Our club can provide necessary kit to get started, but eventually, you will find you need gear of your own to conduct hard sparring, attend tournaments, etc.

Priority of Gear

Generally, the priority of gear to buy for yourself is as follows: mask, gloves, jacket. All of the rest comes after these in priority when getting started. Masks are a somewhat intimate item, as the head-shaping and sweat make it less than desirable to share with others. Hard sparring gloves are hard for clubs to procure in large quantities, so having a pair in your size will alleviate stress on the club. A proper 350+N HEMA jacket should then be your next purchase, as these, while usually easier to source than gloves, are also in short supply and tend to accumulate sweat and odors from other users.

A full breakout of gear recommendations follows, broken up into tiers of importance:

Tier 1: Basic protection, probably don’t want to have to share these with people.

Hard groin cup
https://www.amazon.com/
➢Football-style hard plastic groin cup with briefs or jock strap to secure in place.

350N+ Fencing Mask
https://www.woodenswords.com/HEMA_Masks_s/1924.htm
➢Any 350+N fencing mask (Back of the head protection required for hard sparring)

Lacrosse Gloves (Allowed for light drilling only)
https://www.mercari.com/
https://ebay.com/

OR

Heavy Clamshell Gloves (Required for hard sparring)
https://www.woodenswords.com/Heavy_Duty_Gloves_s/2678.htm
➢Recommended hard-sparring gloves for longsword are hard clamshell-style, not 5-finger or cloth.
➢Preferred brands are Spes and HF Armoury.

Tier 2: Protection you should have for intense sparring:

Gorget (Required for hard sparring)
https://www.woodenswords.com/HEMA_Gorgets_s/1925.htm
➢We recommend low-profile, economy or Destroyer Modz style gorgets.

350N+ Longsword-style HEMA jacket (Required for hard sparring)
https://www.woodenswords.com/category_s/2256.htm
➢We recommend SPES AP-style jackets, but Scholar and Supfen jackets also suffice.

➢Some jackets are particularly light or primarily intended for one-handed fencing weapons. Understand the risks of using these jackets as a beginner: you are going to take more hard hits as you are getting to learn the weapon system. A more heavily padded jacket will allow you to train harder, for longer, and with a lower risk of burnout or injury.

➢Alex’s ideal compromise between lightness and protection is the 800N AP light. This provides more padding than the 350N AP light and more breathability than the AP Plus.

Leg Protection (Lower priority, only needed for full-target sparring which allows below-the-belt attacks or tournament fighting)
https://www.mercari.com/
https://ebay.com/
➢Baseball Shin guards are ideal for protection and are convenient as they come in one piece.

➢Some fighters prefer to use field hockey shin guards in conjunction with the Sellstrom Kneepro III knee protectors. We would not recommend any other knee guards in this setup, as full coverage of the knee is extremely important, and any gaps present a major vulnerability to an already delicate area.

➢Bottom line is that full coverage of shins and knees with some kind of hard-surface protection is required for full-target sparring or tournaments.

Padded 350N+ leggings (Lowest priority, not required for sparring but may be required in certain tournaments)
https://www.woodenswords.com/category_s/2256.htm
➢Certain tournaments require 350N+ leggings to cover down to the knee in order to compete. This is not a requirement for our club.

Tier 3: Weapons, IMPORTANT, READ BEFORE YOU BUY

Synthetic Longsword:
https://www.woodenswords.com/category_s/2170.htm
➢Purpleheart Armoury or Black Fencer synthetic swords are sufficient for basic drilling or sparring. The level of flex is safe enough for thrusts.

Steel Longsword:
➢It is very important that before you spend money on a longsword that you consult members of the club and try some yourself.
➢There are models and brands that we do not recommend.

Beginner Steel Longsword
https://www.woodenswords.com/category_s/2440.htm
➢Your primary recommendation is the VB 51” Medium Flex Tournament Feder.
➢Regenei feders are also recommended as a solid beginner choice.
➢We do NOT recommend ANY “techniques”-style swords or the VB Fiore feder. These swords do not have enough flex to be safe for hard sparring, and we have seen them damage equipment before in sparring.

Higher-end steel longsword brands to consider
➢Burgstahler Blades (Top recommendation)
➢SIGI Forge
➢Ensifer
➢Chlebowski

As always, please ask us questions before you buy gear. Between the many members of the club, we can steer you in the right direction with our experience.