Setting up a common armoury or newbie stash or however you call it.

At a certain point, I should say above a certain number of people - a larp group grows beyond the point where you know everybody and can pay attention to everybody. There would also be a sort of population boom - the bigger it is, the more folks will start coming.

Now what I'm going to argue about is the benefits of setting up a common armory with spare kits for the new guys. Lets be reasonable most of them start with nothing. You don't want folks with jeans and T-shirts and we've grown beyond the point where everybody is everyone's friend who'd teach him how to craft his stuff. Not to mention there are a lot more new guys so time and money and effort becomes an issue. A lot of groups have loaner kits - just a sword and(maybe) a tabard or tunic. I'll argue about taking this a bit further. Let's talk about setting a common armory.

  And by Armory, I don't mean just clothes and some weapons - I mean everything! Weapons, clothes, armor, shields and basic equipment. Here in Sofia, I keep the main common armory and it occupies much of the attic. Yes yes, the person dealing with it will need space. He will also need some help, at least in the start - be it with extra hands or money or old equipment nobody needs(for now). 

What are the cons? Well, its time consuming and definitely a resource drain. Often the task is not appreciated by others as well. Keep in mind to always remind people that you are not a charity or a given benefit.


What are the benefits now? They come three-fold.

1st - much less immersion breaking jeans and T-shirts in games.Even new guys will be able to blend in easily and play without gear related limitations from the start.
2nd - the above mentioned fact will keep a lot of people in the hobby, that would otherwise just give up and go before they pick up the basics. By allowing them to try out stuff for free - they can decide exactly what they want to play and how to equip themselves.
3rd The extra gear does not have to be newbie only. For example the tolkien game from the previous post.

By providing equipment from the common armoury - I made sure that the Gondorian tower guard actually looked like god damn Tower Guard from Minas Tirith.

Our orcs(plenty of first timers among them) looked like proper orcs! Yes I used up a lot of scrap leather and canvas and bones but its ok.

If necessary I could have equipped a few more gents. The point is that the spare kit does not have to be junk. It can be good quality stuff that can be used by game organizers when they need to give a faction the look that it requires so that they are believable.

One thing I don't advice is giving away consumable items arrows - arrows are lost way too easy by inexperienced archers.

On armour - chainmail - separate mantle

The chainmaille mantle does not need to be part of a coif. It can (and is) worn separately as well. It is also another good candidate for first project since its even smaller than the coif - standing at about 1800-2000 links its something that you can do in about a day or two by yourself - you won't have to shanghai your family for the job.

You can find 3 uses for it, depending on your local larp rules.

 1 Since it only covers the neck and shoulders often it will not always be counted as armour. Some larps have rules about coverage. In those cases it will be an addition  to your costume.

2  If it can count as separate armor piece - by all means use it as such.

 3 Or you can use it as a supplement to your other armour. Case in point here is a photo of bulgarian reenactors where the guy with the breastplate is using a mantle not unlike the one above to protect his lower neck and shoulders.

 Same thing here except this mantle piece is made of 6in1 european and also goes up like a collar to act as a gorget and protect the throat as well.

 Basically in anything that goes after transitional armour you can find a use for a chainmail mantle piece. 

So enough chit chat - on the topic.

You'll need basic tools, about one, one and a half kilograms of links. We will basically do the same thing shown in the mantle piece guide for coif, except this time we have 4 rows.

 Here are the strips in almost finished state.

And finally the finished mantle piece.

You might consider adding a couple of laces to your garment to keep it in place, especially if you are running around a lot. Which you will be if you are a fighter...


Again some of the photos are taken from the internet and belong to their respective owners. 

On armour - chainmail coif - adding the mantle of the coif

Previously we added made the body of the coif and attached it to the cap. The final part left is the mantle piece. For this I've selected a simple round bishop mantle. Here it is still piecemeal, as I'm about to join the bits together. The mantle is made of 3 rows of 4in1 strips, each strip is 3 links wide.

First row is about 60 links long - same as the circumference of the coif itself at the moment, and there  is nothing special about adding it. I also find it simpler to work over my knee for this.

After that though the diameter grows since the mantle is now falling on my shoulders, not just going down my neck. Therefore we need to expand it. This is done by adding extra rings. Again I'm using differently coloured links for example. Expansion of chainmaille sheets is done by adding extra links to a connecting line. Here I've added 1 extra copper link, per 3 normal ones. Thus the next row will be roughly 1/3 bigger, which will cover the increase in diameter. The same way you can contract the maille sheet  and the ratio is by no means set in stone. It can be different.

 Here it is again - attaching extra links to the coif before adding the second row of the mantle. They are colour coded again. The second line will be 1/3rd bigger than the first and the last one will be 1/3rd bigger than the 2nd.

