i did mean butted maile of course. the rest of my post was a mixed and well mentally edited mix of sources that peculated out of my brain possibly a bit mixed up.
wilkinson steel at the time made reference to egyptians wearing 'split ring' maile which was inferior to riveted maile and would fracture on impact. i assume that that in fact they also were referring to butted maile, a 360 degree ring, rather than the 720 degree spiral 'split rings' used for keys nowadays.
another period ref. notes the sudanese used butted and riveted, of various quality, and also used captured egyptian armour as well as from other arab sources. it mentioned 10 kilos of rings for butted maile would be required for a sudanese hauberk & they cost £25 unassembled.
a small fortune at the time. the split rings used to make butted maile were bought from outside the sudan.
wilkinson also mentioned that they made maile vests for a number of british officers who wore them in the battle and noted that while they would not stop bullets, or a spear or sword thrust they would protect against slashes and grazing cuts and light protection against shell fragments. uniform jackets were also available with hardened steel plates sewn in brigandine fashion up to and including ww1.
another ref. i read from 2005 mentioned some armour captured at omdurman was worn fragile from age, corrosion, cleaning and use, being expensive i imagined it may have been passed down over generations slowly wearing away, and being worn mainly for ceremonial and parades. they referenced robinson's 'oriental arms and armour'. i imagine the padded gambesons worn under the sudanese chain maile armour were more protection, much like the russian great coats the brits found difficult to penetrate with their swords at the crimea.