[Ansteorra-rapier] Chain mail gauntlet

[Chris Zakes]

At 04:37 PM 10/26/2007, you wrote:

>I would offer a suggestion that if someone would like to play with a
>mail gauntlet, they have to actually have one.  We have enough things
>in our game where we have to make concessions because of safety or
>modernness, why not make people actually have what they are saying
>they have?

I totally agree.

FWIW, I bought a mail butcher's glove about six months ago, sewed it 
over a regular leather gauntlet, and did some playing with it. Things 
I noticed:

1. The mail + leather means your hands and fingers are noticably 
thicker than they were. If you've got a blade with snug quillons, 
there's a good chance the mail glove won't work with that blade.
2. Your grip won't be as good. Steel rings on a wood grip have *much* 
less friction than leather on a wood grip.
3. Just wearing the mail over a leather glove, the mail tended to 
flop and sag a lot. Sewing it in place is pretty much a necessity, 
otherwise I would not be overly surprised to see a mail glove go 
flying during a vigorous hand-parry.


>On the other hand, I have been fighting in the SCA for 14 years now
>and have seen a grand total of 2 chainmail gauntlets, so I do not
>think this will suddenly turn into a major issue.  ;)
>
>I will say that for C&T, if someone wants to fight with a mail
>gauntlet, for safety reasons, I would HIGHLY suggest they actually
>have one.  ~wry grin~

Just remember that mail is *not* padding. A hard whack on 
mail-covered fingers won't be much different from a hard whack on 
fingers covered in unpadded leather.

         -Tivar Moondragon