I’ve been assembling various forms of chainmail for a long time. I’ve made shirts, belts, neckties, and various pieces of jewelry including earrings, necklaces, and bracelets. I enjoy the combination of look and function that chainmail offers. It’s also very detailed, repetitive work that is a very nice distraction from the that deep technical work I normally do.

I have a chainmail bracelet I’ve been wearing for over eight years. It’s made of silver, and I hand soldered every link. There is no clasp on the bracelet, I built it onto myself over eight years ago and it has not been off since. Here is a photo of me in a Vegas buffet letting someone test the chainmail with a sharp steak knife:

As I said above, I like chainmail because of the combination of look and function. Chainmail can be formed into various shapes and fabrics all of which look very interesting. In addition the interlocking loop design acts to stop sharp objects from penetrating the chainmail fabric. It’s interesting to see how chainmail works. When a sharp object pokes into a specific loop, the surrounding loops get recruited in a way that strengthens the fabric at the point of impact making it harder for the sharp object to penetrate the chainmail.

As shown in the above photos, I’m often willing to demonstrate this with the chainmail bracelet I’m always wearing.

I have a lot of info and photos about chainmail I’ll add to my new blog over time.