Chainmail Day

Armor in the form of a mesh, consisting of metal rings connected in a special way, was used to protect the body of men from bladed weapons on the battlefield Chain mail was common in Rus', Europe and Asia from the 4th century BC to the 16th century AD This type of equipment was worn over clothing made of fabric or leather Unlike heavy steel armor, chain mail did not restrict the movement of medieval knights, providing high maneuverability In addition to the shirt, the body was protected from damage by swords and arrows with woven pants, hands with mittens, and the neck and head with a helmet made of bronze or steel rings With the invention of firearms, the popularity of military equipment of this type gradually faded away And although the shoulders and chest in some products were covered with metal plates, such armor did not protect against bullet wounds Chain mail, which was resistant to cutting, cutting and piercing blows, was replaced by vests and helmets made of modern materials In memory of the armor that people used during military conflicts in various periods of history, a holiday was established September 22 is celebrated as Chain Mail Day It is unknown what event the date of Chainmail Day is associated with In honor of the holiday, lectures, museum exhibitions, festivals and reconstructions of medieval battles are held Equipment for their participants is made by modern craftsmen Craftsmen use a vice, metal scissors, pliers and side cutters to make chain mail, preventing the ancient craft from falling into oblivion The main element of weaving steel wire in the European tradition is a square, in the Japanese - a rhombus The most common option for connecting rings is “4 in 1”, but more complex ones can be used, for example “8 in 1” Manufactured chain mail is used not only in battles of historical reconstructions Today, woven bibs with a long apron and gloves to protect their hands are used by meat processing plant workers when cutting up carcasses Some types of protective equipment for scuba divers, freedivers and divers resemble a net worn over wetsuits to protect against stingrays and sharks The word “chain mail” came into English from the French chain (“chain”) It is believed that this type of armor was invented by the Celts, but at the same time the Etruscans also used this equipment One of the oldest examples of chain mail was found by archaeologists in the Carpathian Basin in the burial place of Gornoe Jatova in Slovakia The armor from the coffin of the nameless leader dates back to the 3rd century BC Finds of similar armor in Scythian cemeteries date back to the 5th century BC The rings of the metal net, which were usually made of iron wire, were riveted or welded at the joints The Romans, who adopted the tradition of using chain mail as equipment from the Celts, decorated their armor with chasing and engraving Among the historical finds is the armor of centurions and other legionnaires with rings in the form of snakes and other animals The chain mail found in Germany, which is now kept in the Saxon Kalkriese Museum, has the initials of a Roman cavalry soldier engraved on one of the hooks Events of recent years suggest that it is too early to write off ancient armor as scrap Engineers from the California Institute of Technology and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in 2021 developed a fabric in the form of bulletproof chainmail The material can be transformed under pressure from a soft state to a hard state The development team was inspired by the design of ancient chain mail to create a material from rings of various configurations from rhombuses to octahedrons Structure-changing fabric for body armor can withstand a load one and a half times its own weight Depending on the type of armor, chain mail could be called armor, yatserin, or canoe In ancient times, warriors used both equipment in the form of a shirt to cover the torso, and a hauberk to protect the body from head to toe The intricacies of making mesh armor, the history of its appearance and other facts are remembered on September 22 in honor of Chain Mail Day