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Author Topic: ABS maille and improving my kit.  (Read 18124 times)

Sir Ulrich

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ABS maille and improving my kit.
« on: 2015-01-30, 23:37:44 »
http://allbeststuff.com/c-medieval-chainmail-armor/Round-Riveted-Chain-Mail-Shirt/Round-Washer-Chain-Mail-Suit-Hauberk-Coif-Ventail-Mittens-Chausses
I just recently got a new gambeson at a steal price of 45 bucks, and this one was off the rack but oddly it fits me better than my custom one which is a bit bulky around the chest. I been working out a lot lately and realize I tailored my maille too tight to go under any thicker gambeson (but it fits fine under my old one) I been considering getting one of these ABS hauberks with the integrated coifs and mittns. I WAS going to do roman reenacting but decided against it cause I dont have the room for it nor do I feel like buying tons of new stuff as I noticed stuff like hamatas are upwards to 700 bucks, along with all the legionary gear being quite expensive it's not something I can do at the moment. I'm not sure how to ask these people for custom sizes and to be blunt I dont want the chausses that come with it cause I already have a decent pair that fit me well enough and are tailored just fine. Is there any way I can order just the hauberk with the integrated mittens coif and ventail. I'm selling some of my old stuff as well like those mittens I ordered cause I'm dissatisfied with them to be frank, (hate working with maille and tailoring and cutting and crap I really DONT want to do that ever again) I DONT want to attach them to my hauberk cause I plan to cut that ones bottom flaps and possibly bottom sleeves to use it for a later century impression when I get around to doing that (would rather have gauntlets than integrated mittens cause theres NO way I'm going to do fighting without good hand protection). I know ABS offers tailoring as Nate got his done like that and it seems to fit well enough, I been considering the same. Any suggestions?
« Last Edit: 2015-01-30, 23:39:17 by Sir Ulrich »

Sir James A

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Re: ABS maille and improving my kit.
« Reply #1 on: 2015-01-31, 01:25:45 »
For the tailoring, just give them the sizes you want at the places you want (such as bicep, elbow, wrist, waist) and they will give you a quote.

Combat with maille mittens instead of gauntlets is a great way to break fingers. Good choice going with gauntlets. :) (You can still break fingers with gauntlets, just less of a chance...)
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Sir Nate

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Re: ABS maille and improving my kit.
« Reply #2 on: 2015-02-01, 21:31:10 »
For the tailoring, just give them the sizes you want at the places you want (such as bicep, elbow, wrist, waist) and they will give you a quote.

Combat with maille mittens instead of gauntlets is a great way to break fingers. Good choice going with gauntlets. :) (You can still break fingers with gauntlets, just less of a chance...)
What if they are double mail mittens?
Hmm When do the first plate gauntlets appear?
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Sir William

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Re: ABS maille and improving my kit.
« Reply #3 on: 2015-02-02, 15:32:50 »
You're the customer, so you tell him what you want (or don't) and he'll accomodate you.  He's pretty quick on communications and production, I got my hauberk relatively quickly (I expected it to take 2 months and it did).
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Sir James A

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Re: ABS maille and improving my kit.
« Reply #4 on: 2015-02-02, 18:28:35 »
For the tailoring, just give them the sizes you want at the places you want (such as bicep, elbow, wrist, waist) and they will give you a quote.

Combat with maille mittens instead of gauntlets is a great way to break fingers. Good choice going with gauntlets. :) (You can still break fingers with gauntlets, just less of a chance...)
What if they are double mail mittens?
Hmm When do the first plate gauntlets appear?

Armored combat with only mail = Desire to have bones broken
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Mike W.

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Re: ABS maille and improving my kit.
« Reply #5 on: 2015-02-02, 19:13:22 »
How about jousting with maille only? I mean, what could go wrong?
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Ian

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Re: ABS maille and improving my kit.
« Reply #6 on: 2015-02-02, 22:15:32 »
What if they are double mail mittens?
Hmm When do the first plate gauntlets appear?

Because modern combat amounts to every weapon being blunt force trauma, the reality is that maille is only partially protective.  It will protect you from abrasions and things like that, but it will not protect against a whack with steel or rattan against delicate bones like your phalanges.  What is protecting those delicate bones is rigid defense.  It's the rigidity that is dispersing impact force and preventing bones from bending in ways they shouldn't.  Without those two things, your fingers will break.  So, in order for maille to really protect your fingers, you'd have to have enough layers to make it rigid, which defeats the entire purpose of maille.  It would also become so heavy at that point it would be doubly self-defeating because the mitten would become a weight on a long lever arm (in this case your actual arm) rendering the protection too unwieldy. 

