Chainmail, even it's it's day as a standard form of armor was never meant to be used by itself. Even if you have no intent to use such equipment for fighting, it's important that you are properly padded underneath your chainmail. Especially items made of SCA fighting quality of 16 gauge(The lower the gauge, the thicker the metal) steel or lower. Most heavy-armor mail offered here is made from 14 gauge galvanized(zinc-plated) steel, butted rings. This means that large pieces of armor such as hauberks or any shirt-like pieces weigh a considerable amount.

At the very least, you'll want to wear a thick sweater under your chainmail. An easy homemade solution is to sew hand towels, wash rags, or some other thick cloth into the upper chest, shoulders, and around the neck area of a sweater or heavy shirt to cushion these areas. Though, when lifted as dead weight, these items can be very heavy, once they are properly put on, the weight will be distributed evenly and the heft is considerably less noticable. Even so, if you wear a heavy hauberk for any amount of time, you'll notice the weight in the aforementioned areas. Make sure they're padded well.

With all of this padding underneath metal armor, you'll work up a sweat even on the coldest days. If you're prone to heat stroke or have other related medical problems, it's not recommended that you wear heavy armor around. Make sure to drink lots of water and stay in the shade when you can while wearing your mail.

Most mail pieces sold here are constructed of butted rings. This means that the rings are not sealed at the gap and are held closed by the sheer strength of their circular shape. Rings of your piece should still be smooth to the touch when you run a finger over the gap. However, as mail gets handled, worn, or receives trauma, the ends of the rings might slide gradually, giving the ring a rough touch when a finger is run over the gap. As such, it's recommended that you always wear some sort of material underneath your mail. Also, when putting on heavy pieces such as a hauberk(Picture a mail T-shirt) that you must slide over your face to put on, keep your face covered with something so that it doesn't get scratched-An old skimask would do nicely. To fix rings like this, be sure and visit the Chainmail Care section.

When engaging in combat-related activities while wearing chainmail, it is very important to keep in mind that any violent activity has the potential to result in injury. Hundreds of years ago, chainmail was initially designed to protect aginst the slashing action of a blade, or deep, mortal penetration from a broad blade. Even then, it was not expected that the wearer would be invulnerable-You shouldn't expect to be either. Don't wear your mail with false pretenses that it will keep you from getting hurt. If you intend to use your mail for such activities, make sure you get the kind of mail that was meant for that activity. Most of our pieces are made from either 14 or 17 gauge steel. The pieces made of 17 gauge steel are designed to be lightweight and decorative, not to be used for combat. While we make no guarantees on the protection our armor pieces offer, you should use garments made of 14 gauge steel rather than 17 gauge steel if that is what you intend to use it for.