The Kvetun Xiphosura gloves ( kvetun-armoury.com/protectors-for-hema/protective-gloves.html ) seem to be just about the safest HEMA longsword or heavy weapon gloves that we have reviewed. And they are also more flexible and dexterous that other heavy gloves.
I know Julian did a review on these. He said the thumb was overly stiff, worse than previous pairs he had tried. Also the fabric for the fingers was loose and left his fingers exposed on day 1. He had these custom fit to his hand, so that is an issue.
hi that's me! Just to clarify, those gloves I posted about weren't directly sized to me, but to my friend. But we have similar hand sizes, and the issue was present on both our hands. What I find weird is that I didn't have that issue of the fingers pushing through the fabric like that on the previous 2 that I owned. Unfortunately with those two pairs, it seems like I also had issues with durability, my first pair the fabric & rivets all fell apart, my 2nd pair the fabric tore at seams and my thumb & fingers started wearing through the material.
Good review Matt. I feel confident recommending these to my students as a good alternative to the spes heavy. especially with the issues they've been having with quality lately. These along with the HF Armory clam shells represent a great leap forward in safety for our sport. Spes is going to have to innovate if they want to stay relevant.
@@drachimera not sure between the Kvetun and the HF. I had one student go with Kvetun but she's moved away. We now have I think 4 folks including myself fighting with HF gloves and we're pretty happy with them. Smaller handed folks have been having issues transitioning into a thumb grip in them though.
Osteoarthritis in my fingers was one of the reasons I paused with HEMA. Any injury instantly makes it worse (got hit on the outside root of my thumb once and this joint is the most painful to this day. I really really like the sound of these, might get me to start again *finally*
I've used SPES "Lobster" gloves for a while and then decided to get these gloves from Kvetun. I've been using Kvetun gloves for about half a year training with friends and even used them in my first tournament in March, 2023 (longsword, for people of beginner level who take part in tournaments for less than 3 years). I have a few things to say about Xiphosura. 1) Comparing to default sizes of SPES gloves, Xiphosuras feel more agile because they're always custom sized. 2) Hovering protection at the end of the thumb is VERY helpful. 3) Regarding durability of gloves themselves. During the tournament my gloves got torn at the seams in several places (which also showed that mittens, where they aren't padded, are made from a rather thin fabric). Later, in a training, a thread that held a plastic plate next to an actual mitten, also got torn. I managed to sew it all up myself later, but you should keep that in mind (Kvetun themselves say so on their site). 4) Anecdotal evidence about plastic plates on the thumb. During that same tournament, another dude got his thumb broken. He had to withdraw from the tournament, and i didn't see him personally. Later, i've heard referees casually something like "Well, duh, that had to happen, he was using Xiphosuras". I don't know what iteration of Xiphosuras he used, could be an earlier one maybe. My personal guess is that certain plates on the thumb might not overlap enough, and a powerful hit between them might spread them enough to get to the actual thumb beneath the mitten. Thumb plates on SPES "Lobster" are much better in overlapping each other. Overall, i feel comfortable using them, but the last two points make me rather concerned.
You brought me to buy these last year and I am extremely happy with them. As soon as you get used to them, I can't imagine anything better. Especially since they are all bespoke, which makes ordering a bit more complicated, but gives a realky good fit.
I have a pair for 6+ month and are very happy. As you mention I would love the finger tips to be able to come below of the shell and had the same thing in mind with a less flexible strap just at the tip of the fingers. One thing I want to mention here. They are relatively good completable for transportation. The pair fits easily into my mask und there is still space for small items like a groin guard.
If anyone plans on using the same mittens for longsword and sabre like me then you gotta look for a guard sorta like VB "hungarian sabre with extended guard", it's basically a transitional form of stirrup guard seen in central and eastern europe before full stirrups were adopted, except very big to fit hema gloves (looks wacky af but you're not getting spes heavies or HF black knights into a normal stirrup)
I have SPES heavies from 2022 and they have similar end of thumb protection now. I know you have what you have in terms of products to compare, but it's maybe worth referring to what the company's latest iteration is when making comparisons. Reviews for customers etc. That cuff system looks great, low profile is nice.