After repeating the operation twice. The chainmaille coif is finished. and ready for use. Don't forget to wear an arming cap or equivalent under it.

One last detail you might add is this. While you can tailor your own coif to be perfect for your size, most of the time you want a "one size fits all" model. Thus it can often end up on a smaller head where it will be a loose fit. To fix that, I've used some thin rope to make a strap that you can use to tighten the coif to your head.

Mind you you don't have to make a round bishop mantle like this, or any mantle at all. A coif can be integrated in a hauberk, or have a square mantle or one with triangles.Like this example which I found on the net. The mantle can also be worn separately from a coif and this will be my next armour project -a mantle piece.

On armour - chainmail coif - making the body of the coif

In our quest to get cheap homemade larp armor, we started a chainmail coif and already made the top piece.

Next come parts 2&3 - the headband and the main body. These can be made together actually.First thing to do would be to take measurements. Put on a thick winter hat and then measure the size of your head from one temple to the other. This will be roughly the size of the main body. The winter hat represents padding, which you will need anyway. All in all don't be afraid to make it 2-3-4sm bigger, the extra room is necessary, its best if its a loose fit, rather than not fitting at all. Then measure the full size of your head with forehead included - thats the size of the headband.

Here is a top piece with the headband already attached. The headband is simply a band of 4in1 chainmail with the length you measured from your head earlier. Now is the time for adjustments. If the top piece is too small you should add an extra roll to it, and if the headband is too tight - make it bigger.

Next thing to do is to make the main bodies of the coif. The size should be according to the first measurement we took for width and long enough to cover all of your neck.  As you can see I am making two coifs at the same time. For the second one, headband and main body are being done together. It makes no difference really.

Then you must attach the top to the main body. I find it is easiest to do it over your knee.

Once that's done, the coif is finally taking shape. Now we need to close the lower part of the main body with a small rectangular piece of 4in1.

Finally our larp armor project has reached wearable state. When closing the main body - again make sure you can fit your head with padding on. Then you can go on to adjust the size of the face to your liking.

The last thing to do would be the mantle. There are many variants, you can even go on without one and attach the coif to an existing hauberk. I will do a simple bishop mantle for this later on.

On armour - chainmail coif - making the top or cap of the coif.

As it was already stated - we are making a chainmail coif. The top of the coif is the most complex part, so if you get it wrong at first, don't worry. It happens to all of us.


Making the top starts with placing six links inside one closed link. This our step 1. To make it easier for you, I've colour coded each step, by using differently coloured links.

Step 2 is simple enough

 Can't make mistake on 3 either

 Step 4. Now we basically start repeating steps 3-4 until all the initial six links are used.

With this, the initial closure is done. Now you just start adding more rolls. You will have to repeat step 2 and then use step 3 to turn the corners.

Eventually you will come out with something like that. It should roughly cover the top of your head, so measure it accordingly. Don't worry if you make it too big, actually make sure there is plenty of room for hair&padding.

On armour - the european 4 in 1 chainmail weave

In your quest to get affordable and decent homemade larp armour, after producing chainmail rings you will inevitably encounter this - the european 4 in 1 weave. Its the most widespread weave as far as chainmail is concerned and not without reason. Basically everything is made from 4in1: coifs, bracers, hauberks, battle bikini, decorations, well you name it!. 4 in 1 is simple and once you learn that you got the basic know how on making something bigger.

European 4 in 1 is basically rows of links, going opposite ways that are interwoven in one another. Once you get the hang of that basic bit you won't be making mistakes when weaving it.


There are two basic ways of weaving 4in1.

First is to do it ring by ring. Thus its impossible to make a mistake but since only a maximum of two people can work on one piece, its a bit time consuming.



The second is to weave small pieces or strips and then combine them together. Like this for example

 

 

Well adjust this for size depending on the project - when making a hauberk for example, I work with strips that are 1 meter long. The advantages are that you can have a dozen people working on the same project, producing parts of it that are later put together. Literally anyone who can hold pliers can help. There is however room for mistake here, so not everyone can close the seams later on. Once you catch on the basics of 4in1 you can do the more exotic bits like expanding it, contracting it and so on that you will need to learn to make full suits of maille.

On armour - advanced chainmail tools.

In the previous post about chainmaille tools, I mentioned only hand tools that you can use everywhere at any time. Even if its in the middle of the nigh, nobody will know or care since you make no noise. However that good may be though - making everything by hand is time consuming and takes a lot of effort, not to mention blisters.

Unfortunately the 99% of us will never be the Ringlord, with his custom built and unique machinery that takes uncoiled wire from one end and produced finished butted or welded chainmail from the other.

Still, that does not mean we can't save ourselves some time right?

There are 3 processes of production in chainmaille.

