I've finally gotten around to painting my mask.

Well as in the title . Send a picture if your most used sword. Im not talking about a few dents im talking obout the thing youve been using for years of Sparring.how does the hilt look and that obout the guard?

Hello everyone.

I recently had the chance to do some sparring with a rapier, and I found it fascinating. Since the club where I train doesn't cover this weapon, I’m considering studying it, with the potential of eventually incorporating it into our training program.

Given that I have zero experience with the rapier and wouldn't even know where to begin in terms of source material I’d like to ask those with experience: what sources would you recommend for someone who is not a beginner to fencing, but is a total noob when it comes to the rapier?

Morning all.
New to the sport (and this thread).
I note a few posts with custom mask painting.

Can anyone offer the best methods of painting that doesn’t effect the mask itself - and ideally that doesn’t cause the paint the flake/chip with use (would rather avoid paint flecks in the eye).

Thanks in advance.

I want to buy the gabriels from CHFG and i can’t wait for it, i’ve contacted the manufacturer monday and havent got a tesponse yet. I’ll admit i’m a bit impatient, but it’s been 4 days without-an answer. Is this normal? Do I just need to wait or there’s been a problem?

I'm looking to buy my first sword, and one of the more suggested are those from black fencer.

I heard a lot of people talk badly about the softness of their steel and some others say that "theirs are more historically inspired than anything"

In my club, we don't use feeders that much and I was suggested to buy a longsword instead of a feder.

What is your experience with them and what other sites could I buy from?

Also, can Hängenort(I understand this to be the finishing position of a low Zwerchhau) counter an opponent's Zornhau, similar to an Ochs?

I would appreciate it if you could provide an answer.

Sharp inside corners create weaknesses known as "stress risers". They should be called stress concentrators because that's what they do. ​​

This one's even worse because it's actually undercut. That notch in the blade is not from it chipping when it broke or a modification, that's how it came from Darkwood.

The blade is old new stock, by which I mean it sat on a shelf unused for several years before it was installed in a sword. ​​​​​​​​​​​Once put into use it lasted for less than a year. ​

So, this year was quite active for me as a fencer and for ArmStreet as a fledgling HEMA gear manufacturer (I put the post as "brand affiliated" just in case)

I’ve been travelling to events around the world and fencing some of the best fencers under different rulesets. Because I have access to ArmStreet sabers, I've tried all possible guards and handles, so I was able to test all the weight/balance combinations and see how they work in different settings and also compare with my other sabres.

I also own or owned quite a lot of other sabers, so I’ll name them all:

1. Hussar sabers by Ukrainian manufacturer Chorna Vatra - my oldest set of two sabers survived; I use it occasionally with a couple of sparring partners who love Polish saber - they are not too heavy, 790 g, 15 cm PoB, have survived like 6 years of sparring and are a workhorse for heavy sabers
2. Polish saber by Bloss, I’ve got it as a birthday gift: 800 g, 18 cm PoB, very inertial Polish saber with a proper short and curved handle. Fun to handle, fun to play with, rarely used for sparring as I don’t have a pair for it and the blade seems to be on the soft end, catching nicks
3. s4 Krieger, (thank you, Krieger, for sponsoring Mordslag prizes), one of my favorite sabers to handle, 720 g, 13 cm PoB - I mostly use it for demonstrations and lessons, but occasionally fence against standard sabers with normal shell guards, and I really like how it handles. Also, s4 feels natural with this essentially curved blade. I tried s2 with the same blade - s4 feels better, or maybe it’s just a prize weapon that was carefully selected ;-)
4. s6 Krieger was my workhorse saber before ArmStreet’s “Podium”; it is pretty standard now in Europe and meets most tournament requirements with 720- 730 g and 12-13 cm PoB. We bought like 6 or 7 for the club 3 years ago; they have some little differences in balance, but it’s a very decent saber. I’ve lost mine at the event, and it’s a mystery never solved. Two or three of those broke, but it was a decent lifetime in the hands of fencers who train and compete a lot
5. VB military saber (thank you, VB for sponsoring Ace of Blades prizes:-). Like most VB sabers, it depends. This one is 800g, 14-15 cm PoB. it’s more like a heavy Military saber, not a duelling weapon, but I can see how people who do Polish saber can like the balance,I’d say, for me, VB tried too hard making two very different sabers, and this one is on the heavier side. It is also slightly shorter than most, 95cm or so
6. VB gymnasium saber. Not with me anymore, but it was a fun weapon. It's basically the same guard and handle as their Military sabre, but with a much nimbler blade. They handle really well; it was a nice 650 g saber with 11 cm PoB, nimble and fast. Too light for most European tournaments, and probably a tad too short with its 94-95 cm total length. It’s gone with a student of mine; I’ll get it back one day, I hope ;-)
7. ArmStreet “Podium” sabers (I have two at least and many spare parts) - basically, what I wanted to talk about experimenting with all possible assemblies from 670 to 800 g and PoB from 10 to 15cm at 6 or 7 different events 

