Me aqnd my best friend were playing war and we came across a dilema. i say plate mail is heavier but my friend thinks chainmail is heavier. what do you think

I would say that platemail is more heavy, but I don't know that definitely. I just think that solid armour would be heavier than chained armour if you see what I mean.

Chainmail and Plate mail are about equally heavy, plates are more firm but thinner

Plate mail, definitely.
But it depends on the size, really. A chain mail tunic which covers most of the body would probably weight about the same as a reasonably light breast plate.
But a full suit of armour compared to a full chain mail suit... the armour would be much, MUCH heavier.

Hey Spyrer, talk about simultaneous posts. ;)

[This message has been edited by Taluntain (edited May 09, 2001).]

According to the 2nd edition arms and equipment guide, chain mail is much lighter than any of the plate armors. Chain mail, if fact, is often the backing for plate mail armor, with the metal plates rivited to the chainmail backing.

Sad git that I am, I saw this as a challenge and found the following:

"How much does this stuff weigh?

From Armor to Daggers:

Armor full suit 45-60 pounds depending on style.
1/2 Suit of armor 30-45 pounds.
Helmets 5-10 pounds
Swords single hand 2-3.5 lb.
Bastard sword 3-4.5 lb.
Real Two handers 4-8 lb.
I have never seen an authentic combat sword greater than 9 pounds.
Rapiers 3-5.5 lb.

Can Knights get up after they have fallen?

A knight in armor for battle was very mobile. If he wasn't, he would be susceptible to attacks from behind or from a faster moving unarmored opponent. In fact it is recorded that some knights were able to leap into there saddles from a standing position beside there horse. It is completely untrue that an armored man was unable to get up after falling. The old story about a knight being winched up in a crane to get on his horse is a figment of Mark Twains imagination i.e. 'Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court'."

From:
http://www.armor.com/2000/info.html

Bugger - I've had to admit defeat. Can't find any details on the weight of mail (constructon, materials, development, yes - weight no). Anyway, if anyone is really interested try starting your search here:
http://therionarms.com/resources.html

From what I've read, plate is usually heavier, especially full plate, but the way it's designed spreads out the stress all across the body making it *seem* a lot lighter, or at least more comfortable... it's like carrying a regular backpack compared to a hiking backpack... the latter is a lot heavier but it isn't just weighing right down on your shoulders, so it's not as bad.

I'd still want to be quite strong before I tried to wear either.

Actually plate mail is a bit heavier than chain mail being solid metal after all, but..mutch depends on the quality, I think!

yeap.. quality plays an important role in deciding the weight..

but actually.. u wear chain mail over a cloth cover all that covers even ur head.. then u wear ur plate mail over ur chain mail.. i think the cloth part acts like a Long John's.. metal is not very thermal and the Knights didnt exactly have air conditioning like Astronauts now do

I have worn them both, had this same argument with a player about 10 years ago, and plate mails generally wighed more (for the time period) but felt lighter because they didn't have all thier weight dangling of your shoulders.

One should keep in mind, however, that they kept mfg. plate armour long after chain, and during that process new ways of creating alloys and such were discovered that made plates lighter than chain ever was.

That's a good point; iron or steel chain versus increasingly better-quality plate... but I guess we're assuming equal quality of materials.

My observation agrees with the idea that plate weighs more, but is easier to move in, because chain drapes and plate is articulated. So when you swing a sword wearing plate, you have to get that entire sleeve in motion, whereas in plate your upper arm is distinct from your lower arm, so you can drive the blow from the pivot point and have less inertia. So chain moves like a wet robe, while plate moves like a wet jacket. And as someone said, chain hangs entirely from the head and shoulders, while full plate is better distributed.

Plate mail combining plate and chain would be the heaviest and hardest to move of all. Probably why it was not used much after it was possible to construct full plate.