Aventail, Riveted Mail

Description of the Product

An aventail, also called a camail, is a piece of chain mail, which was fastened to the helmet for additional neck and shoulder protection. These are the most vulnerable areas which the enemy was most likely to target, so the extra protection given by the aventail was needed. The aventail replaced the need to wear a full mail coif underneath the helmet, because the neck and shoulder area got the needed protection from the aventail.

The first aventails were permanently riveted to the helmets, but in the early 14th C removable aventails, such as this, became common. In a removable aventail the top has a leather collar which is used for attaching it to the helmet. The leather has holes punched in and vervelles are attached to the helmet. The vervelles are then pushed through the holes in the leather collar. Finally the collar in secured by threading a string through the holes in the vervelles.

This chainmail aventail features an authentic jagged edge. Sometimes the edge was even, or decorated with bronze or brass rings. This aventail is very generous in size, so it will fit all users and each helmet. If you feel the aventail comes too far down, it is possible to just remove some rows from the bottom to make it fit your ensemble.

Often, but not always, the aventail would have a padded layer underneath to make it more pleasant to wear as well as give extra protection. The padding could be stitched in place, which gave the whole piece extra rigidity. Such padding can be found here
-Padded Gorget-.

This mail is made of rings that are individually riveted shut for maximum strength. Every single ring has been riveted by hand, just as it would have been in the originals. The weave is of the typical European 4 in 1 -style. A riveted mail is extremely durable, and fully battle-qualified. We recommend that this mail is kept slightly oiled to avoid any corrosion. In active use an unprotected mail will darken and develop a patina in time.

•  Aventail is a piece of chain mail, which was fastened to the helmet for additional neck and shoulder protection
• The first aventails were permanently riveted to the helmet, but in the early 14th C removable aventails became common
• This mail is made of rings that are individually riveted shut for maximum strength
• Made in the typical European 4 in 1 –style
• Internal ring diameter: 8 mm
• Ring thickness: 1.4 mm
• Length of leather collar: 52 cm
• Weight: 3 kg