From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Well, if he wants to make it himself, he will need a
good strong pair of pairs of pliers, and lots of time.
You can buy bags of links fairly cheaply, I got a
thousand over in Canada whilst wandering about. Where
to get them in the UK, I will try to find out. You have
the option of galvanised steel or aluminium.
Aluminium is very light, and bendable easily, but won't
stop a blade. Steel is much harder, and heavier, but
will stop even a hard knife thrust. I think you can get
stainless, too, but haven't seen bags of them, only on
finished things.
To make your links yourself, get a fairly heavy gauge
wire, wrap it around the standard ferrule, made of steel
to whatever size of link you want. Now remove the
coil, and use a set of wire cutters to cut down the coil
lengthways. Try to make it so the links are a fraction too
big to make a circle, so when you twist them with
the pliers they get pulled apart slightly, and then grip
hard when you let go, held by the spring in the steel. Have
a practise making the first few links into mail.
You will see what I mean about the size. If you cut the
coil as a circle, you get a small gap on all your links,
which will make it catch even worse than normal.
In the bad old days, when people's lives depended on
this stuff, each coil was overlapped, hammered, then
drilled through. A tiny rivet was then inserted,
and hammered flat. This took forever, obviously, but
stops the links being pulled apart under attack from a
pointy thing. These days, if you are really paranoid and
want that much protection, buy a MIG welder and weld each
link. You can weld some in advance, and then link them
in and weld the remaining ones afterwards.
There are various different types of linking systems, the
most basic with each link going to four, the most complex
going to eight. Also, protection from an arrow demands a
very small link, else the arrow can get through without
opening the link very far. So, the best and most expensive
mail was a very tight link, with eight links and each of
these were drilled to stop them opening. I believe there
were also some mails that were two layers, with cross links
to connect each layer, rather than just wearing two. This
means that the two layers can be held offset, reducing the
apparent size of the links.
So, get down to B&Q and buy the bits and pieces, and you
too can be stab and bludgeon proof on a Saturday night. Just
don't go to a (k)nightclub with a metal detector!
Hope this helps, if you want more info, just ask.
Nigel
P.S. Send in those club details!!!
--
Ah, aluminium, stainless steel or galvanised steel - just
like the knights of old...
Steve.
Cybershooters website: http://www.cybershooters.org
List admin: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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