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Walter S




Location: Czech Republic
Joined: 16 Aug 2008
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PostPosted: Wed 08 Sep, 2010 8:57 am    Post subject: Maille mittens question         Reply with quote

I understand that maille shirts usually had no backing, but what about maille mittens? I would think that the mittens would slide off your hands easily if they didn't have some kind of backing. I suppose there could also be some kind of lacing at the wrist - that would prevent the mittens from sliding down too.
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Scott Hrouda




Location: Minnesota, USA
Joined: 17 Nov 2006
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PostPosted: Wed 08 Sep, 2010 9:20 am    Post subject: Re: Maille mittens question         Reply with quote

Walter S wrote:
I understand that maille shirts usually had no backing, but what about maille mittens? I would think that the mittens would slide off your hands easily if they didn't have some kind of backing. I suppose there could also be some kind of lacing at the wrist - that would prevent the mittens from sliding down too.


There are several good threads here that touch on this subject. The most recent one I could think of was a thread by Sander Marechal:

http://www.myArmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.php?t=19627

The search function will turn up several good hits for you.

Cheers,
Scott

...and that, my liege, is how we know the Earth to be banana shaped. - Sir Bedevere
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Walter S




Location: Czech Republic
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PostPosted: Wed 08 Sep, 2010 9:44 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

I probably shouldn't have searched for "maille", eh.
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Scott Hrouda




Location: Minnesota, USA
Joined: 17 Nov 2006
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PostPosted: Wed 08 Sep, 2010 10:07 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Walter S wrote:
I probably shouldn't have searched for "maille", eh.


Mail, maille, whatever floats your boat. Wink

(Just don't use chainmail Eek! )

Laughing Out Loud

There's a great feature article Mail: Unchained by Dan Howard with tons of well researched information.

I thought it was just us Minnesotans that ended every sentence with "eh". We're not alone!

...and that, my liege, is how we know the Earth to be banana shaped. - Sir Bedevere
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Walter S




Location: Czech Republic
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PostPosted: Wed 08 Sep, 2010 10:15 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Your surname is Hrouda - would you happen to have Slovan, or perhaps even Czech ancestors?
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Bartek Strojek




Location: Poland
Joined: 05 Aug 2008
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PostPosted: Wed 08 Sep, 2010 10:41 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Well, what do you mean by "backing" anyway?

That would help the discussion, as I'm not sure to be honest.
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Scott Hrouda




Location: Minnesota, USA
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Posts: 643

PostPosted: Wed 08 Sep, 2010 11:02 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Walter S wrote:
Your surname is Hrouda - would you happen to have Slovan, or perhaps even Czech ancestors?

Yes! I'll send you a PM tonight so as not to derail your thread.

Bartek Strojek wrote:
Well, what do you mean by "backing" anyway? That would help the discussion, as I'm not sure to be honest.


I believe Walter is talking about the leather gloves or mittens that the mail is sewn to. Check out a very nice pair made by David Teague in this thread.

...and that, my liege, is how we know the Earth to be banana shaped. - Sir Bedevere
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Walter S




Location: Czech Republic
Joined: 16 Aug 2008
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PostPosted: Thu 30 Sep, 2010 10:14 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

I looked through forums and around internet, but pretty much everything I found concerned building mittens suitable for sparring, with very little info about historical construction of mittens. One of things I'm trying to figure out is whether there was mail on the palms. Most today mittens have only leather there, but in period depictions such as Maciejowski bible, palms seem to be covered in mail too.
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Thomas R.




Location: Germany
Joined: 10 May 2010
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PostPosted: Thu 30 Sep, 2010 11:49 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Hi Walter,

if you are looking for maille mittens for sparring, it's not that important, wether the palms in period were covered in maille or not. Because you will find, that it is most uncomfortable to have them covered in maille.

My advice here is this: make a leather mitten, which fits your hand and thumb neatly. Pad it on the upperside with several layers of thick wool fabric and and an outer layer of canvas. Then add the maille so that it will curve slightly around the sides of your hand, so that the sides of your fingers are protected as well. Make the gloves long enaught, so that they will cover your wirsts and part of your forearms, too. The maille should go there all the way round your arm (like on depictions in the Manesse). Add a leatherstrap at your wrist, for fastening and adjusting.

This is how I would construct such mittens (and I am going to revise my ulfberth maille mittens in this manner, because the are clumsy, not good enaught padded and a bit too wide).

Regards,
Thomas

PS: Show us your work please, when finished

http://maerenundlobebaeren.tumblr.com/
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