Anyone ever test Chainmail socks?

So we're done with axes and moved up to chainsaws?

That video is a near perfect "how not to" teaching tool.
 
Looks like Elwood's #205 model has a steel caulked bottom to it.

ellwood-205.jpg
 
ICS said:
You also have a missing toe, no matter what protection. ICS
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You've seen people cut through the maille socks?

I posted a quote from Arden Cogar Jr. saying they do stop cuts, which is what I've heard other competitors say as well. Although I suppose a full force miss into the foot may cut right through. The girl in the video is hopping around after, so it clearly hurt but could have been much worse without the maille.

I keep my feet a few inches further away from the cut so I'm less at risk of a direct blow.

And in the middle ages weaponry moved from swords to hammers and axes because they could actually damage plate mail. So even plate may not be safe against a full force blow.
 
Chignecto Woodsman said:
And in the middle ages weaponry moved from swords to hammers and axes because they could actually damage plate mail. So even plate may not be safe against a full force blow.
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With plate armor the metal was made thicker in places most likely to take the fullest brunt of impact and axes and hammers still were usually unable to get through it both because of the fact that when your target is a standing man his body will yield to the blow, but also because the armor did a very good job of protecting its user. The shock of the impact to well-armored areas was more commonly used for disorienting an opponent or wearing them down (because it'd still be tiring to be repeatedly struck) or to damage the armor to the point where its articulation would become impaired and limit their range of motion. While examples of the plate armor itself actually being pierced or cut do exist, it was a very rare occurrence and typically attributable to an unusually strong blow against a target positioned just the right (wrong) way, and the armor being thin and possibly unhardened (much armor was iron rather than heat-treated steel) rather than a strong point in spring steel armor having been defeated. It was the most common practice to attack weak points like the joints and to wrestle an opponent to the ground, after which they were often done in using a purpose-built dagger like a rondel.
 
I've heard of guys who spend big money on their boots. If nothing else, maybe the maille socks should be worn over the top to protect yer boots from glancing blows. :)

I really doubt this stuff would stop a full out axe swing against a foot on a chopping block (log). But on lower powered glancing blows, I think it could certainly make the difference to save ya from needing stitches.

Several places offer small scraps and swatches of this maille material for just a couple bucks. If you're really curious, invest 5 dollars in a small piece to test out. We could all learn something.
 
the possum said:
I've heard of guys who spend big money on their boots. If nothing else, maybe the maille socks should be worn over the top to protect yer boots from glancing blows. :)

I really doubt this stuff would stop a full out axe swing against a foot on a chopping block (log). But on lower powered glancing blows, I think it could certainly make the difference to save ya from needing stitches.

Several places offer small scraps and swatches of this maille material for just a couple bucks. If you're really curious, invest 5 dollars in a small piece to test out. We could all learn something.
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Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. Generally chainmail in the past was layered so that there is some other protection over top and cushion beneath. A piece of chainmail could be tied to the boots along the instep for bucking, or simply worn with mukluks a cut would be fairly easy to repair.

This company offers small pieces, I just don't have a tool I would like to damage for the sake of testing. And they also supply the maille for shark bitesuits, and timbersports competitors buy from these guys.

FortyTwo, you make a good point. However, I don't think it would have been as clean and rational as all that. If there was an opportunity for a heavy strike that would either knock back or do armor damage they would certainly take it.
 
Chignecto Woodsman said:
FortyTwo, you make a good point. However, I don't think it would have been as clean and rational as all that. If there was an opportunity for a heavy strike that would either knock back or do armor damage they would certainly take it.
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Oh they'd take the chance for a blow, yes, but if it was in a location of a strong point in the armor you're almost certainly not getting through it is my point. Attacking the joints like the underarms, inside of the elbows, etc. were de rigueur, because they were only covered with maille and a padded gambeson beneath, compared to solid iron or steel. You simply couldn't hope to chop straight through the plate armor itself, so blows to the protected regions were geared towards disorientating or disabling the opponent rather than direct injury. All of this pertaining to the original purpose of the thread in that spring-tempered steel plate is a suitable foil for an axe blade when properly designed and executed. :)
 
Chignecto Woodsman said:
The issue is mainly that of bucking and having some protection in/over the boots worn in the variable conditions here (rain, freezing rain, and snow). Unfortunately, safety boots don't protect your whole foot, and certainly not the shins; they also have several other shortcomings (ie. HEAVY, especially in snow). Although safety boots are what I've been wearing up until now, these would be added protection, and a possible move to something less bulky and heavy so I don't have to carry the boots into the woods or leave them there.

