Community Gear Reviews

Welcome to the BCHF Community Gear Review Page!

Here, we publish reviews on HEMA equipment from people in our own community. This page is intended to help folks find real opinions on various pieces of equipment

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Gloves

Sparring Gloves- Hoof Gloves

Bird here reviewing the Purpleheart Hoof Gloves! As with any sport equipment, I heavily recommend trying out all the gear you can before you purchase. That being said, I got the opportunity to try out this type of glove while learning and was instantly hooked! I heavily recommend getting the regular cuff for increased protection down the arm, as well as putting the money and time into getting it custom sized. The comfort is absolutely worth it. The Pros: This glove is lighter, more flexible and provides more options for grips and hand changes over the full shell build on standard gloves. Movement in these gloves has very little resistance while also being very protective around the wrists, between the fingers, and up the forearm. The material is plenty thick while maintaining breathability. The Cons: The styrogum exterior doesn't stop you from occasionally feeling the harder hits that can happen in HEMA. I specifically notice more hits to the cuff and the wrist between the plates. Be ready to replace the strings, specifically on the hand portion of the glove. We've had multiple strings split as the ones sent from Purpleheart can be a bit flimsy...or I'm just particularly bad at keeping my thumb attached. Either way, No big deal, usually a quick fix with some thick thread. This glove requires conditioning. It will feel very tight and difficult to move when you first purchase. Give it some flexing and some time in the ring, it'll fit quite nicely. If you do purchase these gloves please also be aware that you'll need a pair of regular work gloves to both fill the space in the glove as well as protect your palms and fingers from hits that may go under the shell or between the split. (I have not seen many of these hits, but safety is safety) All in all, I heavily enjoy these gloves. They tank hits, feel comfortable, gives me more options for hand positions and was absolutely worth the money for custom sizing!

- Birdfoot, RI USA, item purchased 2024 from Purpleheart Armory

These gloves have always been my go - to gloves for sparring. I have tried many other types of gloves, including other offers from sparring gloves, and none have checked as many boxes for me as these have. The gloves come in a few different sizes and they also do custom sizing, as well as color Customization. They can do standard length cuffs, which is what I use, although I think I wish I had the extended cuff option, and they also have an hourglass cuff option. The extended length cuffs will cover almost everybody's full forearm, the standard cuff covers about one half to two thirds of my forearm (I am 6'1") but on shorter fencers I have seen it cover their entire forearm, and the hourglass cuffs are comparable to cuffs on things like spes heavies or black knight gloves. The gloves are comfortable, especially when wearing the recommended (often required) under gloves, since the hooves have open palms. For undergloves I usually just recommend going to a hardware store and picking a non bulky pair that fit well. Mobility wise, these gloves are really really good. Obviously not on the same level as five finger gloves, but leagues ahead of spes heavies or comparable sets. Protection wise they're also super good. The first pair I had I purchased sometime around 2018 I believe, and the newest pair I have I got Christmas of 2023. The updated versions cover the fingertips better and have updated more protective thumbs and have extended other styrogum plates elsewhere in the design to make it more protective. The only place that I feel protection is lacking is the wrist, where, instead of styrogum plates there are simple platstic bands stitched in between two layers of fabric. This allows for a lot of mobility but very little protection from strikes. I have seen people make little accessory bands of padding to reinforce that area and I don't think it would hinder mobility in any way and is something I plan to try out in the future. All that being said, I have only ever actually received two hits (in the same tournament pass, one after another) that struck there and caused me pain. Everywhere else on the gloves are very well covered by plates. In terms of looks, the gloves are definitely my preferred look, they're really slim and don't have a big floppy cuff everytime you more your hand which I personally don't like. And the customized ones I've seen seem very well done. One other place the gloves do lack is that in some places the gloves use cords for construction but these cords are mostly just exposed on the outside of the glove. I've seen the stock cords last years and I've also seen them not make it through the first practice. The good news is that these cords are dead easy to replace. It's essentially just putting any string or zip tie through two sets of holes and tying it off. I have never received an injury while wearing these gloves other than the rare bruise where a thrust goes underneath a plate, but even that was minor and didn't inhibit me in any way. These gloves are easily my favorite and I plan to wear them going forward as long as they are produced. They work for longsword, sword and buckler (on the sword hand, usually don't fit into buckler bosses), polearms, dagger, and Irish stick. These likely won't fit into rapier, most sidesword hilts, most saber hilts, smallsword, or any other complex hilted swords.

- Shane, RI USA, item purchase 2017 & 2023 from HEMA Supplies

Arm Protectors

Shoukat MFG- HEMA Rigid Protectors (elbows + forearms)

I prefer these protectors over the standard padded forearm guards absolutely. Hits to the forearm are still noticeable (if for no other reason than the sound) but do not become sore/bruise/linger nearly as much. The only thing to be careful of is that the plastic edges of the forearm cuffs will need to be sanded down, you can feel them dig in even through a jacket. I would also recommend refitting the Velcro straps as it seems the elbow strap is extremely long while the forearm strap runs a bit short. Otherwise fantastic to always have the forearm/elbow connected pieces and they fold into one another nicely.

