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Recommended Kit

Below is our kit recommendations, we encourage people to focus on getting a mask first. We also recommend that men get a sports cup ASAP. After this things are a bit more flexible, though likely look at gloves and a jacket so you can start doing controlled sparring with steel weapons.

Longsword Protective Gear

Mask: Red Dragon HEMA Fencing Mask 350N
Mask Overlay: Red Dragon HEMA Leather Mask Overlay
Gorget: Arcem Mini Gorget or Vytis Light Gorget
Jacket: SPES AP Plus 350N or AP Light 800N
Forearm: SPES Geko Forearm And Elbow Overlays
Gloves: Sparring Glove Mitten with long cuffs
Trousers: SPES HEMA light pants 350N

Cup (for men): While we don’t have any specific recommendation, we do encourage you to get one quickly.
Chest Protector (for women): For sparring, most HEMA groups (us included) recommend a chest protector like this one - https://pbtukfencing.co.uk/products/chest.htm

The jacket and trousers can be substituted for similar items from Red Dragon, which will also be a fair bit cheaper. The reason we recommend SPES is they have a huge range of customization options, which we really appreciate. If this isn’t a concern for you, then Red Dragon will do the job equally well.

If you plan on taking part in any intensive tournaments, you may want to think about upgrading your 350N gear to 800N, in which case we recommend the following changes:

Mask: Allstar Coaching mask 1600N or Red Dragon HEMA Fencing Mask 1600N
Jacket: SPES AP Light HEMA Jacket NG 800N or SPES Hussar HEMA Jacket NG 800N
Trousers: SPES Dragonfly HEMA Pants NG 800N or SPES Hussar HEMA Pants NG 800N

*The Hussar line is typically much more padded opposed to the lighter and less padded alternatives we also recommend.

One Handed Weapon Protective Gear

First, all of our recommendations for longsword work fine here (with the occasional exception of gloves). The only reason there is different kit listed here is that you can typically use lighter gear for most one-handed weapons than you need for longsword. The gear we recommend for this is the same as Longsword with the following differences, though this typically only really matters for jackets, and othe kit isn’t usually that much different. If you’re looking for a light jacket for use with one handed weapons the following SPES 350N jackets are good options: Officer, Imperial Officer, Attila

Gloves for one handed weapons vary greatly depending on the exact weapon and user, and we recommend discussing what you’re looking for with the instructors to get the best advice.

Sparring Weapons

For longswords, our recommendation is a Trnava light from Regenyei. We feel that this is a good preforming longsword, with the added benefit it comes with customization options.

For Broadswords, we recommend Armour Class’s “Full Dragoon Basket (SC14) with a 32 Inch Manitoba Blade”. While the basket and many others are listed on their website the blade is not, so you will need to email them to tell them your order. Other baskets are perfectly fine though price can vary significantly.

For Sabres, Kvetun’s Easton Sabre is a good choice.

As with protective gear, there are HUGE ranges of weapons out there. These are by no means the definitive options, and we’d also recommend trying to handle several different swords before settling on one to buy, as they can have a different feel from person to person. Ask around the club and see what you like, or better yet attend events with traders there to get a real feeling of what you’re about to buy, those these events are few in the UK.

Helpful Links (and a discount code)

Here are a few links to the various online stores to get you started:

Red Dragon -     https://www.thehemashop.com/ (see discount code below)           
SPES -               https://histfenc.eu/en/
Sparring Glove - https://sparringglove.com/en/
Regenyei -         https://regenyei.com/
Armour Class -   https://www.armourclass.co.uk/
Kvetun -            https://kvetun-armoury.com/
Black Fencer -   https://blackfencer.com/en/

Not everything we list is here, but quick google searches should be able to do the rest. There are also many more manufacturers out there – so feel free to look around online or ask instructors/clubs members for more opinions,

Our discount code with The HEMA Shop (https://www.thehemashop.com/) is 608. You will need an account on the site and then contact them with the code so that they can add it to the account. It’s well worth it as it gives between 10-25% off on Red Dragon gear on the site.

Club Kit

If you want to get your hands on our own Glasgow HEMA branded kit, you can see and order our gear straight from the manufacturer here: https://zapkam.com/p/club-shops/martial-arts/glasgow-hema/
We don’t make any money off these, but it still helps the club get noticed, not to mention they’re good pieces of sports equipment.