Chain Links

Chain Links is a simple Minecraft mod from 2018 - back when I hardly knew what I was doing - and it allows you to craft chaimail armor easily in "legit" survival.

That doesn't sound particularly original, but Chain Links sets itself apart from the rest by using the most logical damned crafting recipes in its chainmail crafting ever. Armor can be quickly crafted from a new item called a Chain Link, and this comes from 4 iron ingots making 9, or 4 iron nuggets making 1. If you're wondering why somebody in the early game would want to craft chainmail armor when they "already have iron", forget that idea, and remember that the crafting recipe cuts down the cost of early-game armor by more than 40%.

This mod also adds a reboot of a weird old piece of Minecraft history called "studded armor", that was only ever a set of icons in very early Minecraft files and not much more than an idea. Studded Armor is crafted by combining a piece of leather armor with the matching unit of chainmail armor. In a weird way, it is particularly tough.

From the beginning, back in the days of its original hosting place, Chain Links has encouraged freedom of usage - without need for prompt - in the use of free modpacks. Nowadays, the mod is even more open - it's practically abandoned! So you are allowed to use, rebuild, and fork it for your own projects, while following the license that says to leave appropriate credit. Read the code if you want, but other than the design thought that went into Chain Links on a fundamental level - it's not impressive.