I’ll put my thoughts on how weight and balance affect your fencing in the comments… 

too broke at the moment to afford a longsword (synthetic ones seem to always be sold out everywhere) but Im a hobby blacksmith so I came up with this over a weekend for solo/pell training. wouldn't use it for any kind of sparring, its way too stiff and not tip safe at all, but It seems to do pretty well for what it is. It's still rough around the edges but what do you all think?

Yesterday I had some sparring sessions with one of my most experienced students and I was simply unable to land a fleche. I'm usually able to pretty handily land them, (did it a lot last class with other students who are former olympic style saber fencers) and I thought I'd just kept up my practice of them. Turns out I couldn't land single one. Are there some drills that could help me out with this particular combatant? Could it be that he simply knows me too well as a fighter?

https://faitsdarmes.com/en/shin-guard/560-guardians-v2-reinforced-shin-and-knee-guards.html

Has anyone here used these shin and knee guards? I'm considering getting a pair because I really like the design, but I can barely find any reviews on them.

How well do they actually protect against hits during sparring? And how are they in terms of fit, mobility, and durability?

I'd appreciate any first-hand experiences!

I've been doing Fiore for about 10 years now, with a little Fig. Montante for fun, and I'm interested in looking at some single or double stick sources.

Most of Fiore's Una Mano section can be applied to single stick, but I'd like something purpose written, preferably from a medieval source or as close to as possible.

Any recommendations would be amazing!

Hi, me again. Thanks to all who've already given their advice and feedback. I'd appreciate if you all could help me out one more time please.

I've checked with my retailer and it turns out I had some of the prices wrong so after some more research I think I have a better idea of what I want and what options are available to me. My basic requirements are a weight of 700-750g, a cup hilt guard, and, a slightly curved blade. These are the four options available to me in that budget and from the vendors I have access to:

1. Sigi Sabre Big (straight light blade)

2. HF Armoury Sabre

3. Krieger Weapons S6

4. VB Gymnasium V5

What are your thoughts on this ranking? My only issue with the Sigi is the longer wait time as it's not in stock but the blades are replaceable and it has a 2-year warranty, and at 630g the VB Gymnasium is much lighter than what I'm looking for.

Looking to get my first mask. And it looks like purple heart armory is out of my size for the basic masks. I came across Asaki on amazon and saw those so was curious if they were any good.

Hi, as the title suggests I co-run a small free community club and currently I am looking for advice on armor. We have several Regenyei Standard steel Feders and two SPES AP NG PRO 800N jackets.

My question revolves around us trying to expand our jacket sizing. These jackets (which predate my tenure) are sized more towards a wider masculine body and a large portion of our club are smaller with larger busts and do not fit. As such very few folks have any desire to use these. Additionally, we are a casual club and I say this without judgement but many of them have a limited pain tolerance, yet still hold a love for the sport.

I have struggled to balance these factors, especially given my experience with 800N jackets being deeply bulky and slow to equip. Safety is of course my primary concern, but if folks do not feel comfortable using the equipment they will simply avoid using them and stick with lighter blades like Knighshop Synthetics and our Kendo Shinai.

If anyone has any recommendations it would be highly appreciated!!