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.