Notes on Equipment Suppliers:

 

A number of folks have asked lately where they can get rapier gear. This is a good thing because loaner gear is usually stretched awfully thin… You’ll eventually want a mask, a sword, gloves, armor, and gorget.

Weapons:

 

There are about four ways to go here, with prices ranging from $80-300. On the cheapest end, you’ll have to buy a bare blade, and make or scavenge the hilt yourself. This former is not impossible, but it will take some work. There are a handful of blacksmiths in the kingdom willing to work with (and teach) you, and a lot of people have spare sword furniture they’re not using. Sometimes unrelated hardware (such as lamp bases) make decent improvised guards. If you can drill and tap holes, and maybe use a lathe for a few hours, you can make or improvise a handle and pommel–if not, they can be ordered cheaply. Once you have the hardware, order a blade you like, and file things down until they fit.

 

Just about the cheapest complete schlager-type weapon is the Hanwei Practical Rapier sold by James the Just (http://www.jamesthejust.com), for about $140 (though cheaper elsewhere on the web). Unfortunately, the Hanwei is a very heavy weapon for its length, and will be awkward (at best) in the hands of many smaller fencers. Slightly more expensive, but promptly-delivered, and just a bit on the large side, I’d recommend Triplette: they carry a variety of decent cup-hilts (best options here are the R2, R6, R8, and R9; the R7 is the worst hilt I have ever used), a couple swept hilts options, schlagers, Zamorano practice rapiers, and a package deal that may interest you.

 

http://www.triplette.com        336.835.7774

 

These are but two of the off-the-shelf options of very, very many that exist. Dona Arabella has compiled an exhaustive (if slightly out-of-date) list of merchants you may also consider:

 

http://www.mrows.org/arabella.html#MERCHANTS

 

Many of these businesses have considerably increased their SCA lines since she wrote. Some of these suppliers sell ready-made weapons and deliver immediately; others offer custom handmade weapons and hilts that may take weeks or months to complete — be prepared to wait (and sometimes harrass the artisan) to get your weapon. Darkwood Armory is well-regarded for their experience customizing weapons for folks with smaller hands, but be sure to mention this when you order. A custom hiltmaker can also adjust the balance point to you liking.

 

For blades, you want either a schlager (35″ or 40″) or a “practice rapier” (Del Tin, Hanwei or Zamorano). Epees are (poor) training toys for children and wimps (only *just* kidding). For readers in epee-centric kingdoms (and also anyone building a rapier from assorted parts), have a look at Arabella’s sword-building article:

 

http://www.mrows.org/arabella.html

 

If you can handle the longer blade, I recommend something in the 40-42″ range. Most of the fencers are using this length now, and you will be miserable if you have to line-fight with a 35″ schlager. Practice rapiers have a much wider base and taper towards the tip, so they look more realistic than schlagers and handle VERY differently. The Hanwei and DT come in a variety of sizes, while the only legal Zamorano length is 40″ (the shorter one is too stiff). 35″ schlager blades run about $60, 40″ blades $80, and practice rapiers $100-$125. The Hanwei is the exception here: you can get bare rapier blades for $65-$70. They’re a bit heavy, but a bargain at the price. Triplette’s schlager offers a nice compromise, with a diamond cross-section and slight taper.

 

Finally, unless you enjoy filing, tapping pommels, etc, consider buying a complete weapon rather than piecing it together. Most of my blades are multi-custom frankenstein jobs that I’ve learned to love but took a lot of fitting to make them work. All of the above suppliers want you to be happy with what you get and will mix and match parts on their end, doing the fitting work for you 🙂

Masks:

 

The most important consideration for a mask is the fit. A number of the folks in Isles have ordered basic $55 masks from Physical Chess, so we have Child (Mora’s), S (Todde’s), and M (the enormous loaner mask) masks at Isles’ practice, that you can borrow and test the fit. We have found them quite durable and comfortable. Santelli makes the best masks in the business, but they cost quite a bit more, and we don’t have any around to test the fit. Finnian has done a lot of modern fencing and can probably offer advice on high-end masks.

