[Jeffrey Hedgecock]

Our order of Voiders, Skirts and Shirts of Flat Ring Wedge-riveted Maille has arrived!

It looks great and we sell it clean and free of the usual "gunk" that plagues most retail mail.

It's really light too-- only 13-1/2 pounds for a 48" haubergeon, 5 pounds for a pair of voiders and 4-1/2 pound for a skirt. Wow!!

Check it out......(and make your order today- while supplies and our special prices last!)

http://www.historicenterprises.com/cart.php?m...t&c=25

[Chase S-R]

could we get a close up picture of the mail? and are the half sleeves loose or fitted like a t-shirt

[Alessandro Fantucci]

Hi

This type of ring is ok for XV cent....good product!!

For my period, XIV cent, i need round section rings...like this



...but I like brunite and with "grano d'orzo" fixage like the link of Jeffrey Hedgecock's link

by by

[Jeffrey Hedgecock]

I think you're saying that you need round section wire rings, but with wedge rivets. So far, I know of no one who makes this. There is round wire with round rivets, or flat rings with either round or wedge rivets. And all of the round wire maille has rings with too large diameter, usually around 10mm, which is too big. It should be more like 7mm.

I've been trying to get my manufacturer to make 7mm round wire ring maille with wedge rivets, but he hasn't seen the historical value in it yet. I think it's because it's really difficult to make. I'm going to keep trying though.

That said, our 9mm flat ring wedge riveted is really nice stuff. Very cleanly constructed, and I always tumble it until it's very clean and almost bright.

There is a closeup of our maille on our website. Please go there to see. Follow the link above.

The sleeves on our shirts are somewhat close fitting, but not like a tshirt. Loose enough, but not too loose. Think- the Italian fashion, of wearing the half sleeved shirt under the pauldrons/spaudlers, but over the vambraces. The correct fit...just right. Of course that depends on your arms, but our sizes are proportional to body type based on chest circumference.

[M. Eversberg II]

Are these tailored or of tube construction?

M.

[Jeffrey Hedgecock]

These are commercially produced haubergeons, and as far as I know there are no commercially produced "tailored" shirts of any type available from anyone. Considering the labor intensive nature of riveted maille, it's quite impractical to produce tailored shirts in any volume save for one-off custom pieces. Ours are not "custom" at all, but are thoughtfully designed and somewhat easily customized by a knowledgeable end user. Alternatively a purchaser could contract with a custom craftsman to "personalize" a shirt to a particular body type.

Our shirts, however, do minimize or even eliminate the extra bulk through the sleeve and shoulder area, provided the correct chest circumference is selected by the purchaser.

If it were practical, we would certainly love to offer tailored garments, but given the nature of the product and the cost of labor in this country, it's beyond our and, more importantly, our customers' means currently.

If you have any practicable suggestions though, I'm happy to hear them.

[M. Eversberg II]

Point taken.

M.

[Ed Toton]

Any plans on offering them with tapered sleeves? I understand the limitations in complex tailoring around the back, shoulders, hips, etc. But it seems that simple tapering of the sleeves to reduce that "wings of mail" sort of look wouldn't be as hard to accomplish. I'm surprised no one seems to be doing this.

[Jeffrey Hedgecock]

It's really unnecessary and undesirable to taper the sleeves on a half sleeve or "elbow length sleeve" shirt, as it's often the expectation that the shirt will be worn with the sleeves over the vambraces. To taper them would not allow this.

It is, however, desirable to taper long or "full" sleeves, with the expectation that the sleeves will go under plate armour, or be worn with an aketon or other padded defense underneath the maille, so extra bulk is definitely unwanted.

Our long sleeve shirts, when we get them in, have tapered sleeves. We just don't happen to have any at the moment. The market for them is significantly smaller for them, so we don't get them in as often, though we hope to get a new order going in the fall. Please keep in mind that even though these are production items, they're still handmade, and it takes skilled craftsmen a relatively long time to make these. They're quite labor intensive, no matter how many techniques are created for speeding up the work. Handwork takes time.

We're really happy with the response and considered questions re. our products. Sales are pretty good and if we see more product move it will allow us to keep better stock, keep prices low and pass on those good things to our loyal customers. Thanks to all you folks!

[Douglas S]

Jeff, I beleive there would be some interest in alternate-row mail, appropriate to the Viking age. Please consider that.

[C. Gadda]

[Jeffrey Hedgecock]

The loose rings have not been discontinued, I just had to make the shirts, skirt and voiders the priority. Actually I had an order in for the voiders and skirts which took longer for the manufacturer to produce than expected, -and- a separate order for shirts, which they completed earlier than expected. This put us in a bind with a bill twice as big as we'd allowed for, so I asked the mfr to split the order, hence we got most of the voiders and skirts, and some of the shirts. The rings got sort of lost in the shuffle, as they were needed as well, but second in priority.

We plan to have rings, hopefully with the second shipment in 3-5 weeks. We're really sorry for the delay.

It just so happens that I received 1 set of voiders and a standard in 6mm round section, round riveted rings, alternating with solid rings. These cleaned up really nice in my tumbler and look quite spiffing. Price is slightly higher than the 9mm 18ga, but the material is slightly heavier, due to the density of the weave. It moves wonderfully and looks the bomb though. I just wonder what a shirt would weigh. voiders are about 15% heavier than 9mm, so I expect a shirt would be about the same, maybe 14-1/2 to 15 pounds for our medium?

Because the 6mm is so labor intensive, I think it will never be produced with all riveted rings. Is the round section, round rivet, alternating with solid rings acceptable for you? If so, I can inquire about pricing on shirts and other items. Please tell me also what specs on the shirts, etc you would need.

I'll post a picture of the 6mm weave tomorrow.

The suggestions are great, guys. Thanks for your interest. We're always open to opinions, comments and your ideas!

[C. Gadda]

[Douglas S]

Since Jeff has already gone over to the Dark Age side with the clothing, it would be natural to see other Dark Age gear as well.

[Jeffrey Hedgecock]

Ha! Good one!

Actually my wife Gwen Nowrick who is our clothing designer and developer worked long and hard in creating her (and believe me folks, it's all her doing, not mine) Dark Age clothing line. She talked at length with Regia Anglorum both here and in the UK before proceeding, making sure each clothing item and fabric type followed RA standards. I had nothing to do with it, other than to say, "Oooo, those fabrics look really awesome, and they feel nice too"... :-) I won't take any credit for it.

I did help coordinating the photo sessions with the photographer, but that was a very small thing.

I am, however, happy to lend a hand in filling out our offerings with other Dark Age products, and hopefully you kind people here will help. I'm really not that familiar with early riveted maille or the other myriad of accessories you might want, so if you have specific products you'd like to see us develop, please email me directly!

I'd prefer to keep our product development private, so please DON'T post your ideas publicly, email me at jeffrey@historicenterprises.com

Thanks! I look forward to hearing from you!

[Jeffrey Hedgecock]

Until Monday at 12 noon pacific time, we're offering a special price when you purchase both Voiders and Maille skirt together.

Save $35 off the cost of the pieces individually.

These are 9mm ID flat ring, wedge riveted maille. Fully cleaned, burnished and ready to use. Free of the usual oil, blackening and other stuff that make production maille so inconvenient.

Act now while the special lasts!

http://www.historicenterprises.com/cart.php?m...3&c=25