Ringmail

[Tordek]

I am curious if this would count as armor if i have a suede backdrop with 12 gauge 2" steel rings sewn to it in a tight pattern. will this count as armor?

[Derian]

As long as the rings are no more than 0.5" apart and cover more than 2/3rds of the piece, then yes, it will count.

[Thomas MacFinn]

12 gauge seems awful thin for a 2" ring. I imagine the rings will get bent the first time you fight in it. Fender washers, on the other hand, would hold up quite well.

[Arrakis]

It all sounds like cheese-maille to me.

[The Great Gigsby]

2/3 of the actual piece has to covered by metal, so your rings would have to have a very small ID like the aforementioned fender washer. I don't know how else you would do it.

Something like this on a cloth/suede backing wouldn't pass.

[Derian]

2/3 of the actual piece has to covered by metal, so your rings would have to have a very small ID like the aforementioned fender washer. I don't know how else you would do it.

Incorrect. Here's the exact rule:

3.7.1. Studded, scaled, or brigandine Armor can only be counted as Armor if 2/3 of the target area is covered by metal or leather, or the studs/rings/plates can not be no more than 1/2 inch apart.

Yes, it's cheesy and loophole ridden. You could have, say, an 18" square piece of leather with a 17.5" diameter 12 gauge steel ring, and it would technically be legal. At what point ring mail switches from armor to a cheesy terrible piece of ****, however, is up to the weapons checker in question. No one is going to pass armor if you're intentionally trying to cheese the rules.

Theros has a skirt of ringmail that's made of less than armor grade leather and perhaps 12-14 gauge rings -- the rings are probably 3/4" to 1" in diameter. The rings cover more than 2/3rds (probably like 95%), but the piece itself is probably covered by about 20% metal. I've seen this armor pass at many, many events.

As for the armor Giggles posted, I would probably pass it, and I've no doubt that 99% of checkers would as well.

[Tordek]

okay, thank you guys for clearing things up for me.

[SanchoLives]

Does it have to be sewn on leather? I was thinking of making a coat of plates or rings sewn on heavy canvas. I'd rather do plates, but I don't have access to a bandsaw.

[Derian]

Canvas is fine.

[Arrakis]

Go buy a $50 Black & Decker Jigsaw at Lowes and do the CoP. They're awesome.

[SanchoLives]

I may look into that, but if rings on canvas works, it may be the better choice. At least as far as comfort goes. It may not be as authentic, but those guys were fighting in dreary old England and cold mountain forests back then, not hot-assed Georgia. The guys who fought here hung some bones on their chest and called it a day.

I can't think of a good way to sew them on, though. Maybe little flaps w/rivets?

[Tordek]

if its rings just sew it straight to the fabric.