In another thread I was considering something like those plate overshoes, but the same problem remains with amount of coverage. I did find combination foot and shin guards, but they are made of aluminum, so I don't know how much protection they actually give.

You are correct about the blunt trauma, and I think this is why timbersport competitors generally wear both the socks and the shin guards. I do have a pair of old muay thai shinpads so I could probably sew canvas and some steel onto those.

As for comfort and warmth, I wear really good wool socks so it shouldn't be an issue. And there's a company that sells chainmail socks for barefoot runners, many claim they are really good for your feet. But I'm not trying to play Cody Lundin, I won't be moving a long way in them.

Thanks for the suggestions though, I haven't arrived at any conclusions yet. Of course, there's also the possibility of just cutting twice at the top corners in any unsure situation. That would halve the power and basically keep the foot safe. Cutting footholds is another possibility which generally only takes a few swings.
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Somewhere in a box I have a pair of soccer shin guards that I pop riveted some 20ga sheet metal over 3 or 4 layers of truck tire inner tube sections for "shin protection". I cooked them up I had a 16# hammer glance off a large metal stake being pounded into the ground. It decided to stop rapidly in the vicinity of my shin. I got lucky and DID NOT break my shin, but it hurt like @)&*(^$ for a while and I still have a dent in my shin bone where it hit.

Some thing similar MIGHT be useful for axe/chainsaw protection. MIGHT being the key word.
 
Yeah, another possible problem is the thickness of a work axe. A racing axe has a very low angle and will crumple easier.

Something easy I thought of would be like a half-moccasin with chainmail sewed over the instep. This double chainmail should definitely work, but there's still the problem of possibly having to make crutches to get out of the woods.

Of course, this is a reminder that foot placement and safe follow-through is key.

And bow saw blades are only 10-15 bucks.
 
Chignecto Woodsman said:
I posted a quote from Arden Cogar Jr. saying they do stop cuts, which is what I've heard other competitors say as well. Although I suppose a full force miss into the foot may cut right through.
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And even if if it isn't cut it could still be detached. As a test try putting a hot dog in a chain mail sock and set it on the chopping block. Even if the mail isn't cut the hot dog will be pinched in two.
 
Chignecto Woodsman said:
Found this video in my search, pretty unbelievable:
[video=youtube;UU7crXUp_UM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UU7crXUp_UM[/video]
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Thank you! This is not unbelievable at all. Likely routine events when you fuel boneheads (spectators and a faller) with lots of beer. The Darwin Awards were created specially for folks (predominantly young males) such as this. The inebriated laughter throughout tells me no one appreciated the gravity of the situation either. I have always tried to imagine the real story behind common news bulletins of 'man grievously injured, or killed, by falling tree'. At least back in the days of quiet axes and hand saws you were much more attuned to ominous sounds, and doing something stupid took a lot more time and energy.
 
Haha, well said.

I'm still kind of in awe of how he just clumsily got pushed and fell over a tri-barberchair, widowmaker hangup kickback. Seems like an impossible monster.

I don't have that kind of luck, so it may be why I'm a safety sally.
 
Chignecto Woodsman said:
Haha, well said.

I'm still kind of in awe of how he just clumsily got pushed and fell over a tri-barberchair, widowmaker hangup kickback. Seems like an impossible monster.

I don't have that kind of luck, so it may be why I'm a safety sally.
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Generally you spy up into the canopy to see how the trunks and branches of other trees interact before you start planning on how to fall a tree. That's a given. I'm still alive and uninjured after professionally dropping residential trees throughout the 1980s. The concern (for me) was not personal safety but not to accidentally have a tree fall across a fence, car, boat, or a house. Liberal doses of beer were never in the equation whereas strategic ropes and chains were always put in place. That birches are brittle is only one of the discoveries I made during that time.
 
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