@scholagladiatoria This is an essential review for people who are getting their first pair of gauntlets! I would highly encourage you to do a review of: Kvetun Xiphosura, Sparring Glove, HF Black Knight Gloves, and SPES heavy current generation. It’s hard to know what we should buy and these things are not cheap! I don’t think the point here is gloves vs mittens; I think the point here is gloves vs mittens for longsword, messer axes, pole weapons and arming sword. Also I have big hands, what about big and small hands
Great review Mat, you are always a certainty for the community. But I think something that needs to be talked about more is the form factor of any clamshell type gloves, and you did when talking about the cuffs, but both these and the SPES Heavy (that i think are not worth it anymore, i personally don’t trust them that much anymore since gettin my right thumb and ring finger badly smashed, i know i have an awesome old pair but i’ve see new ones and don’t think they’re that better) have a problem in terms of target dimensions. They are way too big and easy to hit, which i think is a significant disadvantage and promotes some bad habits both in terms of defending and attacking behaviors, and i find it a bit annoying that there is little effort by gear manufacturers to reduce the form factor of protective equipment while maintaining a safe level of protection, and i think that’s why Sparring Gloves have an edge in my experience, i find that while using them i can do so much more while still feeling my hands are protected well enough, and at a really competitive price on top, because another really big problem in our sport is gear cost, they just need to change that stupid name 😂. I’m also REALLY curious to try the new Weaponmaster gloves with the clamshell add-on by Thokk
Probably depends heavily on era and the individual. Early European monarchs would be more likely to see a need to fight in combat, but some later ones might just be more interested in it. King James IV of Scotland was fairly interested in chivalry and combat, apparently, although that doesn't really say anything about his education or talent. He did die from leading a charge at Flodden. They certainly had the access to resources. The Tokugawa shoguns had dedicated kenjutsu teachers who were fairly famous duelists themselves (or at least some were, talent isn't necassarily an inheritable trait so how good were the Yagyu in the 1800s is more questionable). I don't think we have the information or sources to really state anything for certain about the vast majority of them, and even the ones we do have, how reliable the information it is versus how it might just be political flattery/criticism with no real connection to their actual skills is pretty questionable? Bit of a lifethreatening move to tell the shogun his son, who may one day be your boss or your son's boss, is a shitty student or just bad with the sword. Also, pretty unlikely to ever come up. They certainly how better chances than most to become skilled.
There's a new glove out I think Blood and Iron had a video of it recently. It's a fingered gauntlet but it covers everything and the dexterity is amazing. I tried a pair at a local shop that was too small on me and it still felt better than any other glove I've tried. The downside is it's like $1000 or something like that.
I have a later Spez, with a thumbcap, and I don't think that the Xiphosura is a big enough leap. However, if I was looking for a replacement for broken gloves or my first pair, I would definately get them along with a kvetun longsword or arming sword (which are great!).
One thing I feel like all Hema reviewers forget to mention is how easy gloves are to fix. Plates will brake sooner or later and with SPES lobsters you can put a replacement plate by yourself fairly easily. These look like you'd have to send them back to Kvetun to fix, or give to a pro seamstress or shoemaker or sth.
My Xiphosuras (used for about 6 months) got torn in a few places during my first tournament. I managed to sew it up later with a needle and a thread. This seems inevitable, even Kvetun themselves talk about it on their site (as well as advising to ask local seamstresses and/or shoemakers for help). So far i never got actual plates broken though, so can't say anything about that.
What in my perspective is usually missed out is wrist mobility. The only ones I think handles that, is the good old sparring gloves. So O combined spes heavy gloves, on the wrist part of sparring gloves. Works pretty good. These seems pretty good with wrist mobility. Short but wide cuffs also interfere with many techniques.
Good to see some competition we now have SPES, Kvetun Armory and HF Armory doing the same style of hard mitten gauntlets and thus forcing development. SPES was getting stagnant and resting on their laurels.
Interesting. Could you briefly try it with swords from earlier eras? Migration, classical, and antiquity? Given the name, it would be interesting to see if it works with a Bronze Age xiphos!
Aw man, I just bought my first pair, and I chose the SPES Red Lobsters. I think I would’ve gone for these had I seen this prior. Pays to do your research folks.
HF Armory mittens are more protective than these, especially in terms of keeping the fingertips well underneath the shell, and the webbing between the thumb and index finger is more protected. Value for price is imho higher with the HF mittens. The only thing the Kvetun mittens do better is thumb mobility for side-to-side movement. Once broken in, the Kvetun are very comfortable.
5:36 it's funny -- i got hit at exactly that spot just 5 days ago the blow seems to have been glancing because it left an inch-long streak of blood red under my skin; i expected it to come up as a blood blister but instead it healed very fast leaving, as of right now, nothing but a small bruise
Production time and delivery time might be a factor for some people .Having used sparring gloves and waiting for my kventun gloves to arrive here in Australia 🇦🇺 alot of people go with spes as they are more readily available .However exchange rates and postage costs are a nightmare here unless it's a group order
Honestly, with gloves it does tend to hurt sometimes when you get hit. Not to mention wrenching techniques etc. However I would say that mittens are not optimal for grabbing opponents.
@scholagladiatoria Hey Matt, about how soon should we expect to see the next batch of Royal Armories swords? I'd love to see what y'all have been working on!
The first prototypes will be with me quite soon, so it depends on the number of refinements required. I'm guessing by the end of the year, but hopefully earlier than that.
$340.70 Canadian Dollars. $260.92 American Dollars. Plus shipping, customs duty and tax = ???.?? Plus a mask plus all the other "armour" plus your own feder plus club fees and tuition makes HEMA a VERY expensive sport to participate in. Was thinking of joining a club after I move cities but I wonder if that is feasible. Thanks for the review.
Custom made only. I got a client some custom Gabriel gloves. These are five-finger gloves, so not quite as protective as clamshells. Can also get the Michael gloves made custom.
The gloves are to small. When copying old armor we don’t know the size of the wearer. If the the finger armor was slightly longer it would cover your thumb when you make a fist. “Hand armadillo”
Modern plastic sparing gauntlets still can't beat traditionally designed steel ones. If you don't have the skills to make your own steel gauntlets or don't have the funds to commission them, I can see why those would be your next best option. The HEMA club I train with doesn't allow modern plastic gear. We have a great forge where we make all of our armor and weapons. We try to keep everything as it was done back then down to even our clothing while there.
Steel gauntlets don't really work for modern competitive HEMA fencing, they are too restrictive, too heavy, and generally not protective enough. That's why roughly 0% of competitive HEMA fencers use them. Of course you *can* use steel gauntlets, but they will restrict your fencing abilities in an unarmoured context. I own a few pairs of high quality historically accurate hardened steel gauntlets, but they are awful for unarmoured fencing.
I would never use these. A friend of mine in our club tried these and during free sparring their partners sword punctured the glove and went all the way through, narrowly missing their hand.
A blunt sword punched through one of the plastic plates? I am extremely doubtful. I doubt even a sharp sword could get through one of these plates. I presume it must have found a gap between plates somewhere?
It seems weird to me for HEMA folks to choose plastic protection. If the goal is to fight like the ancients, then shouldn't you choose leather or steel? You certainly aspire to steel blades and not plastic ones, right? The anachronism here seems glaring. If I'm gonna opt for something in plastic, I'm gonna skip the blades and hand armor and go for a polymer pistol or bullet-resistant vest and use modern fighting gear to fight like a modern person.
