against thrust. Well, any mass-produced maille would fail against thrusts except welded steel one.

I would say that a butted maille with 8 mm diameter rings made from 1.8 mm thick wire over a good gambeson (about 15 mm or 0.6 inch thick ) would protect you against light /controlled cutting blows from unsharpened blades or light/controlled blunt blows from mace type weapons (with no spikes). The same maille armor will not protect you enough against a medium to full force cutting blow or from a light thrusting strike. A butted ring from same thickness wire is stronger when it's dimeter is smaller so an 8mm diameter ring from 1.8 thickness wire will be stronger than a 10 mm diameter ring made from the same wire.

A few years ago I made a shirt from alternating rows of 4-5mm butted (1.2 mm wire) and solid washers. It could stop the hardest knife thrust I could manage against it with little visible damage afterwards. I wouldn't think it would do much against a heavy arrow or spear though.

There is so much to say on this topic it's tough to give a straight answer. So much depends on exact use and intent that there is no one right answer. However, Romulus' first statement comes about as close as I think is possible to giving "the short answer for the minimum requirements of functional maille.

Romulus Stoica wrote:

Aluminium maille will NOT protect you period. You need at least mild steel 16 or 15 gauge (swg) wire (1,6-1,8 mm), 10 mm or better 8 mm diameter rings, RIVETED or welded and a good gambeson if you are planning to use this maille armor in combat against both blunt and sharpened weapons.

I have a butted mail hauberk but I only wear it for show and when doing demonstrations I always make it clear that it's not historical or truly functional.

I would go for at least riveted maille and galvanized mild steel won't rust although you may resemble a chain link fence because of the colour, but it's at least low maintenance compared to unprotected carbon steel and a lot less expensive than stainless steel maille. ( With time the galvanized coating will darken if exposed to the elements and look better ).

Oil blackened maille may have some degree of rust protection but I have no idea how long the finish will last as the rings rub against each other in use.

This one at Kult of Athena has alternating riveted and solid rings which would probably be your best bet as to durability and protection but it isn't zinc plated ( Galvanized ) so you would have to keep it oiled and deal with surface rust after you use it.
http://www.kultofathena.com/product.asp?item=...7%27+Chest

Not sure if this is within your budget limits, but the only really cheap maille is butted and it's really poor protection that won't take many hits before falling apart from I read from some of the comments above.

I only see galvanized " Butted Gavanized " maiille on the KoA site for some reason, and no riveted galvanized at the moment ? :surprised: I do have a riveted galvanized hauberk so I know they used to be made !

Maybe you could post a Topic on the Marketplace forum for a used maille shirt offering a price you can afford: Some people may have an old one they might sell if they want to upgrade to a more costly stainless or welded shirt ?

Hmm, protection vs sharps.

Don't go cheap! (or even better, don't use sharps) That's pretty much all I have to say.

I don't know what your price range is, but I got a great riveted maille shirt and coif for a total of $405.00. It's a great investment, and I love it.

Here's the link to the buyer, it's on e-bay. He does custom fitting too, so you can contact him and tell him your measurements.

http://www.ebay.com/sch/m.html?_from=&_nk...&rt=nc

My advice, though, is DO NOT buy butted maille. I bought a shirt and coif for around $130.00, because I was in your exact position. I didn't realize how easily the links come apart. And so I ended up having to buy another shirt and coif altogether. Trust me, a riveted set up is a good investment.

I hope this helps.

Yeah. You'll notice I got the sleeves a little longer, than was necessary, because i planned on cutting them down if they proved to be too long, which I did, because they were. If it looks a little big for me, that's because I wasn't wearing the gambeson in these pictures.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bullets4brains/

The butted ring mail that myself and a number of ppl in the group I'm a member of is made of SPRING steel rings.It seems to hold up very well to a lot of use including some medium hard hits from blunt (2-3mil edge) weapons.
Ron

I've found some suits

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/8mm-MILD-STEEL-ROUN...1c29a86f2a

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/8mm-MEDIEVAL-FLAT-R...1c29252b95

Mods, pretty please don't take these links down (I see other threads and nobody touches them). I really need specifics.

What do you people think about these ones? They are meant to be zinc plated, one is 17G and the next is 18G, both 8mm and heavy (that's really good).