Just got my fully rivetted maille coif in the maille today from Forth Armoury ( http://www.forth-armoury.com/ ). The quality is the finest I've ever seen. Didn't find any bad links or rings, the coif is lightweight (all things considered), and it hangs low past my shoulders. And the historical accuracy is so close that only a person who's really closely studied original pieces can tell. The website explains why they aren't 100% historically accurate, but I must say that even knowing the difference, it looks incredibly close to the museum pieces I've seen. Compared to the cheaper Indian made stuff, Forth Armoury completely blows them out of the water. The price to quality ratio is also incredible.

Steven Sheldon was very prompt with e-mail replies to my questions, and shipped this out to me very quickly. I'd contacted him about paying via check instead of through PayPal, and he not only was accomodating, but he even held the very last coif in stock for me before I even had a check sent to him. A true gentleman.

Included with the coif was also a printout of cleaning instructions and such, which was a nice touch.

My only regret? That I already had bought an inexpensive Indian-made rivetted shirt elsewhere. After comparing the quality of this coif, I am certain that Forth Armory is FAR MORE than worth the extra two hundred or so bucks or so for the haubergon compared to Indian made stuff.

Here's a pic of it on me in the mirror. (I'm not sure, but this just might be my first appearance on the web... :eek: ) The second shot a close up of the links. Notice that they are all flattened and hand rivetted. Amazing stuff.

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The weight on this coif is 5 lbs, 8 oz. Many cheapo-repros are twice that weight, and don't cover nearly as much.

Just a note of clarification. This mail is also manufactured in India. It is just made with a different technique than the round linked variety sold by various merchants. This style is only available through two vendors. One is here in the states as you already mentioned, the other is located in Scotland.

Cheers,
E