In particular, check out their page about stab resistance levels.
http://www.bulletproofme.com/Stab-Resistance-Levels.shtml
I’m not affiliated with this site in any way, its just a nice site.
Gosh, perhaps a thread could be done about how much is different in the NYS Metropolitan Area. (NYSMA).
For instance, I was looking at eBay with a mind toward bidding on a car. I ran an AutoCheck on it and saw that it chronically failed strict NYSMA emissions inspections - but a couple hundred miles more - enough to drive upstate to where they just check if your horn honks - would pass.
I’d reckon the kevlar armour would be somewhat okay in NYC - yet if you’re pulled over wearing it all bets are off.
I wonder if any other metro-area - besides maybe LA - has such totally different laws than the state.
[hijack]
“There was the famous case of the LA bank-robbers who emerged from the bank - guns-a-blastin’ - and they were wearing an outer layer of some kind of alloy plate over layers of kevlar. Plus they were armed to-the-teeth with high-power guns with deadly ammo that goes right through engine blocks.”
I wouldn’t want to judge peoples’ actions in a situation like that but I never understood why they didn’t have a sniper team there stat with a bullet in the face for those guys. It went on for over an hour! I don’t care what your mask is made of you’re going down with a high powered bullet smacking you on the nose.
[/hijack]
Hey Skillet! SCA over here, too.
I’m planning on making a hauberk myself, if I can find a source for cheap stainless split rings. It passes the 10’ standard I hold myself to, and doesn’t need all the repair of butted mild steel.
I agree. Maille is SEXY!
hijack
What do you wear under the hauberk over the crunchy bits? Sir Pierre in Bergenthal wears a harness of heat molded plastic over his sternum, shoulders, and upper spine, with a kidney belt and the standard leg/arm/throat/jibblies protection. Some others make a gambeson with pockets for leather or Kydex plates.
Martin/Said Suleiman ibn Ghazi
Martin,
greetings, and check out my link to TRL, although cheap and stainless rings aren’t usually found in the same sentence 
I did make the mistake once of buying some “made in China” stainless butted maille. Turned out to be 16 gauge 7/16". Very pretty and way too light to stand up under combat. Nice for court armour tho.
I’ve never done any riveted maille, but it’s definately the way to go if you can a. make it or b. afford it
I wear a padded gambeson under my hauberk + kidney belt and steel pauldrons. If I’m going to fight without a shield (usually florentine or bastard sword), I’ll add my leather breast and back plate.
The summers down here in Meridies can be brutal, so less is more in that regards.
cheers
Andirke
Chainmail made of coat hanger wire will stop a knife. You want it to be fairly small rings, though.
I have yet to see any kind of mail that would stop any kind of large caliber bullet.
Wow, I never even thought of that. How would you go about forming it into rings?
Amazing how much playing role playing games can teach you about armor classes. :-p
“Plus they were armed to-the-teeth with high-power guns with deadly ammo that goes right through engine blocks.” What? They were armed with fast-firing rifles that use the same ammo as deer hunters use in their bolt-action rifles. And the notion of AP ammunition (which does, indeed, penetrate engine blocks) fired in the quantity that these two guys burned up is not realistic. The ammunition was what is known as FMJ (full metal jacket), but that does not make it AP (armor piercing). Having said this, I must hasten to say that my comments are not meant to trivialize the deadliness of the guns and ammunition that were used. Each of these bad guys had a rifle and at least one handgun and they were wearing body armor - a very scary combination, indeed. “I wouldn’t want to judge peoples’ actions in a situation like that but I never understood why they didn’t have a sniper team there stat with a bullet in the face for those guys. It went on for over an hour! I don’t care what your mask is made of you’re going down with a high powered bullet smacking you on the nose.” This is a good point… but, one of the problems that was realized after the incident was over was that the police were severely “out-gunned.” During the critical first-response arrival, none of the officers were equipped with high-powered rifles that are needed to deal with this type of situation. Snipers teams did indeed show up in a timely manner; but in the meantime, the police ran to a gunshop and borrowed some AR-15 rifles in an attempt to deal with the developing stand-off. This was a “fluid situation” in which wounded and stranded persons were within the “danger zone” and this may have contributed to the reluctance to have the police sharpshooters open fire.
I once saw a chainmail bra in a lingere shop.
It didn’t look especially comfortable though.
I own a chainmail bra. They have to be custom fitted, which is an interesting experience in itself.
You need to seriously consider the company you keep and/or the neighborhood(s) you frequent to consider chainmail as part of your normal attire.
One function of modern body armor is to absorb and dissipate energy. Even if the mail stops the bullet the material is flexible enough that the bullet and mail will have penetrated well into the body, causing massive injury, probably no less severe than had no armor been worn. Even with the best modern body armor there is usually significant to severe blunt trauma to the wearer even when the bullet is completely contained by the vest. It’s not at all like you see in the movies.
Do you wear it when you feel armourous ?
The same way I made the rings for my chain maile vest, wrap it around a metal bar. It makes it into a spring-looking coil. Then you make a cut every 360 degrees around the “spring” to make individual rings.
I have a half-finished maile shirt (no arms and needs to be lengthed) from when my friends got me involved with SCA back in college. I do not do it anymore but was contemplated selling the shirt (and maybe making some for other people) for a little extra money.
Three Kings did it well, from what I remember.
Butted mail is next to useless for anything other than decoration. If mail is properly made from good high carbon spring steel with small links securely fastened shut it can stop a knife unless the blade is very slender and thrust very hard which is why mail works best in conjunction with other forms of protection such as leather and padding under it. I suggest draping a sample of the mail over something that simulates a human body ,hacking, slashing, and stabbing away at it untill you get a feel for exacly how much protection it gives.
Suprisingly, there generally aren’t laws about non-felons wearing some kind of body armor. You’re obviously going to have trouble going anywhere that requres you to get through a metal detector, and might draw a bit of unwanted attention. IIRC it’s legal to get on a plane with chainmail, but expect to get searched and questoned about it.
The effectiveness is obviously going to depend on the weight and amount of padding, but I don’t know that it would do you all that much good. A punch in the belly would be rough on an attacker, but the mail wouldn’t do any good for getting clubbed or punched in the head. Similarly, it probably would protect against stabbing wounds from a knife, but it isn’t going to keep your arms from getting sliced up, and most people who die from a knife fight die from blood loss AFAIR. The mail and padding (probably more padding than mail) might stop a weak pistol round like a .380, but isn’t going to do much about a 9mm or stronger cartridge.
There are companies that make kevlar armor, both ‘police vest’ and concealable types (there’s been a link or two in this thread), which would IMO work better than chainmail at protecting against a modern threat. And which are also generally legal to use. Granted, if I worked as an animal control officer I might want a full-body suit of chainmail like I’ve seen divers use, but…
Sock Monkey
butted maille is very effective against slashing, cutting attacks. Of course, piercing things are another matter. Obviously it won’t stop bullets, but that’s why it was often combined with plate or leather or lamellar or brigandine etc . . .
I’ll never forget the night I fell on my father’s scythe. luckily I was wearing my butted maille, and it only bruised me, instead of slicing and dicing.
An untrue yet revealing story
London Calling asked: Do you wear it when you feel armourous ?
Honestly, I wear it to feel chaste!
Bach to topic, though. Butchers and cooks often buy chain mail gloves at restaraunt supply houses. It saves their fingers and hands from cuts and slashes.
IMHO it would actually be worse. Little chainmail fragments would be driven into your body from the rings shattering with the impact of the bullet. Although the deforming and breaking rings would bleed off a small amount of the impact it would be creating more little projectiles from scraps of links. :eek: