HEMA Suppliers
HEMA equipment has made tremendous progress over the last decade, both in terms of quality and quantity. More variety is available on the market, and as HEMA becomes more international, equipment suppliers are doing the same.
While there’s more variety than ever, HEMA equipment manufacturers are still largely small-scale workshops. This means that (often long) lead times are the norm, so if you’re in a rush, you might be better off paying the premium and buying from a retailer.
General Suppliers
The HEMA Shop (Members Discount)
The HEMA Shop is both the manufacturer of the Red Dragon protective gear and Rawlings nylon longswords, and a reseller for a number of other manufactures. Club members get a discount between 10-25% on a wide range of products (primarily their own). This combined with free shipping on orders over £200 and their being based in the UK make them the easiest, cheapest and quickest option to buy a lot of basic gear. As well as their own equipment, you can buy most SPES protective gear and some non-synthetic weapons, although not all of these are appropriate for sparring so please speak to an instructor before purchasing.
If you’re a member and not seeing the discount, please email us to make sure you’ve been added.
Faits D’Armes
http://www.faitsdarmes.com/en/
Faits D’armes produce some of their own gear, including several very good options for combined box and thigh protection that you can’t get elsewhere. However, their main strength is that they are one of the few shops that stock excellent options from a range of suppliers for pretty much any piece of gear you could need. If you’re looking for a one stop shop to dump £1,000 and get everything you need for steel longsword very quickly, they’re a good option for you.
Academy of Historical Arts
http://www.corsairs-wares.com/martial-arts/
The AHA are a small organisation so stock can vary but, if the item is in stock, you’ll get quick and efficient service. They mostly sell protective equipment from other manufactures but have their own range of high quality books (Fallen Rook Publishing) as well as other miscellaneous items.
Leon Paul
Probably the most famous Olympic fencing brand in the UK, Leon Paul have taken up making HEMA gear. You can buy basically anything from them and they have some genuinely innovative products – but make sure to check the stock before purchase. The one downside is that they are a little more expensive than average. They do sell a good quality smallsword trainer for a relatively good price. They also have a London shop that you can visit if you want to try gear on. As an added bonus, they sell fencing socks in a range of colours if you want to look distinctive.
Black Armoury
http://www.blackarmoury.com/en/
Black Armoury both manufacture their own gear and sell equipment from other suppliers. You can also buy basically everything you might need directly from them. Of particular note is their jacket, which is the only jacket on the market that is designed to go over your mask bib. They produce their own swords as well as protection but we have never seen or used them so cannot recommend for or against them.
Protective Equipment
SPES Historical Fencing Gear
SPES manufacture a wide range of good quality protective equipment. They are best known for their jackets and have been the defacto standard for quite some time, with their AP Jacket probably being the most common HEMA jacket in Europe. Despite that, they have been innovating in recent years and have a number of options, ranging from light jackets suitable for rapier to premium heavy jackets with integrated hard protection. Their gloves are also some of the best available.
PBT Historical Fencing
PBT is a well respected sport fencing brand that branched out into HEMA some time back. They sell their own versions of most types of protective equipment, with the exception of gloves for heavy weapons.
All-Star Fencing
https://www.allstar-fencing.co.uk
All-Star fencing are not a HEMA manufacturer but they produce high quality Olympic fencing equipment. Some of their instructor equipment is suitable for rapier and smallsword, however the main reason we’ve included them is that their Comfort Plus 1600N Coaching Mask is one of the few excellent 1600N masks with removable lining. It is a pain to get, though, as it’s not stocked by the UK online shop. If you want it, you need to call them up and they can order it in from Germany for you.
Weapons
The three manufacturers below are mostly high quality and fairly consistent. They’re also large-scale enough to produce swords for nearly every HEMA discipline we do at LHFC. Head over to our Equipment Recommendations page for system-specific manufacturer recommendations, some of which aren’t listed here.
Regenyei Armouries
Regenyei Armouries are the defacto standard for longswords in Europe. At any tournament, most fencers will be using one (including many from our club) and they are used by Swordfish and the Nordic League as the tournament sword of choice. They also make rapiers as well but this has some issues with the grip and guard for the styles we do, as it has been designed for relatively large gloves.
Regenyei’s sabres can be hit and miss, with the Tournament model being notoriously hard-hitting and stiff. The Light and Duellist sabres are much more pleasant to fence with, and are generally accepted.
Regenyei “Longswords” are not sparring safe, as they are too stiff and have a tip that’s too thin and pointy for safe thrusting at any practical intensity. Their Schiltless Feders are perfectly fine as an alternative.
Kvetun Armoury
Kvetun Armoury are based out of Georgia, and make more or less every weapon you can train with in HEMA. Their Easton sabres (developed in conjunction with Matt Easton from Schola Gladiatoria) are the gold standard for military sabre fencing, with good flex and a historically shaped “dumbbell” blade that makes for an extremely hard-wearing sword that is still relatively light.
Kvetun also make longswords, sideswords and rapiers. Some older rapier models can be either too stiff or too flexible, but the newest generation have generally fixed the issues.
Sigi Forge
Sigi Forge is based in Slovakia, and are best known for making longswords. They’ve become very popular, and are only second to Regenyei in terms of prevalence. Sigi’s swords are on average more expensive, but have a higher level of aesthetic quality than their competitors. Sigi offer some unique designs, while maintaining a high level of quality control in terms of their excellent blade flexibility.
Sigi also produce sabres and rapiers, which are very high quality.