In the real middle ages, knights of the maille era were more worried about protecting their hands from cutting and slashing wounds that were incidental in combat.  But if someone took a full on swing to their hand they new it was going to break or at least be pretty damaged.  It was also the best they had for a long swath of time.  Since we're more concerned with sport safety in what we do (we're not looking to kill, injure or maim people) maille is always a poor choice for hand protection.  Even if hands are 'illegal targets' they just tend to get hit by accident too frequently to leave it to chance.
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Sir Ulrich

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Re: ABS maille and improving my kit.
« Reply #7 on: 2015-02-04, 05:09:26 »
Welp I took the measurements. Turns out off the rack it should fit me totally fine. Now I am not sure if I should get it with the chausses or without. I mean if my legs grow from my workout routine I think having a spare set would be beneficial for the future. My parents actually dont mind that I am doing this surprisingly, they actually were supportive of it. Ever since I started working out more they think wearing armor helps me build up my body so both of them think it's good for me. Both of them also seemed open to me trying WMA and stuff as well. In all honesty I just dont know if 45 pounds (which the hauberk weighs) is too much.

My sleeve length  is 23 maybe just 21 to be honest cause the sleeve goes over my hand a bit.
All the way around the armpit is 21 inches, and around my wrists at the bottom it's 11.5
MY hand would be 8.5 inches and my chest size is 38.5

Quote
Chain Mail Shirt: 16G 9MM
Chest Size: 52 inch
This is a comfort fit for someone with actual chest size of 42 inches
Sleeve Length from Armpit: 20 inch + 8 inches of Mittens (4 fingers & thumb seperate)
Mittens will have chain mail at the back & leather palms
Sleeve Circumference: 20 inch at armpit tapered to 12 inches at wrist
Overall Length from Shoulder: 42 inch
7 inches split at bottom front & back for leg movement
Not sure how well those would fit but it looks pretty damn close apart from the chest size being 52 instead.  Pretty sure that would be fine though cause my other hauberk is a comfortable fit for 48 inch chest and this one says 42 inch chest.

Sir William

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Re: ABS maille and improving my kit.
« Reply #8 on: 2015-02-04, 16:24:40 »
His measurements leave a bit to be desired- 52" is the measurement it will be after you have on all of your arming wear and under clothing, around the outside.  If you have a 42" chest, the seller assumes that the 52" should fit- and it should, unless you're into extra large/heavy padding which will increase your measurement.
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Sir Ulrich

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Re: ABS maille and improving my kit.
« Reply #9 on: 2015-02-05, 03:08:49 »
So I should be fine with the measurements? I got a 38 1/2 inch chest when it comes to having my gambeson on. I mean my other hauberk was 48 inch chest and fit me just fine. Maybe I should just ask them to make the chest size smaller? But I am a bit cautious about that.

Sir James A

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Re: ABS maille and improving my kit.
« Reply #10 on: 2015-02-05, 16:50:33 »
It's easier to take out rings than to add them back in. Well, both are easy, and both are a bit mind-numbingly-painful to me, but I'd rather subtract rings than add. I'd over-estimate rather than under-estimate.

Generally speaking, take 25% off the size of 9mm rings when sizing for flexion and compression, so 52" overall would be approx 41.5" chest size (so yes, a few inches too large on you).
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Ian

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Re: ABS maille and improving my kit.
« Reply #11 on: 2015-02-05, 19:07:09 »
I too would always much prefer removing rings than adding them.  Just keep in mind that if you're talking about removing rings from anywhere other than the edges of the shirt (cuffs, neckline or hem) you will have to add back rings regardless.

Keeping that in mind I intentionally ordered my last shirt with sleeves and a hem that I knew would be too long so that I could trim that to exactly where I want them to lay on my kit.  With the chest size I trusted the manufacturer (customchainmail) to size it according to my chest size in my gambeson instead of ordering slightly too big because I didn't want to mess with the body tube. 
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Sir Ulrich

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Re: ABS maille and improving my kit.
« Reply #12 on: 2015-02-06, 00:30:14 »
Well I messaged them back hope they get back with me soon, hope I dont order a size too big because of my arms being a bit slightly longer than the default size.

Sir William

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Re: ABS maille and improving my kit.
« Reply #13 on: 2015-02-06, 14:44:20 »
If you need the arms to be longer, he can make the longer.  He isn't getting them from the manufacturer, he is the manufacturer (ABS). 
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Sir James A

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Re: ABS maille and improving my kit.
« Reply #14 on: 2015-02-06, 22:22:49 »
If you need the arms to be longer, he can make the longer.  He isn't getting them from the manufacturer, he is the manufacturer (ABS). 

^ Yep. When I ordered mine I asked for tapered sleeves, longer sleeves, and a longer hemline too. He did all of that.

I also did as Sir Ian did, intentionally getting over my estimate of the length of sleeves and hemline. That was great because my hemline estimate was slightly off, with the 2" extra it ended up being perfect. Had I not overshot, I'd still be sitting in a dark corner with a pair of pliers crying over having to deal with adding length out of 6mm rings.
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