What do we notice about the average HEMA fencer these days? Amongst other things they have spent a ton of money on equipment. I have heard legends of the early days when practitioners interpreted manuals and sparred with nothing but a rattan wastebasket on there heads and a ferret on each hand in place of gloves, the closest they had to a true feder was a rusty piece of rebar, wrapped in barbed wire and dipped in broken glass. Their eyes blazed with untamed fire and they bestrode the training halls like giants amongst men. Ahhh, those must have been crazy times right? Nowadays, we have not only safe equipment,we have a massive choice ranging from the basic and ubiquitous to the highly customisable and unique.
In this piece I am going to look at the equipment I use, have used and think I might one day like to try. I have formed my opinions about each item and the companies I got them from through my own trial and error. I don’t think I have always made the best choices, so take my ‘recommendations’ with a pinch of salt (or sugar whatever you find appropriate). I also take a look at what choice of gear, practicalities and aesthetics mean in terms of the culture of HEMA.
Head
The first batch of protective equipment I ordered included a Red Dragon fencing mask and I am sure most people’s did. The RD mask is a fine basic mask, it’s well made and has lasted me well. I started of with a shin pad cable-tied on as back of the head protection. It lasted me a few tournaments and lots of sparring, I very rarely get hit in the back of the head. I did upgrade to a SPES overlay after a couple of years; as much to make me look like a ‘real fencer’ as for protection (more on that lower down). I never really felt the overlay added much although I have heard a number of people claim it helps to have the sound of blows deadened.
Really I don’t need anything else. I’ve seen people with rugby skull caps and head scarfs under their masks. I’ve never been hit so hard as to require the added padding and I don’t have any hair that needs controlling, so mask alone is enough.
I probably won’t upgrade the mask until the wire rusts through, when I do I will most likely go for whatever newton rating is required by the majority of events. In the meantime I am seriously considering adding the Wrathful Peasant’s logo to the front of the mask.
Torso & Arms
Most of the work here is done with the excellent SPES AP jacket (natch). It has stood the test of time pretty well, I got it in 2014 and there is very little damage, the hem by the waist and the collar are a little frayed and there’s a fair amount of ground in grim at the collar too, but in all it’s looking good. If I washed it more often the red might be more faded, so I don’t. I have modded it a little bit by adding drawstrings in the small of the back make it fit a bit better and a few patches have been added.
If I was to replace it I think I would go for something a little more renaissance looking, like the De Heredia jacket from Neyman. It isn’t fully historically accurate of course but the look combines the old with the modern and I like that.
The arms (like the legs, see below) have been on a bit of a journey. The first protection I had was a borrowed set of cut down riot police forearm guards. They were excellent protection but I am a bit smaller than your average police head cracker and they proved to be unwieldy. Next came a pair of Neyman forearm guards. Light and strong, they did the job but the sizing is misleading in my opinion. I’m medium in most regards and fit the size guide for Neyman medium so went for that, when the guards arrived they were far to big and didn’t work well with my sparring gloves. I have since moved on to Superior Fencing forearms with SPES elbow cups and the combination works well.
Feet and Legs
My first shoes for HEMA were some Reebok cross-trainers. Not optimal for HEMA at all but they were light, comfortable and grippy. When I eventually split out through the sides of them I did a bit of research and have moved onto Adidas Sambas. I chose them because the flat sole provides better surface area for grip and won’t allow me to turn my ankle as easily as the Reeboks, which had quite a high narrow arch. The Sambas are too new to give a definitive assessment but they seem decent so far.
On the shins, like a lot of people I started with brush cutter guards. Cheap and cheerful they seemed alright to begin with. As sparring intensified it soon became apparent that the level of protection wasn’t sufficient, they are just too flexible and the hard plastic buckles just shattered the first time a decent leg sweep landed on them.
Next I tried the Neyman leg guards. I bought them as a set with the forearm guards. They are made of a single padded piece of the magical Styrogum from Poland. Nobody really knows what it is, do they cut it from the bleeding earth, do they harvest it like Soylent Green, is it just a high density version of evofoam used in the manufacture of shoe soles? Maybe we will never know? In review though the sizing is a little larger than you would imaging, I suggest buying custom sizes. The weight and protection is excellent, the colour choice isn’t great. It has been pointed out that the ‘red’ I ordered would be more accurately described as ‘orangey-pink’. Combined with the fact that the size makes them a little cumbersome they too fell by the way-side; ‘promoted’ to being club loaners.
