Armour Craft – Handy Protection Make Your Own Chain-mail Mittens
March 28, 2008
by Branwen
I’m sure that at some point in your life, you’ve picked up a couple of sticks and had a playful spar with some of your friends. You would have been quick to realize that whacks to the hand are painful.
Imagine for a moment that those flimsy ‘battle’ sticks you picked off the ground or tore off that poor tree are replaced with blades of tempered steel. This image casts a whole new meaning for the word pain.
Even during slow-paced training drills and sparring, a whack to the knuckled can be unpleasant.
For my first go at armor crafting and an essential piece of armor for any would-be warrior - hand protection.
The Basics of Armour Craft
As I’m new to the scene of combat and handicraft, this project is going to have to be something simple, but effective. There are three sets of things to keep in mind when preparing to make armor.
1. Cost / Authenticity – These walk hand in hand.
At this stage authenticity, or rather looking authentic, is a not a major factor. You need to make something quick, that’s cheap and will keep you safe during practice.
My main concern was not wasting money on materials that would go to waste. As a beginner plenty of mistakes could be made as a result of my inexperience.
When it comes to materials, be resourceful! One of the members of my group couldn’t get chain-mail at the time he was constructing his mitten. So he made his own chain mail out of a wire coat hanger.
2. Experience / Time
Your skills and the time you have, will effect what you decide to work with.
Being slack is not an option. The last thing you need is your armor peeling off just as you are charging onto the battle field. So to avoid embarrassing oneself, start out simple. Work your way up to more complex projects. This may sound like a crazy suggestion, but you need to make sure you know what you’re doing. Evaluate what you need to do to make the armor work.
3. Safety / Efficiency – This is the priority.
I am fortunate enough to be in a re-enacting club whose members include many experienced re-enactors. They have been through enough grueling experimentation to figure out what works and what doesn’t. Their knowledge saves me time, money, blood and just plain having to learn the hard way.
A member of my group explained to me how his first hand protection was just chain mail over a leather glove. During a fight he was silly enough to punch his opponents shield, scoring himself a broken knuckle. In the X-rays, imprints from the chain mail could be seen on the bone. The moral of this story being - chain mail needs padding underneath it!
A Brief History of Chain Mail Mittens
Chain mail mittens were a common sight on the European battle field during the Middle Ages. The mittens originated as an extension of the hauberk (chain mail shirt) into which a person would have been able to slide a gloved or bare hand.
During the thirteenth century the plated gauntlet became a more popular form of armor, as it was more effective at dispersing the force of a blow. The chain mail mitten did not seem to separate itself from armor until around the fifteenth century. Mittens also came in a plated form.
The Forging
My mittens are going to be very crude compared to the period versions. The materials I am using are:
- A pair of rigging gloves.
- Car upholstery (with a separate piece for the thumb)
- A portion of chain mail sleeve cut from an old chain mail shirt.
- Thick thread (Used on furniture and shade sails)
The Rigging Glove
The rigging glove is the base of the mitten, it saves me having to make a glove from scratch, which at this point in time is beyond my skill level.
The first step is attaching the glove to the upholstery. It is important to keep trying on the glove, as you are sewing to make sure there is enough room for your fingers to move.
Armor is useless if it doesn’t fit you properly. If it is too tight it makes it harder for you to manoeuvre, hampering your performance. If it is loose the armor will not protect you as well as it should.
The Needle and the Damage Done
During this process four needles were broken and I had received severe stab wounds.
By now I had figured out how to get the needle through with out destroying it or spearing my hand. After sewing the glove to padding, you have to trim all the spare foam.
Shaping the Chain Mail
The chain mail was given to me in a sleeve, so I had to split it through the middle, creating a sheet. To shape it, all that had to be done was to compare the sheet to the back of the padding and remove all the uneccessary chain links. Next the chain mail has to be sewn to the padding, stitching through the chain links on the edges.
At this stage the mittens are starting to look like a piece of usable armor.
The last bit was to protect the chain mail. I know it sounds a bit strange as chain mail is armor and suppose to protect you, but the chain mail is attached to the mittens in such a way that it could easily hook onto a blade and break.
To avoid having to fix it, I stitched together some scrap leather, and covered the chain mail.
This is the finished mitten!
As for testing it, well everyone in my house lined up to whack with a pair of barbecue tongs!
These mittens are perfect for training!
Cheap, effective and simple!
The Advantages of Self-Made Armor
There are many advantages to making your gear by hand rather than buying it.
For starters it’s a lot cheaper, but the downside is that it takes more time.
The upside is you gain a skill. I had never held any interest in needle work or handicraft beforehand, but I found sewing to be quite relaxing. Even better, I was able to learn something new.
The best part was when the mitten was finished! I was filled with this great sense of satisfaction. It’s wonderful to realize that you have the ability to make something with your own two hands. It made me think modern convenience could put us at slight disadvantage . Do we realize how capable we are?
The most important thing is if your armor breaks, you are the only person to blame, but you know how to fix it. This will increase your skill and allow you to improve your armor and customize it to suit your battle needs.
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