We can’t stress this one enough – considered “Mandatory” for men, and still highly recommended for women, this would be the least expensive piece of protective equipment you will invest in and guaranteed it will be the one piece you’ll be thankful you had in the rare case when you needed it…

Light gloves are highly recommended when doing slow-speed partner drilling, as they will help protect against the occasional minor bumps, scrapes, and abrasions that may happen from incidental contact.

Any lightweight sports, mechanic’s, or garden work glove will work for this. Generally speaking, anything that’s breathable and not overly “grippy” will suffice.

WARNING –  Light gloves are NOT to be used for anything more than very slow speed, controlled partner drilling as they do not offer sufficient protection for more intense drilling or sparring. Use Heavy gloves for this purpose instead.

Steel Longsword or “Feder”:

Steel Longsword/Feder trainers are used for our Longsword Study as much as possible. We feel this gives the most accurate match to what was written in the source materials while still retaining a significant degree of safety.

Any steel Longsword/Feder trainer with thick blunt edges, lobed, rolled, or spatulated tip, and has “Medium” or “Light” flex should be suitable for use. “Techniques” feders and “Blunt” swords (made for stage combat, etc) should be avoided for this use due to their lack of flex, blunt point, and/or thinner edges.

NOTE – for the St. Paul Freifechter events, sharp weapons are prohibited except during specifically designated cutting events.

Examples:

• Tournament Feder, 51″, Medium Strength Blade
• Standard Feder, Regenyei, Tournament Medium Flex
• Fechterspiel Training Longword – Customizable Options – Arms & Armor

Synthetic Longsword or “Feder”:

Synthetic versions of the Longsword are provided for use during the Longsword Foundations classes. They are also often required for some tournaments for a “Novice” division. We have included them on this list as some people like to have both steel and synthetic longswords.

The St. Paul Freifechter prefer the synthetic feder models from Blackfencer, but the Pentii series from Purpleheart Armoury also work well.

• Blackfencer Synthetic Feder (the same model used in the Longsword Foundations class)
• Purpleheart Armoury Meyer Federschwert Longsword Grey

Our recommendation follows common local tournament requirements of rigid/hard throat protection to protect an extremely vulnerable area from an errant strike or thrust.

Examples:

• Vytis, Roughneck, and steel/leather from Purpleheart Armoury

For more “intense” drilling, games, sparring, and competition, gloves offering a heavy level of protection are required.

Gloves are a difficult thing to recommend, as different models work and fit better for some people than others. Individual research will be required to determine which size and model(s) of gloves would be a good starting point for fit, mobility, comfort, etc. for each person.

Examples:

• Heavy Duty gloves from Sparring Gloves, HF Armoury, and SPES through Purpleheart Armoury:
• Gabriel, Michael, Black Knight, or Raphael gloves from SoCal Swords

There are numerous manufacturers of historical clothing and fencing jackets available in a wide variety of styles and colors to fit an individual’s personal preferences and style.

For use with the St. Paul Freifechter, any modern or historical fencing jacket with minimum of 350N puncture resistance and suitable padding is recommended.

Examples:

• “Longsword” Jackets at Purpleheart Armoury
• Jackets at SoCal Swords

Most fencing jackets offer minimal padding or impact protection for the forearms and elbows.

The St, Paul Freifechter recommends using rigid forearm guards and hard elbow protectors any time a fencing jacket/gambeson is used.

Note – some glove manufacturers make a “long cuff” model with effectively integrates forearm protection directly into the glove instead of a separate piece of equipment.

Examples:

• Forearm and Elbow protectors at Purpleheart Armoury
• Forearm and Elbow protectors at SoCal Swords

Additional equipment such as rigid chest protector (plastron), back of head protection, shin and knee protectors, fencing pants (350N or higher rated), etc would also be recommended. If a person is looking to participate in competitive events, these additional items will very likely be required.

Depending on the area of focus, some of our classes require the use of weapon trainers other than a Longsword/Feder.

In these cases, the type and style and sometimes even a specific make/model of the trainers will be listed in the course description.

A note about wooden and synthetic trainers – we strongly recommend that any synthetic trainer be designed to have flex. Any trainer NOT designed to have flex increases risk of injury during a thrust (intentional or otherwise). Because of this, any wooden trainers (daggers, singlesticks, staffs, etc) should NEVER be used for a thrust, except under extremely slow, controlled conditions.

Daggers:

Good for contact drilling and sparring:

• Cold Steel Rondel trainer

Good for slow drilling and disarm/trap training:

• Wooden Rondel trainer

Dussack / Messer:

Good for light gear sparring:

• Dussack – Leather Version D1

Good for heavy gear sparring with synthetics:

• Dussack – Synthetic with Flex V4
• Synthetic 1459 Messer – SoCal Swords
• Synthetic Leckuchner Messer – SoCal Swords
• Synthetic Danzig Messer – SoCal Swords

Good for heavy gear sparring with steel:

• Dussack Trainer – Arms & Armor
• Messer Trainer – Arms & Armor

Arming Sword and Buckler (from I.33 manuscript)

Synthetics:

• Synthetic Sparring Buckler
• Synthetic Arming Sword – SoCal Swords
• Synthetic Short Sword for I.33

Steel:

• Scholar Sword – Arms & Armor

Singlestick:

• Singlestick Blade Only – Hickory – Oval Shape
• Leather singlestick hilt with Hickory Stick
• Rose Tower Singlestick Bells