02-02-2004, 01:21 PM
A few thoughts on the protective properties of chain mail prompted by various previous threads.<br>
<br>
Chain mail is strange stuff; held in the hands, its strange properties of being at once very flexible and completely non-elastic give it an unusual feel – a feature that might explain some of the more exotic chain mail web sites, but I digress.<br>
<br>
The flexibility of chain mail make it a poor protector against various crushing blows.<br>
<br>
However, the non-elastic properties of chain mail give good protection against a piercing weapon such as stab from a spear or sword. Although the point of such a weapon might place great force on one individual ring – enough to break it – this is not sufficient to penetrate the armour. More rings have to be broken to make a slit large enough for that deadly two inch deep wound. Every ring that has to be broken or distorted in order to penetrate the armour will take energy from the force of the blow.<br>
<br>
Just how many rings have to be broken or distorted depends upon the nature of the weapon. A stiletto dagger or a bodkin headed arrow or pilum point obviously requires far fewer than spear or sword.<br>
<br>
Another factor is the size of the rings. Small rings that are made of fine metal will break more readily that larger ones, but they distort much less (they are just too small). So, an attacker is going to have to break more small rings than large rings. My guess is that it takes more energy to break a ring than to distort it.<br>
<br>
So, it may be that small rings offer protection that is just as good as large rings – maybe even better. Small rings have the advantage of being lighter overall, but much more expensive to produce.<br>
<br>
It should be possible to come up with some mathematical model of different sorts of parameters of mail against different weapons, although I don’t think that I am up to this myself.<br>
<p></p><i></i>
<br>
Chain mail is strange stuff; held in the hands, its strange properties of being at once very flexible and completely non-elastic give it an unusual feel – a feature that might explain some of the more exotic chain mail web sites, but I digress.<br>
<br>
The flexibility of chain mail make it a poor protector against various crushing blows.<br>
<br>
However, the non-elastic properties of chain mail give good protection against a piercing weapon such as stab from a spear or sword. Although the point of such a weapon might place great force on one individual ring – enough to break it – this is not sufficient to penetrate the armour. More rings have to be broken to make a slit large enough for that deadly two inch deep wound. Every ring that has to be broken or distorted in order to penetrate the armour will take energy from the force of the blow.<br>
<br>
Just how many rings have to be broken or distorted depends upon the nature of the weapon. A stiletto dagger or a bodkin headed arrow or pilum point obviously requires far fewer than spear or sword.<br>
<br>
Another factor is the size of the rings. Small rings that are made of fine metal will break more readily that larger ones, but they distort much less (they are just too small). So, an attacker is going to have to break more small rings than large rings. My guess is that it takes more energy to break a ring than to distort it.<br>
<br>
So, it may be that small rings offer protection that is just as good as large rings – maybe even better. Small rings have the advantage of being lighter overall, but much more expensive to produce.<br>
<br>
It should be possible to come up with some mathematical model of different sorts of parameters of mail against different weapons, although I don’t think that I am up to this myself.<br>
<p></p><i></i>
