Butted VS Rivited

[Ironhand]

Most butted shirts were between 400-200 B.C. and I cannot recall any shirts being founds in the A.D. period. Most shirts that were thought to be butted have been shown to be rivetted. Butted was possibly used for field repair type work, which would of course have been fixed whenever it was possible and convenient. Butted would be historically accurate perhaps if you are representing an early La Tene Celtic warrior, but butted is horrible protection and tends to get forced open very easily under impact. It has to be very thick and heavy to begin to get protective. I know hardsuit fighters who have butted shirts that weigh 50 pounds and they always complain about the weight of maille. Only one six in one pattern shirt has been found. The majority of shirts in this time period utilize a round rivet, 4 in 1 pattern. I'll provide a few links to historical sizes for maille. Aside from this, the best contact I can think of is Eric Schmid who is possibly the best source anyone could find for this area.

www.armourarchive.org/essays/essay__mai ... able.shtml

http://vikingsonline.org.uk/resources/a ... /index.htm

If you need anything else I have a lot of articles on maille making it to tests against swords and arrows.