1 - winding coils

2 - cutting the coils into rings

3- weaving the rings.

For your average hauberk, winding the coils will take you 1 day, cutting them into rings 2-3 days and weaving at at least 1000 rings per day would end you with roughly 2 weeks of production time. Obviously it will be nice to shorten that. The easiest to do is to start power winding the coils.

You will only need a drill with a variable speed option.(The ones that power up the harder you press the button)

There are a number of various designs for coil winding sets involving a drill. You can find them on the net or improvise yourself. I myself use a piece of pipe (same I use for weapon cores actually) held in a vice. I'll show some of these later on. The result though is roughly 10 times faster winding. Basically for 1-2 hours you will wind the coils for a chainmaille hauberk or shirt which is quite the improvement from 1-2 days. As with all electric tools though, you should be careful and wear gloves and perhaps glasses, just in case.

That eliminates process 1.

Next one is cutting. the rings. Here the water gets murkier unfortunately. A number of possibilities exist.

The store bought option is the so called Ringnator its a ring cutting machine, that can work with various metal types though its best for soft stuff - aluminium, copper and so on.

It has variations that require an outside motor - a drill in this case or ones that come with their own. I know it looks like it was made in someone's garage and that's because it is, however those things apparently work and people use them. The problem at hand is the price. The Ringinator costs about 500$ and when you add shipping, it will cost you the same as buying 2-3 finished hauberks online.

To put it otherwise its a fairly major investment and that makes it unsuitable for small scale work. However if you say, are getting one for common use by your entire larp group things start to look different, assuming your group is 40-50 people, everyone donating 10 bucks for the common good doesn't sound so bad now is it? I honestly don't know whats the situation with the extra blades for this thing and how easily they wear out.  There are also homemade rigs, that employ similar process of work. I'm not that much of a handyman, though if you believe you have the technical skills and know-how feel free to make one yourself.

Such rigs can also be made with a jigsaw. I've seen it work and I know it can be done but there are low points too. Jigsaws are noisy and make a lot of sparks, which means that you need a special environment to use them, you can't just set it in your bedroom, and using gloves and protective glasses is absolutely necessary. Also the discs will wear out - roughly 1 for every 4-5-6-kg of rings depending on the ring size etc. That adds extra production cost which makes jigsaw cutting less appealing.


Anyway, that's the two options I know of speeding up process number 2 - cutting the rings.

Finally we come to the last one - weaving the rings. Alas, only the Ringlord has the means to speed that one up as you can see on the video above. Only way I know of making chainmaille faster is by involving more pairs of hands in making it. If several people get on with it and separate the labour you can do quite a lot in a very short time.

On armour - chainmail - materials needed

Right then, assuming you got your tools, now you need your supplies. I already mentioned buying online, so we are thinking of the other option now.

There are a number of things to consider when getting your supplies -how may people you want to kit out, material type, price etc...


The most widespread and commonly used material for homemade chainmail is the galvanized steel wire. Its used in fences etc and fairly easy to find. Its dirt cheap - a hauberk (knee-length long sleeved chainmail) will cost you 25-30$ in materials and there will probably be leftovers for a coif. Its also fairly resistant to corrosion - my own hauberk has seen use since 2009, through rain wind and snow without taking any corrosion related damage at all. And of course above all - its very easy to acquire in large quantities. The most common size used is 2mm wire. Don't ask me how much is that in the gauge system, check it yourselves.

You can use 2mm galvanized wire for everything. Chainmail shirts, coifs, helm aventels, battle bikini, chains, decorations and so on. Its your most common material and thus applies everywhere. You could find it in the local handyman store, though its likely the price would be high and the quantities low. Best option is to buy in bulk from a construction materials warehouse. Remember what I said about pooling in? Please do that, then send a guy with a car to such a warehouse to buy say...100-200kgs of wire. 100kg will be enough to outfit 4-5 guys from head to toe, or more if its partially. Its simpler this way.



Next possible material is aluminium wire. Now that is a notably less common material. It also has different qualities and price tag to it. For starters its 1/3rd the weight, which is a very notable bonus. Its equally corrosion resistant and well...shiny, that is if you like shiny stuff. Now the downsides - while its light weight, aluminium is also much weaker. Its easy for rings to pop open and fall, so expect regular damage. If you make an aluminium chain shirt, you'll have to reinforce the shoulders with steel rings, since aluminium ones can't support the weight. One more thing - it leaves smudges, and finally comes the price tag. While its only 1/3rd the weight of equal steel wire,aluminium is also 4-5 times the price tag per kg so its a bit more expensive too.

I really can't say much about finding it though. My own source is asking a person in another town to bring me some, and well thats it. What he brings me is this - its basically conductor wire without the insulation. I have to unwrap it first then turn it into chainmail. Again look for warehouses etc. It all depends on your local area.

