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Aluminum Mail, 13th Century Kit
I fell in love with the idea of creating a crusades-era knight kit before I
even considered getting plate armor. I love the style, and mail is a lot
easier and cheaper to obtain or make.
I still need to create some better surcoats and settle on a device. However,
in 2006 I added the spaulders and (sometimes) a shield.
A couple years before that, I had added the studded gauntlets and bracers (instead
of the plain black bracers I had used before), which also dressed it up quite a bit.
I'm not a real purist when it comes to complete historical accuracy. I just
want my stuff to be a reasonable approximation.
Of course, one thing that nearly everyone gets "wrong" in this sort of thing
(and I'm no exception) is
that the armor is 14g butted rings, rather than flattened thinner guage steel
with rivets. In my earlier incarnations of this kit, the rings were galvanized
steel, which made the hauberk weigh about 40 lbs by itself, not including the
coif. I only made it through an 8-hour day once (nearly all of the weight is on
just your shoulders, unlike plate armor which distributes it much better).
The rest of the time it would come off earlier in the day.
Now I use my aluminum set that I've been gradually completing for years. I can
wear it comfortably all day, and it looks almost the same (and with a better
sheen), though the new spaulders still pull on my shoulders a bit.
I tend to wear this set to faire more frequently than the plate armor since it's
a lot more comfortable (with the aluminum) and is more temperature-friendly.
The picture to the right also shows the brass spiral
knighthood chain I made. Picture was taken at MDRF (Maryland Renaissance Festival)
in 2006.
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