In the medieval period they rarely used any protection at all for unarmoured fencing. Fencing masks had not been invented yet. Armoured combat is an entirely different thing. If people want to fence in an unarmoured style, and hit each other, then they need safety equipment. Or accept medieval safety standards, such as popped eyeballs, broken fingers and the Black Death :-)
There are two (broad) schools of HEMA - unarmoured fighting and armoured fighting. Most people do unarmoured (more common in early mediaeval period, and later in sporting and judicial duels). So it's a case of finding gear which feels as close as possible to unarmoured combat, while still providing enough protection to not sustain major injuries. The best fingered gloves still have an injury risk too great for many people (and are much more expensive), so many go with gauntlets despite the fact that we know it takes away from the realism/ feel. So, we're not trying to replicate steel-gauntleted fighters - we're trying to replicate unarmoured fighters, but also not die.
Safe maybe but dumb looking certainly 😂 Not a hema conaiseur but id rather wear something that looks more historically accurate with padding underneath than this even if its safer Anyhow as always great content
![Threat Analysis and Tactics to Minimize Risks [HEMA, LONGSWORD WORKSHOP, 29-30 April 2023]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/xHYVGaiXWcg/mqdefault.jpg)
The Kvetun Xiphosura gloves ( kvetun-armoury.com/protectors-for-hema/protective-gloves.html ) seem to be just about the safest HEMA longsword or heavy weapon gloves that we have reviewed. And they are also more flexible and dexterous that other heavy gloves.
I know Julian did a review on these. He said the thumb was overly stiff, worse than previous pairs he had tried. Also the fabric for the fingers was loose and left his fingers exposed on day 1. He had these custom fit to his hand, so that is an issue.
I just sewed the leather on the inside, effectively taking them in a bit. No problems since.
hi that's me!
Just to clarify, those gloves I posted about weren't directly sized to me, but to my friend. But we have similar hand sizes, and the issue was present on both our hands. What I find weird is that I didn't have that issue of the fingers pushing through the fabric like that on the previous 2 that I owned.
Unfortunately with those two pairs, it seems like I also had issues with durability, my first pair the fabric & rivets all fell apart, my 2nd pair the fabric tore at seams and my thumb & fingers started wearing through the material.
Good review Matt. I feel confident recommending these to my students as a good alternative to the spes heavy. especially with the issues they've been having with quality lately. These along with the HF Armory clam shells represent a great leap forward in safety for our sport. Spes is going to have to innovate if they want to stay relevant.
Head to head which is better between the HF Black Knight and these? Specifically for different weapons?
@@drachimera not sure between the Kvetun and the HF. I had one student go with Kvetun but she's moved away. We now have I think 4 folks including myself fighting with HF gloves and we're pretty happy with them. Smaller handed folks have been having issues transitioning into a thumb grip in them though.
@@jmbsoutho great information thanks!
Osteoarthritis in my fingers was one of the reasons I paused with HEMA. Any injury instantly makes it worse (got hit on the outside root of my thumb once and this joint is the most painful to this day. I really really like the sound of these, might get me to start again *finally*
I've used SPES "Lobster" gloves for a while and then decided to get these gloves from Kvetun. I've been using Kvetun gloves for about half a year training with friends and even used them in my first tournament in March, 2023 (longsword, for people of beginner level who take part in tournaments for less than 3 years). I have a few things to say about Xiphosura.
1) Comparing to default sizes of SPES gloves, Xiphosuras feel more agile because they're always custom sized.
2) Hovering protection at the end of the thumb is VERY helpful.
3) Regarding durability of gloves themselves. During the tournament my gloves got torn at the seams in several places (which also showed that mittens, where they aren't padded, are made from a rather thin fabric). Later, in a training, a thread that held a plastic plate next to an actual mitten, also got torn. I managed to sew it all up myself later, but you should keep that in mind (Kvetun themselves say so on their site).
4) Anecdotal evidence about plastic plates on the thumb. During that same tournament, another dude got his thumb broken. He had to withdraw from the tournament, and i didn't see him personally. Later, i've heard referees casually something like "Well, duh, that had to happen, he was using Xiphosuras". I don't know what iteration of Xiphosuras he used, could be an earlier one maybe. My personal guess is that certain plates on the thumb might not overlap enough, and a powerful hit between them might spread them enough to get to the actual thumb beneath the mitten. Thumb plates on SPES "Lobster" are much better in overlapping each other.