 

http://www.physicalchess.com 800.fen.cing (buy online for discount)

http://www.santelli.com          201.871.3105

 

Mask drapes offer a very simple way to armor your neck. Simply several layers of fabric that together pass the punch test, and sew them into a semicircle with a diameter equal to the circumference of the face of your mask + 12″. You will have less trouble with overzealous marshals if you distort the semicircle by stretching the radius in the short direction by 3-4″. When the drape is assembled, wrap the long, straight side symmetrically around the face of your mask, and sew, velcro, or glue it in place.

Gloves:

 

The cheapest, softest, most durable, and least hand-dyeing solution is to buy the nice deerskin workgloves from OSH or Home Depot, (they cost about $17), remove the elastic from the wristband, and stitch on a fabric or leather cuff. However, if you’re lazy, a few of the suppliers on Arabella’s page sell black cuffed gauntlets that turn your hands blue when you sweat.

Torso Armor:

 

You can either make a shirt and doublet ($10-$30 of fabric plus a good deal of work), or buy armor. Triplette sells several different forms of SCA armor for about $50. (Better yet, check out their SCA starter sets and talk them into upgrading you to a schlager or Zamorano with a swept hilt, in exchange for dropping the gloves. Don’t get stuck with a crappy epee cup hilt). Depending what you choose, you may want to throw a poofy shirt over it anyway. If you plan to do some modern fencing, you might want to buy a 3-weapon (not “foil/epee”) jacket, and throw a shirt over it for SCA events.

 

The basic tradeoff here is that a shirt & doublet will look and breathe a lot better, but you will need some help making it. Then again, you can borrow loaner gear until you’re done, and you’re gonna have to learn to sew sooner or later…

Gorgets (Neck Armor):

 

As with everything else, a couple options here. Leather “dog collar” gorgets do the job, are easy to make, comfortable, cheap, and you won’t get stuck waiting to borrow one that doesn’t fit. Unfortunately, the rules on leather gorgets are touchy and frequently in flux. A good one will be allowed by 98% of marshals. The rest will find (or imagine) something wrong with it. You can make a metal gorget, but it’s a lot of work, so if you’re lucky enough to find a merchant carrying cheap one that fits well, seriously consider buying. However, metal gorgets are getting expensive and hard to find. After beating my head against this problem for five years, I developed a wax-hardened gorget that is easy to make, and has had no problems passing inspection. You can find details, patterns, and photos at:

 

http://www.mrows.org/isles/gorget/

Offhand weapons:

 

Everything but flexidaggers and second swords can be made in an evening’s work. A buckler is a round piece of plywood (recommend 1/4″-1/3″), fitted with a handle and wrapped in leather or edged and painted. A scabbard is a PVC pipe (as long as you like) wrapped in leather, fabric, or tape. A cloak is semicircle of sturdy fabric (preferably lined). A beaver handpuppet is a… well, never mind :-p

 

You may also decide you want a fencing dagger. The blade comes in three flavors. The “flexidagger” has a small, rectangular cross-section, is usually a little cheaper, but tends to have the shortest lifespan. The “safeflex” is a wide, tapered blade of rolled sheet steel; looks kinda funny from up close but the silhouette and handling are pretty accurate. They’re being mass-produced now and should be easy to find. The last option is to buy a Scotty dagger blade, wait three months for it to arrive (he makes them by hand and lies like a dog about how long it takes), file it until it fits in your hilt, and then smile in glee at your beautiful, incredibly real-looking dagger. Check out mine at practice for further details.

 

You’ll also need a hilt for that blade. The best options are a “main gauche”, a sabre-like guard where a triangle of steel curves down from the quillons to the pommel; a cheap sabre guard, grip and pommel; or a simplified ring or plate hilt. Again, try to have the merchant sell you a complete weapon.

Written by: Todde mac Donnell