We get asked a million questions about our work and maille in general. Here are the most common ones.

Will chainmaile protect me from knives/fire/guns, etc.?
his is the million-dollar question, and the answer is always the same:

No, no, and yet more no. Chainmaile was actually pretty bad armor, even back in the day. It was only ever worn over leather or heavy padding. The main reason it was good to have is because it could be made and repaired realtively quickly and easily, it could be kept in a box, and a single shirt could fit a variety of body sizes and types.

On the field of battle it really only kept you from getting chopped in half because the predominant swords at the time were used for broad, sweeping strokes. You might not have ended up in two pieces when hit, but a lot of time your ribs got broken and you would end up dying a slower and more horrible death due to having your lungs punctured by sharp bits of bone being driven into them. On that note, chainmaile couldn’t do anything against weapons designed to puncture, such as arrows, pikes, short swords (typically used for stabbing) and even early guns.

The real up side to this was that the chainmaile would probably survive with minimal damage, and could thus be reused by the next lucky footsoldier.

So please, please, please do not try any stunts while wearing chainmaile, no matter who you buy it from. It will not save your life. If someone tells you chainmaile is knife or bullet-proof, they’re lying. I don’t care what anyone saw or posted on YouTube; I have personally driven a cheap $10 pocketknife straight through heavy-gauge welded stainless steel and actually cut a tear in the mesh. Besides, if chainmaile really did work we’d still be using it and I would be donating my work to local police forces.

This is why we have an…

IMPORTANT LEGAL DISCLAIMER!
We of Rabbit Dance Designs make no guarantees about the protective abilities of our products. They are reproduction pieces, and as such no guarantee of their level of protection against such items as (but not limited to) knives, swords, clubs, batons, spears, spikes, acid, flamethrowers, guns, axes, motorcycle accidents, chainsaws, shrapnel, etc. will be made. The buyer agrees that should they engage in activities that directly expose them to such materials, conditions, or states, we of Rabbit Dance Designs will not be held liable in any way for the resulting action, as our products are not intended for personal protection.

END OF BIG SCARY LEGALESE SECTION

It’s right here and at the bottom of every page on this site. I need it because I have had heated arguments with people convinced that an aluminum and rubber wrist cuff could protect them from a knife attack. It’s the same reason we see warnings on window cleaner to not use it on our eyes, or on hairdryers telling us we shouldn’t be using them while asleep.

Chainmaile looks like fun! Is it hard to do?
Not at all! ^_^ Tools aside, all you need are good hands and lots of patience. Prior experience at doing the same little task over and over and over helps. If you’d like to learn more, check out our Links page for resources.

Why do you tell people where to learn how to make chainmaile? That’s bad for business!
Not really, in our eyes. What we might lose in sales we more than make up for in new friends. ^_^ It takes a special kind of insanity to really enjoy sitting and putting one ring next to another for hours on end, so the more, the merrier! We even have maille parties. It’s sort of like a sewing circle, but usually with geekier movies playing in the background and more caffeine being consumed.

How long does the average piece take?
It honestly depends on what you’re talking about. I can make a nice little pile of stretchy bracelets or earrings or cell charms or other small items in a day. A necklace can take one day or maybe more, depending on the complexity of the design and the materials I’m using. Generally jewelry doesn’t take too long unless it’s micromaile, in which case it might take weeks. A long wait time usually happens if we need to order specific materials, such as precious metals (we don’t keep much on hand) or other more expensive/exotic materials.

Costume items are another story altogether. Full maile shirts take a month to six weeks on average, but things such as shirt size, ring size, weave, and material can add or detract from that.

Why don’t you make your own rings? Isn’t it cheaper?
Although it is cheaper from the supply side of things for us to make our own rings, it isn’t cheaper time-wise. Having done the math, it’s honestly cheaper from a pure money standpoint for us to buy the rings! It’s less expensive for you guys as well, because you’re not paying for all the extra time we would have put into making the rings ourselves, and chainmaile is priced by time before materials. Also, because our rings are machine-made, the size is consistant and the cuts are much nicer than anything our wire-cutters or saws can do, anyway.

Everyone wins because you “the customer” get a quality handmade maille item at a reasonable price, and we the maillers get to spend our time actually making maile, which is a lot more fun than coiling and cutting rings for hours (trust me on this).

How do you spell “chainmaile”, anyway?
There isn’t really a right way to spell chainmaile, I think. The most common spellings are “chainmaile”, “chainmail” and “chainmaille”. “Chainmail” is falling out of use, probably because a lot of people connect it with horrible “chain mail”, as in, annoying letters saying you’re going to die or something horrible if you don’t pass it on to twenty five people and three cats or whatever. “Chainmaile” is what I normally use, but I also use “maille”, and Etsy has a tag for “chainmaille”. Feel free to use whichever you want; people will usually understand what you’re talking about.

“You must have tons of patience!”
We hear this every time we’re at a show.

And yes, yes we do. ^_^ But it’s worth it.