Overall, i feel comfortable using them, but the last two points make me rather concerned.
You brought me to buy these last year and I am extremely happy with them. As soon as you get used to them, I can't imagine anything better. Especially since they are all bespoke, which makes ordering a bit more complicated, but gives a realky good fit.
I have a pair for 6+ month and are very happy.
As you mention I would love the finger tips to be able to come below of the shell and had the same thing in mind with a less flexible strap just at the tip of the fingers.
One thing I want to mention here. They are relatively good completable for transportation. The pair fits easily into my mask und there is still space for small items like a groin guard.
If anyone plans on using the same mittens for longsword and sabre like me then you gotta look for a guard sorta like VB "hungarian sabre with extended guard", it's basically a transitional form of stirrup guard seen in central and eastern europe before full stirrups were adopted, except very big to fit hema gloves (looks wacky af but you're not getting spes heavies or HF black knights into a normal stirrup)
I have SPES heavies from 2022 and they have similar end of thumb protection now.
I know you have what you have in terms of products to compare, but it's maybe worth referring to what the company's latest iteration is when making comparisons. Reviews for customers etc.
That cuff system looks great, low profile is nice.
@scholagladiatoria This is an essential review for people who are getting their first pair of gauntlets! I would highly encourage you to do a review of: Kvetun Xiphosura, Sparring Glove, HF Black Knight Gloves, and SPES heavy current generation. It’s hard to know what we should buy and these things are not cheap! I don’t think the point here is gloves vs mittens; I think the point here is gloves vs mittens for longsword, messer axes, pole weapons and arming sword. Also I have big hands, what about big and small hands
I have the black knight gloves and really like them cuz they are very protective and also low profile
Can you make videos to demonstrate the diferences of halberds and poleaxes and make a video about the Joachim meyer halberd @jesterofblades
Great review Mat, you are always a certainty for the community. But I think something that needs to be talked about more is the form factor of any clamshell type gloves, and you did when talking about the cuffs, but both these and the SPES Heavy (that i think are not worth it anymore, i personally don’t trust them that much anymore since gettin my right thumb and ring finger badly smashed, i know i have an awesome old pair but i’ve see new ones and don’t think they’re that better) have a problem in terms of target dimensions. They are way too big and easy to hit, which i think is a significant disadvantage and promotes some bad habits both in terms of defending and attacking behaviors, and i find it a bit annoying that there is little effort by gear manufacturers to reduce the form factor of protective equipment while maintaining a safe level of protection, and i think that’s why Sparring Gloves have an edge in my experience, i find that while using them i can do so much more while still feeling my hands are protected well enough, and at a really competitive price on top, because another really big problem in our sport is gear cost, they just need to change that stupid name 😂. I’m also REALLY curious to try the new Weaponmaster gloves with the clamshell add-on by Thokk
Matt!! An idea for a video! How "good" were monarchs (worldwide) in martial arts? For those we have historical records ofc!
Probably depends heavily on era and the individual. Early European monarchs would be more likely to see a need to fight in combat, but some later ones might just be more interested in it. King James IV of Scotland was fairly interested in chivalry and combat, apparently, although that doesn't really say anything about his education or talent. He did die from leading a charge at Flodden. They certainly had the access to resources. The Tokugawa shoguns had dedicated kenjutsu teachers who were fairly famous duelists themselves (or at least some were, talent isn't necassarily an inheritable trait so how good were the Yagyu in the 1800s is more questionable). I don't think we have the information or sources to really state anything for certain about the vast majority of them, and even the ones we do have, how reliable the information it is versus how it might just be political flattery/criticism with no real connection to their actual skills is pretty questionable? Bit of a lifethreatening move to tell the shogun his son, who may one day be your boss or your son's boss, is a shitty student or just bad with the sword. Also, pretty unlikely to ever come up.
They certainly how better chances than most to become skilled.