My next set of leg guards were a much more thoroughly thought out system. I got a birthday gift of a pair of High Hill Pants, complete with padded undershorts. They provide gambeson levels of thigh protection and yet are hidden within the beautiful red and black poofiness of the pants! These pants are excellent and if you can dig the style I would whole-heartedly recommend getting yourself a pair. Not cheap and worth every penny. I added SPES knee cups to the padded shorts for added joint security. The Neyman leg guards came right up over the knee and so messed up the look of the ensemble, they had to go and I replaced them with some wholly inadequate hockey shin guards that didn’t even last a month before being consigned to the expanding pile of spares!
At the 2019 FNaG I got a pair of the new Red Dragon shin guards, they are quite probably the best money I have spent on HEMA gear (not books mind). They only cost €20 and are excellent for that price. The construction is strong and light and the wrap-around design means they attach securely and provide excellent protection all round. As they are only shin guards there is a small gap between them and the knee pads but it’s not too worrying. They match the red and black colour scheme and allow the HighHill Pants to poof out properly (something the Neymans prevented). Excellent!
Gloves
Getting a pair of gloves that are perfect for whatever style you practise is the HEMA-fencer’s dream. There are so many factors to consider, reviews to assess and opinion pieces to wade through; it can all get a bit tedious if I am honest. Don’t take what is coming as recommendation, merely as an insight into my choices and experiences. I am happy with them with a few reservations.
For Longsword; I use Sparring Gloves, the hoof model with the shorter cuffs (not the hourglass, just the standard length cuff). The pockets your fingers go into can vary in quality of finish, mine came apart in about three months and I returned them and they were replaced under warranty. The stitching on the replacements were much neater than the originals and the coating on the fabric itself has lasted much longer. If I was to get a new set of longsword gloves I would probably be torn between the SPES heavies (although I would want to split the shell down the middle to create a hoof like grip) and another set of Sparring Glove hoofs (hooves?) but I would go for the hourglass cuff this time. I have seen them in action and the design will allow any choice of arm guards to fit with no problem.
For practically everything else; Red Dragons, they ain’t great but they do the job. The integrated wrist guard needs to be cut off and the plates need to be re-attached regularly but I find them acceptable.
The Thing about the Gear…
What equipment we choose and why we choose it is more than just about which is the ‘best’. To start with the best is positional, it has to be defined by what use a particular piece is going to be put to. Sparring Glove Hoofs (?) are simply awful for sidesword. The individual physical needs of the fencer have to be taken into account; by this I mean that they may need/want additional protection in a certain area, they may have trouble finding appropriate sizes, etc.
Next is the the aesthetics of it all. I;m not just getting at what we as individuals find aesthetically pleasing. Our choices of equipment tell others more about us than we think they might. I mentioned above that when I bought my SPES overlay I felt I looked like a real fencer. For me this is an interesting thought and touches on many choices we make in HEMA. Why all black all the time? Why are certain jacket cuts massively more popular than others? Why do certain combinations of colour, shape and brand appear more often than other? Ever considered that? No. Well I have because I can’t help myself.
It has to do with signifying member/non-member status to the group identity. Basically some part of us is saying that fencing ability and knowledge of historical technique is only a small part of being a HEMA fencer, looking and acting like one is nearly as important. If I was a terrible fencer (well worse than I actually am), I could increase my legitimacy and acceptance by owning and parading in the right accoutrements. My lack of ability would be compensated for by displaying all the member-signifiers of the group. Likewise if I was an incredible fencer (more so than I actually am of course) my lack of a approved fencing accessories would be overlooked because I have so much of another signifier on display. Of course there are minimums in both categories; turning up to Swordfish in a LARP gambeson, with a paper-mache mask would get me excluded no matter how good I was, but the principle is valid. We allow variation, we value it in the case of strong personalities, but we also tend to reject those who vary too far from the accepted norms of the group.
Most of us make our gear choices to fulfil an array of functions, practical and as signifiers. To show who we are, who we want to be and to ensure our acceptance into the group we want to be a part of. That’s culture, that’s what people do. If we can be conscious of these inclusionary/exclusionary tendencies we can make better choices in our personal behaviour when it comes to others we encounter. When a newbie keeps hassling you about this or that piece of kit, use it as an opportunity to understand why you made the choices you made and take the time to explain those choices. Arguably you are teaching them how to BE a HEMA practitioner, even if you are not teaching them actual HEMA.
I hope you have enjoyed the little rabbit hole I dropped into this tie around. As ever you can comment below or reach me on the Wrathful Peasants face book page.
The Wrathful Peasant 
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