Although we attempt to make it as easy as possible for students to participate in classes, Historical Fencing does require a considerable amount of equipment. The following is a list of gear you should aim to acquire.

Beginners:

Leather gloves.

Basic rigger’s gloves from a hardware store are fine. If you have particularly small hands, Horseland have good quality gloves in a variety of sizes.

Shinai:

Shinai can be extremely useful tools for practicing swordsmanship, far superior to traditional singlesticks and wasters, and can be modified in a variety of ways to act as both backswords and longswords. We occasionally bulk-buy shinai for around $30 each – ask Paul if you want one. Otherwise, they can be purchased for approximately $45 from most martial arts shops (try Martial Arts World, Victoria Rd, Gladesville).

Higher quality Nami No Hira Oval Grip “Koban” Style Shinai can be ordered from http://www.eguchi.net/ email: http://www.jgfencesport.com/

Other Armour

Light bouting with shinai-backswords can be carried out in little more than a fencing mask, however elbow and knee pads and a groin box are recommended.

Scholars:

For bouting with steel you will require extra equipment. This includes:

Blunt steel sword

For both Silver and Page a basket-hilted backsword or broadsword is recommended. There are a number of excellent armourers working in Australia who can provide custom made weapons (ask one of the Provosts for recommendations). Most recently, Tim Harris has been making very nice, well balanced broadswords for a reasonable price: Contact Tim for further details.

If you can't wait for a custom sword, Hanwei make an excellent range of Practical swords. The Scottish Basket-hilt Broadsword is a good, well balanced weapon with a slightly offset basket. The Basket-hilt Backsword is slightly heavier but with a larger basket for those with larger hands. The Mortuary Hilt Backsword is slightly shorter but extremely light.

Hanwei also make a wide range of crosshilted medieval-style swords. The Austrian longsword has a reputation for being an excellent weapon.

If you are interested in Hanwei swords, contact Steve Hand for further details.

Gauntlets
This is absolutely necessary, unless basket-hilted sword is used. Padded and armoured gauntlets can be fairly easily made. Ask one of the Provosts for help. For fancier gauntlets, ask one of the Provosts for a recommendation to a local armourer, or check out http://www.bestarmour.com

Body Armour
Some form of body armour is necessary for steel bouting. This can be a padded garment like a gambeson, a coat-of-plates or jack, a thick leather buff-coat, or mail, lammelar or scale armour. Instructions for making one light but highly protective form of armour can be found here, but there are many alternatives. We are working on finding a supply of ready-made gambisons or fencing jacks, but in the meantime ask a Provost for suggestions.

Vambraces
Forearm protection is imperative. Vambraces can be made from thick leather, or from thinner leather or similar material splinted with steel strips. Ask one of the Provosts for help.

Head Protection
The form of protection you have will determine what form of bouting you are able to undertake. Ideally you should acquire a masked steel fencing helmet such as the one pictured below. We are working on developing a supply of such helmets, but in the meantime a fencing mask will provide adequate protection for controlled bouting, and we are working on some simple modifications to prevent the mask from deteriorating under such conditions. A re-enactment style open faced steel helmet is a common alternative, but this does not provide protection for the face, making it unsuitable for some weapon-systems.