Last one is the "exotic" stuff. Anodized rings and so on. Decoration is the word of the day here. You will probably have to buy them online though.There are exceptions though. You could find such rings in ....newsflash - jewellery supply stores. They won't come cheap either but you could make a piece of golden chainmail bikini for say the price of a full sized chainmail shirt.Using them for larger project is going to be hellishly expensive. Not to mention you are very unlikely to find enough of them in 1 store.

On armour - chainmail making basics - tools

All in all, chainmaille is great. Its has very ugh...low tech requirements to make, and virtually anyone with two hands can learn the basics. This is the armour type for everyone on a budget who wants something real on his back. Besides if its made from galvanized wire(and most of the time it will be) you won't have to worry about rust. All these qualities mean that chainmaille will be the preferred and most widespread type of metal armour you will find in your average larp group.
 There is nothing wrong with that, in fact its good. Actually 3-4 years ago, having a chain shirt around our parts meant you were awesome. Now, having a chainmail shirt is more or less basic gear for fighters. I alone can outfit my own personal retinue with the stuff I got in my armoury, but back on topic shall we?


There are a number of options to make your own chainmail. The obvious first task is - get rings. You could buy them online from say The Ring Lord though that will increase the price tag, or you could make it all yourselves.

First advice I'd give - pool in. Yes, that means you. You are obviously not in a one-man-larp group all by yourself. So pool in your resources and by resources I mean time, money, say a car for transportation of supplies in bulk. 5-6 people separating the labour between themselves can achieve a lot more than working on your own. I've tried it both ways so I know the difference.

Anyway first things to do is get tools and supplies. Thats the charm of chainmail - you probably already have most of the necessary tools in your house.


What you need is:

2x pliers. 
 Now don't skip on the pliers okay? You will be using them a lot so pick decent pairs. Don't buy small ones unless you are working aluminium or something soft. Buy average sized pliers, wrap the handles in something and well...there is no real way to avoid the blisters really. But don't worry your fingers will toughen up soon.

 Next thing on the list of tools is a small bolt cutter. 
You'll need it to cut out your rings. The red one works quite well and without much effort - just lock one of the grips into something like a vice. Smaller ones work too but require more effort (and thus - blisters)

So far our bill is roughly 30$

There is one more thing to get - something to wind coils on. 

 Here you can improvise. What you need is some kind of rod or dowel - can be store bought or anything that you find that fits the description. You will turn it into a mandrel to wind coils which you'd then cut into rings. Look for 8,9,10mm diameter. Its good to have several and of various sizes.

On armour maintenance

While the large weapons projects are stalling again, I see no reason to keep back with other stuff. I was thinking of keeping armour for later, but there is no reason to do so - after all I will index it all eventually.

Anyway, what I want to talk about now is larp armour maintenance. If all you have is a tunic, maintenance for you is a matter of laundry work and occasionally needle and a thread. However if you have any kind of metal, things are not so easy. Chainmail does not count - the vast majority of it is from galvanized wire which is quite resistant to corrosion, but more on chainmail later.

No, we'd talk about good olde plate mail of various sorts.

Lets take for example my shin guards.

They were nice and shiny the day I got them. That however, was quite a while ago.

This is how they look nowadays. Far cry from the old days isn't it?

Like it or not, larp armour is actually used, usually fairly often and not in the optimum conditions for keeping rust away - fighting in rain, mud and snow is not uncommon. Reenactors and such have far less occasions that require their full gear and thus have less issues with keeping it fresh.

So yeah, point is - plate mail requires maintenance. Normally that's what squires, arms bearers and other such support personnel would do. However most of us are lacking such commodities and have to deal with it ourselves. FORTUNATELY we do have other commodities, namely the products of modern chemistry.



Basically you got several options depending on the amount of effort and money you got available and the looks you want.

One of the simple solutions is paint or lacquer. Simply cover it once and you are good for quite a while - just don't forget to repaint scratches. That however means you probably won't be shiny and involves some expense.

You could skip on the chemistry and simply clean any rust that appears - possible but you will erode your plate that way - it will become thinner and thinner with time.

Since I'm a cheapskate, I simply covered it with lacquer once and let it this way. A thin layer of rust has formed indeed, and it keeps it from rusting more. Thats the 0 maintenance route, but I'm not chasing shiny looks.

Best way would involve a good ammount of WD-40 and/or similar products and cleaning and covering with fresh oil layer after every use. It will keep your stuff intact but it involves regular maintenance expense.

I'm not going to recommend any of it, since it all involves various preferences and ability. Its all up to you to decide how you want to look, and how much you want to spend on it. I prefer playing a common soldier and thus rust actually adds to my looks, rather than take away.