There's a new glove out I think Blood and Iron had a video of it recently. It's a fingered gauntlet but it covers everything and the dexterity is amazing. I tried a pair at a local shop that was too small on me and it still felt better than any other glove I've tried. The downside is it's like $1000 or something like that.
You may be thinking of the Superior Fencing Impact Resistant Glove. Academy of Historical Fencing has a review on their channel.
A friend of mine has these and they’re great, but I think the hf armory gloves are 95% as good for less cash
I’ll have to share this with my fellow SCAdians.
Think they are Heavy List rated or just C&T
I have a later Spez, with a thumbcap, and I don't think that the Xiphosura is a big enough leap. However, if I was looking for a replacement for broken gloves or my first pair, I would definately get them along with a kvetun longsword or arming sword (which are great!).
One thing I feel like all Hema reviewers forget to mention is how easy gloves are to fix. Plates will brake sooner or later and with SPES lobsters you can put a replacement plate by yourself fairly easily. These look like you'd have to send them back to Kvetun to fix, or give to a pro seamstress or shoemaker or sth.
They are easy to fix on their own. You need a needle and thread.
My Xiphosuras (used for about 6 months) got torn in a few places during my first tournament. I managed to sew it up later with a needle and a thread. This seems inevitable, even Kvetun themselves talk about it on their site (as well as advising to ask local seamstresses and/or shoemakers for help). So far i never got actual plates broken though, so can't say anything about that.
What in my perspective is usually missed out is wrist mobility. The only ones I think handles that, is the good old sparring gloves. So O combined spes heavy gloves, on the wrist part of sparring gloves. Works pretty good. These seems pretty good with wrist mobility. Short but wide cuffs also interfere with many techniques.
Interesting stuff! Glad yall have another option to try out
Good to see some competition we now have SPES, Kvetun Armory and HF Armory doing the same style of hard mitten gauntlets and thus forcing development. SPES was getting stagnant and resting on their laurels.
Interesting. Could you briefly try it with swords from earlier eras? Migration, classical, and antiquity? Given the name, it would be interesting to see if it works with a Bronze Age xiphos!
Aw man, I just bought my first pair, and I chose the SPES Red Lobsters. I think I would’ve gone for these had I seen this prior. Pays to do your research folks.
Hey patron can you make some videos about the types of two handed combat weapons like halberds, swords, axes, maces, IF you can master
HF Armory mittens are more protective than these, especially in terms of keeping the fingertips well underneath the shell, and the webbing between the thumb and index finger is more protected. Value for price is imho higher with the HF mittens. The only thing the Kvetun mittens do better is thumb mobility for side-to-side movement. Once broken in, the Kvetun are very comfortable.
I have both. HF is more mobile, but the Kvetun are built like tanks vs. an armoured vehicle. Value for money, I can't disagree with you. 😊
Love reviews of gear !
5:36 it's funny -- i got hit at exactly that spot just 5 days ago
the blow seems to have been glancing because it left an inch-long streak of blood red under my skin; i expected it to come up as a blood blister but instead it healed very fast leaving, as of right now, nothing but a small bruise
Production time and delivery time might be a factor for some people .Having used sparring gloves and waiting for my kventun gloves to arrive here in Australia 🇦🇺 alot of people go with spes as they are more readily available .However exchange rates and postage costs are a nightmare here unless it's a group order
Great video
Good video thanks ⚔️
Honestly, with gloves it does tend to hurt sometimes when you get hit. Not to mention wrenching techniques etc.
However I would say that mittens are not optimal for grabbing opponents.
These look cool, but I do love my HF Black knights
From the 1st second i realise that we talking about non-armored combat:)))
@scholagladiatoria Hey Matt, about how soon should we expect to see the next batch of Royal Armories swords? I'd love to see what y'all have been working on!
The first prototypes will be with me quite soon, so it depends on the number of refinements required. I'm guessing by the end of the year, but hopefully earlier than that.
Did you ever tried the HF Armory Black Knight? I just ordered a pair.
Me and wife bought some metal gauntlets for sparring and just for the fun of it haha😂
Thanks Matt, any thoughts about Messer? Specifically one handed messer?
