Chainmail is flexible armor made from thousands of tiny metal rings linked together in a pattern, like a shirt woven from steel instead of thread. Each ring connects to four others, creating a mesh strong enough to protect against slashing swords and stabbing daggers. Knights and soldiers in medieval Europe wore chainmail shirts called hauberks that covered their bodies from neck to knees, sometimes weighing 30 pounds or more.

Making chainmail required incredible patience and skill. An armorer would coil wire around a rod, cut it into rings, then spend weeks linking those rings one by one. A single shirt might contain 50,000 rings. Warriors valued chainmail because it moved with their bodies, unlike rigid plate armor. They could bend, twist, and fight without being locked in place.

Chainmail protected well against cuts but couldn't stop the crushing force of a mace or hammer. That's why knights eventually added metal plates over their chainmail for extra protection. Today, butchers sometimes wear chainmail gloves to protect their hands while cutting meat, and divers use special chainmail suits to guard against shark bites.