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I’ve seen it both as ‘Chain Mail’ and ‘Chainmail’. We’ll leave that argument alone because now we’re going to learn a little about this type of armor. It’s one that is still finely crafted by some people today for a variety of reasons. First, what is chainmail?
For those who don’t know, it’s a type of metal armor that many DnD players see as the step between leather and full-plate. Plenty of things in the middle, but that’s not the point. A piece of chainmail is made by linking small metal rings together and shaping them to be a vest, headpiece, shirt, or just about anything. This creates a protective mesh, which warriors wore across the globe. Chainmail granted more protection than previous armors and was flexible enough to allow semi-easy movement. This was the superior armor for nearly a thousand years in some countries.
Here are some facts:
- Credit for the invention of chainmail typically goes to the Celts of the 3rd century.
- Chainmail is entirely to protect against stabbing.
- The most common chainmail pattern in Europe was called a 4-to-1. Each ring would be connected to 4 other rings.
- For centuries, chainmail would have alternating rows of solid rings and riveted rings. A transition to wedge-shaped rivets would result in the solid rings eventually being phased out. (I wasn’t able to find out why this happened aside from a few theories about original round rivets have a high chance of failure without having the rows of solid links.)
- Chainmail links were riveted to prevent most blades from breaking the armor.
- Due to the flexibility, warriors could still be injured from a blow even if they weren’t stab. This is why many would where quilted jackets underneath (called a gambeson) to absorb the force and provide extra protection.
- Since this armor didn’t do a lot to prevent bruising and broken bones, people would still need to wear a solid helmet.
- Earliest chainmail was made using iron, but would eventually be replaced by bronze and steel.
- Chainmail is heavy. A mail hood could way around 25 pounds while shirts could be around 60 pounds. So, you had more stab protection than earlier armors and retained more flexibility than plate armors, but it still weighed you down.
- Chainmail was eventually replaced in combat by full plate due to the more common use of crossbows and then firearms.
Is chainmail still used today outside of Ren Faires and historical reenactments? Yes! The metal ring mesh is still good protection against stabbing, so it is used in:
- Stab-proof vests since bulletproof ones don’t give much protection from knives.
- Shrapnel and splash guards in industrial areas.
- Butchers in meat-packing plants may wear chainmail gloves and aprons.
- Oyster shuckers have the gloves too.
- Divers wear shark-resistant suits of chainmail.
- Sometimes animal control officers wear chainmail to protect against bites.
And there we go. Enjoy Chainmail Day!
Legends of Windemere 
Just to make things worse for you: chain maille is yet another correct, albeit much earlier, spelling. It’s all the same craft.
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Think I’ve seen it. Really messed with my head though.
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Very cool. I enjoy the fact that it is still in use to some degree.
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I’m impressed that it still has so many uses.
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I imagine the modern chain mail is a bit lighter? I can’t imagine moving around with all that weight bearing down on you. The warriors who wore it but have been incredibly strong, especially when their weapons were also very heavy.
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I think it is lighter. Believe I read that even weight distribution helped warriors with wearing chainmail. So it wasn’t as big a burden as we imagine.
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I hadn’t thought about chainmail till now. Great information. Happy Chainmail Day
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Thanks. 😊
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😁
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Happy Chainmail Day.
I’m glad to see the kudos being given to the Celts. They are so often considered an ignorant bunch. I think largely due to the Romans referring to them as Barbarians, and the idea that they all ran away from the Romans and ended in the Western reaches of Europe. The fact is that, yes, the Romans beat them with their superior organisations, but they then absorbed the native cultures, intermarrying. The native population then took on Roman culture and language. The reason why the Celtic culture and languages stayed in the west was simply because the Romans didn’t get there!
Interesting to note the modern uses of chainmail, especially in stab-proof vests. I’d never thought about how it would react to bullets.
Thank you for an interesting post. One that will no doubt come in useful in my own writing.
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Didn’t the Romans conquer and absorb a lot of cultures? Forgot what the whole thing was called where those they conquered were allowed to keep their culture.
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Yes, they did. They were very clever about that, but things like language gradually disappeared. The native population would need to be able to communicate with the Romans, so learned Latin. (ugh! Poor things. I did Latin at school. I was rubbish at it.)
Also Roman stone buildings would be more appealing than the round huts the Celts used, built on a wooden frame with ‘wattle and daub’. The Romans had central heating in the form of the hypocaust, entertainments, including gladiator fights.
The people were considered full citizens, and their culture gradually disappeared, except in those places like Wales, Scotland, Brittany, Cornwall and the Basque area of France and Spain where the Romans didn’t reach.
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Guess Latin was easy back then. If you were born into it, the language would be how we see English. Surprised Rome didn’t get to some of those areas.
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