How do you find these compare to the HF Armory Black Knights?
Sword beautiful
What jacket is Matt wearing at the end? Looks awesome!
Looks like the Superior Fencing Landsknecht.
$340.70 Canadian Dollars. $260.92 American Dollars. Plus shipping, customs duty and tax = ???.?? Plus a mask plus all the other "armour" plus your own feder plus club fees and tuition makes HEMA a VERY expensive sport to participate in. Was thinking of joining a club after I move cities but I wonder if that is feasible. Thanks for the review.
Every sport is dairly expensive. Yet HEMA is probably on the cheaper side as you don't need everything and definitely not everything at once.
Why on this film's miniature you look like Bulit welcoming me to the Colony?
That SupFen glove looks like a copy of the Black Knight gloves... 🤔
they look like Kote from Kendo
It's not a coincidence, that Sparringgloves and Spes gloves are both made in Poland XD
ever seen any really protective gloves in a true size 3XL ?
Custom made only. I got a client some custom Gabriel gloves. These are five-finger gloves, so not quite as protective as clamshells. Can also get the Michael gloves made custom.
First time I thought mittens were cool..
The gloves are to small. When copying old armor we don’t know the size of the wearer. If the the finger armor was slightly longer it would cover your thumb when you make a fist. “Hand armadillo”
Could you design and talk about a mace, that turns into a morning star
Modern plastic sparing gauntlets still can't beat traditionally designed steel ones. If you don't have the skills to make your own steel gauntlets or don't have the funds to commission them, I can see why those would be your next best option. The HEMA club I train with doesn't allow modern plastic gear. We have a great forge where we make all of our armor and weapons. We try to keep everything as it was done back then down to even our clothing while there.
Steel gauntlets don't really work for modern competitive HEMA fencing, they are too restrictive, too heavy, and generally not protective enough. That's why roughly 0% of competitive HEMA fencers use them. Of course you *can* use steel gauntlets, but they will restrict your fencing abilities in an unarmoured context. I own a few pairs of high quality historically accurate hardened steel gauntlets, but they are awful for unarmoured fencing.
I would never use these. A friend of mine in our club tried these and during free sparring their partners sword punctured the glove and went all the way through, narrowly missing their hand.
A blunt sword punched through one of the plastic plates? I am extremely doubtful. I doubt even a sharp sword could get through one of these plates. I presume it must have found a gap between plates somewhere?
@@scholagladiatoria yes, that is correct.
It seems weird to me for HEMA folks to choose plastic protection. If the goal is to fight like the ancients, then shouldn't you choose leather or steel? You certainly aspire to steel blades and not plastic ones, right? The anachronism here seems glaring.
If I'm gonna opt for something in plastic, I'm gonna skip the blades and hand armor and go for a polymer pistol or bullet-resistant vest and use modern fighting gear to fight like a modern person.
In the medieval period they rarely used any protection at all for unarmoured fencing. Fencing masks had not been invented yet. Armoured combat is an entirely different thing. If people want to fence in an unarmoured style, and hit each other, then they need safety equipment. Or accept medieval safety standards, such as popped eyeballs, broken fingers and the Black Death :-)
There are two (broad) schools of HEMA - unarmoured fighting and armoured fighting. Most people do unarmoured (more common in early mediaeval period, and later in sporting and judicial duels). So it's a case of finding gear which feels as close as possible to unarmoured combat, while still providing enough protection to not sustain major injuries. The best fingered gloves still have an injury risk too great for many people (and are much more expensive), so many go with gauntlets despite the fact that we know it takes away from the realism/ feel.
So, we're not trying to replicate steel-gauntleted fighters - we're trying to replicate unarmoured fighters, but also not die.
Tell me how that bullet-resistant vest and fast helmet works against a side strike to the ribs or stab to the face.
Safe maybe but dumb looking certainly 😂
Not a hema conaiseur but id rather wear something that looks more historically accurate with padding underneath than this even if its safer
Anyhow as always great content