Ravenmail Hand Forged Blackened Chainmail Coif | Butted Mild Steel Mail | Integral Ventail, Bright Ring Face Course and Raven Strap | Viking Gift | RK-1480

This is a mail coif with a ventail, which is the flap of mail that pulls across the lower face and buckles off to one side. It is one of those pieces of kit that looks like a small detail and completely changes how a helmet works. Without it the whole lower face is open below a nasal bar or a helmet rim. With it the jaw, the mouth and the throat are covered by mail that you can drop in a second when you need to drink, shout an order or simply breathe. Twelfth and thirteenth century manuscripts are full of men with the ventail hanging loose on the chest, because that is where it lived most of the day.

This coif is woven and finished in Memphis, Tennessee in blackened mild steel, with a course of bright rings run around the face opening so the shape reads clearly against the dark weave. The ventail is closed by a black leather strap and a steel roller buckle, and the keeper is stamped with a raven. The mantle is cut wide across the shoulders. The stone ledge in the photograph is scenery and not part of the order.

Specifications

The ventail, and why butted mail changes what you can do with it

The ventail is a rectangle of mail hung from one side of the face opening and drawn across to the other, where a strap and buckle hold it. That is all it is mechanically, and the cleverness is in where the strap pulls from. Fasten it too high and the mail sits on the bridge of the nose and you cannot see. Fasten it too low and it hangs off the chin and swings. The strap here pulls to the temple, which lifts the top edge of the flap to just under the eyes and lets the weight hang from the cheekbone rather than the jaw.

What a ventail is genuinely good at is stopping a cut. What it is poor at is stopping a thrust, because a point can push rings apart and the flap has nothing rigid behind it. That distinction mattered even in period, and it matters far more here, because these rings are butted rather than riveted. Butted mail has the ends of each ring brought together and closed, not overlapped and riveted through. It drapes correctly, it sounds correct and it looks correct at any sensible distance. It is not safe for full contact combat, and a thrust will separate butted rings. Buy riveted mail if you fight.

The mantle across the shoulders is doing the same job it does on any coif: it transfers the weight off the crown of your head and onto the shoulders, and it closes the gap between the bottom of a helmet and the top of a hauberk.

The steel, the blackening and the leather

Mail is described by wire gauge and ring diameter. This is mild steel wire at 16 gauge wound to roughly 8 mm inside diameter, which is a dense enough weave to look right and light enough to wear all day once the mantle spreads the load. Mild steel is chosen deliberately for its ductility; a ring under stress opens rather than snapping, so a damaged section can be worked back and reclosed rather than replaced.

The blackening is an oxide grown on the steel, not a paint or a coating, so there is nothing to chip off the ring edges. It holds oil well and resists rust better than bright mail while it is oiled, and it will rub back to grey at the wear points over time. The bright course around the face is left unblackened on purpose, both because the eye needs an edge to read the opening against and because those are the rings your hands touch most.

The strap is black vegetable tanned cowhide with a steel roller buckle. The raven on the keeper is stamped, not printed, so it is impressed into the leather and will not wear off.

Engraving, runes and your own design

Use the rune converter on this page to turn a name, a date or a short phrase into Elder Futhark and we will cut it into the steel or the leather. If you would rather have a Viking pattern than a rune line, choose your own design in the engraving option above the add to cart button and tell us where it goes. Where a piece already carries an engraved design, your chosen engraving replaces it rather than sitting alongside it, so the raven on the keeper gives way to whatever you specify. The strap and the keeper are the surfaces that take a line here. See the engraving page.

Fit and sizing

One adult size, cut roomy through the crown because a coif belongs over a padded arming cap and not against your hair. Measure around your head above the ears and the eyebrows and add the thickness of the cap you intend to wear. A slightly loose coif is far more comfortable than a tight one, and the ventail strap takes up slack across the face.

If you plan to wear a helmet over this, order the helmet larger. A coif adds a genuine half inch or more all round, and a helmet fitted to your bare head simply will not go on over mail. If you are pairing it with a nasal helm or a spectacle helm, tell us which and we will check the ventail sits clear of the helmet rim rather than fouling it.

Care

Blackened mail wants oil more than bright mail does, because the oxide is porous. Wipe the coif down after wearing, particularly around the face and the neck, and keep a light film of machine oil or paste wax on the rings. Do not tumble blackened mail in sand the way you would clean bright mail, because the abrasive will strip the finish back to grey. If rust appears, lift it with oil and a soft brass brush instead.

Store it loose or hung on a form. Never seal mail in plastic and never store it folded tight and damp, because the rings will print rust into each other where they touch. Feed the leather strap with a balm once or twice a year and check the buckle stitching while you are there. Our notes on steel care cover oils and rust removal in more detail.

Forged in Memphis

Every ring in this coif was wound, cut, closed and blackened by hand in our own shop in Memphis, Tennessee, and the strap was cut, stamped and stitched in the same room. Nothing here is drop shipped from an importer catalogue. Because we make it, the lifetime warranty against defects in forging, grind, heat treat and fittings is genuine, with no end date and no receipt needed.

A note on handmade variation

This coif is hand made, not machine made or bulk produced, so what arrives will not be a pixel for pixel copy of the photograph. Ring closures, the depth of the blackening, the exact run of the bright face course and the drape of the mantle all vary a little, because each one is worked by hand from natural materials. The dimensions, the material and the build are the same every time. The character is not.

Frequently asked questions

Does the ventail actually open?

Yes. It unbuckles at the temple and hangs down on the chest, which is where it spent most of the day historically. You can eat, drink and speak clearly with it dropped.

Is the mail riveted or butted?

Butted. Rings are closed end to end rather than riveted through. Correct for display, costume and light living history, and not safe for full contact combat.

Is the black finish going to rub off?

It is an oxide grown on the steel rather than a coating, so it does not chip. It will wear back to grey on the high contact points over years, which looks right.

Can I wear a helmet over it?

Yes, if the helmet is sized for it. Mail adds half an inch or more all round to your head, so a helmet fitted to your bare head will not go on.

Can I see and breathe with it closed?

Yes. The top edge sits just below the eyes and mail is open weave, so airflow is fine. It is warm across the mouth in summer, which is exactly why it unbuckles.

How long does it take to ship?

Processing is one to two weeks because every ring is closed by hand and then blackened. Shipping inside the United States is free and returns are accepted within seven days.

What is in the box

• One hand woven blackened chainmail coif with shoulder mantle
• Integral ventail face flap with a bright ring face course
• Black leather strap, steel roller buckle and raven stamped keeper, fitted
• Light protective oil coat applied before packing
• Care and storage card
• Forged and finished in Memphis, Tennessee

Explore the range

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