- Ian, RI USA, item purchased 2024 from Shoukat MFG

Weapons

Regenyei Armory Standard (Spiky) Feder- Light

Regenyei Standard (Spiky) Feder- Strong

The regenyei standard has been my personal feder since I started fencing so I'm a bit biased in that it's my favorite and I've never really fenced with anything else long term other than it. Among other feders on the market it's one of the most affordable and accessible, with purpleheart stocking them almost all the time. I got my first one sometime around 2018 and recently got another as a gift. Both of them were the strong flex weight and handle nearly identically. Our club also recently got a few standards with the light flex weight so I'll mention those as well, although they are also nearly similar aside from flex weight. The standard, I feel, handles very well. It has more blade presence than most sigis and something like the HF armory feder or the regenyei shorty but not as much as kvetun feders or ensifers I've handled. The entire feeling of the sword is feels like it's in the perfect sweet spot, for me at least. The flex on the strong is pretty forgiving, but if you go and dive in with unsafe intensity or your opponent jumps onto your point it might not feel great. Durability wise, my first feder has been consistently multiple times a week since I got it (~2018) including multiple tournaments. It has not broken and the crossguard is still straight. It also has never taken any kind of a set or warp in the blade. It holds up well in the bind, especially against a lot of newer feders where the flex is more forgiving. With the lightweight flex though, most of the same things can be said. The flex weight drops from around 40 odd pounds on the strong to around 25 pounds on the lights. This makes them much more forgiving in the thrust, but handling essentially does not change. The lights feel almost identical to all other regenyei standards I've handled, including my old one. They don't give up very much in the bind either. A lot of the more flexible feders coming around nowadays are kinder in the thrust but suffer when binding, but the same can't be said about the regenyei light which is very nice. I'd definitely recommend either the regenyei standard strong or light, depending on you or your club's preference for flex weight. Many of the same things can be said for the regenyei shortys as well, consistent feeling and durability as least.

- Shane, RI USA, item purchased 2018, 2023, & 2024 from HEMA Supplies & Purpleheart Armory

The regenyei standard has been my personal feder since I started fencing so I'm a bit biased in that it's my favorite and I've never really fenced with anything else long term other than it. Among other feders on the market it's one of the most affordable and accessible, with purpleheart stocking them almost all the time. I got my first one sometime around 2018 and recently got another as a gift. Both of them were the strong flex weight and handle nearly identically. Our club also recently got a few standards with the light flex weight so I'll mention those as well, although they are also nearly similar aside from flex weight. The standard, I feel, handles very well. It has more blade presence than most sigis and something like the HF armory feder or the regenyei shorty but not as much as kvetun feders or ensifers I've handled. The entire feeling of the sword is feels like it's in the perfect sweet spot, for me at least. The flex on the strong is pretty forgiving, but if you go and dive in with unsafe intensity or your opponent jumps onto your point it might not feel great. Durability wise, my first feder has been consistently multiple times a week since I got it (~2018) including multiple tournaments. It has not broken and the crossguard is still straight. It also has never taken any kind of a set or warp in the blade. It holds up well in the bind, especially against a lot of newer feders where the flex is more forgiving. With the lightweight flex though, most of the same things can be said. The flex weight drops from around 40 odd pounds on the strong to around 25 pounds on the lights. This makes them much more forgiving in the thrust, but handling essentially does not change. The lights feel almost identical to all other regenyei standards I've handled, including my old one. They don't give up very much in the bind either. A lot of the more flexible feders coming around nowadays are kinder in the thrust but suffer when binding, but the same can't be said about the regenyei light which is very nice. I'd definitely recommend either the regenyei standard strong or light, depending on you or your club's preference for flex weight. Many of the same things can be said for the regenyei shortys as well, consistent feeling and durability as least.

- Shane, RI USA, item purchased 2018, 2023, & 2024 from HEMA Supplies & Purpleheart Armory

Cold Steel Rondel Dagger

Of dagger trainers, these are often the go to, and for good reason. Super super cheap, I've seen then as low as $7 on Amazon and super super durable. Other than taking sets from bending, I've never seen one break. In terms of use, we use them to study fiores dagger and they work well for that. They are good for drilling and for sparring, with the only drawback being that they flex with hands on the blade. So if you and your opponent begin both grabbing the blade and wrestling over it, it won't stay stiff as a steel rondel would. The benefit to this though, is that when actually striking people with the point, the flex and the large rounded tip make for a pretty reasonable and comfortable experience. Infinitely better than taking an earnest thrust from a wooden trainer, and maybe a bit worse than taking a thrust from a padded or foam trainer. I would not spar with these without jackets and gorgets(and mask and gloves obviously). Cheap, reliable, very solid. One drawback I can think of that I've seen other complain about is that the hilts can have some sharp edges, but these can be cut and rounded with files, sandpaper, or even just a knife. Overall, they aren't perfect, but they're pretty good. Especially recommended when stocking a new clubs gear bin.

- Shane, RI USA, item purchased 2016 from Amazon