[@Tangletail] The proper thing to do is to wear a gambeson of sorts beneath leather armor. That way, you have the cushion of the gambeson and the tactile proficiency of the leather. A buddy of mine who makes leather armor (I can't stand the smell) and I meet up sometimes, and fight- it's quite fun, because we can hammer away on each other to no end and end up with just a couple of bruises. Unless you specifically aim for an uncovered area of the body, or get really, really lucky, leather armor can withstand enough that you'll just be sore for a week. 

Chainmail, on the other hand, is relatively weak in comparison to the toughness and resilience of leather.