SPES heavy is good, but heavy. Didn't quite realize just how heavy until I used some others for a while, but for their protection it's pretty much worth it. Never had issue with the thumb and gave away the fiddly thumb protection add-ons pretty much right away. Worth the price. I had the five-finger special sparring gloves for a while and they were... Okay? They were super light and I loved that. The finger articulation wasn't that interesting. The hardened finger tops hurt on the inside without a second pair of gloves and the yellow stuff on the inside of the palm just got in the way, so I cut open the palms and used them that way. The hardened plastic over the fingers doesn't offer much protection from hard hits, is completely stiff, and wears down relatively quickly; I took to making pvc pieces to tape on top to support the left hand while I kept using the otherwise still-pristine right glove, which ruined the articulation on the left one. The knuckle, wrist and forearm protection was alright, but the elastic bands wore away and had to be replaced. Wouldn't really recommend. Red dragons... Light and comfortable, but not up to longsword stuff unless you just use synthetics.
I also wear asymmetric gloves - same as you. The different hands have different purposes and different protection / mobility concerns. I understand why manufacturers don't make asymmetric glove sets, but they should.
Iono bout you but the Sparring Gloves w/hourglass cuffs have been fantastic for me. The only issue is that you really do want to wear an underglove as they bite into your hands a good bit. Other than that I've had no issues with them. I do wanna try the Infinity and PG at some point but the PG is almost a pipe dream lol
Oh I wanted to like them but assume I'd need large for them to fit. I wear medium in every glove though. They were completely unusable for all of us. But still too big for the one person here with smalls. So I cut them apart and attached them to an inner glove with an extra 2 inches down. Lol indeed, but getting closer. You can follow there updates on FB, there productions starting back up. The sooner you get your name on an order the sooner you could get them.
@@superiorhema thats odd. I ordered a medium as well and have no issue with the fit. I use a mechanix speedknit glove with light rubber padding on the back of hand and finger that helps a lot in the SGs. I know a lot of people swear by the SGs and I went that route because of the thumb issues with the SPES heavies. I have to say that the way the SGs secure the thumb to the glove is a bit questionable (with the single elastic thread) but I love that the entire thumb is enclosed and sits flush when thumbing a blade. Makes it pretty secure. I've heard good things about the Infinities though and while I'd love the Pro Gauntlets that price tag is just nuts lol. Can get a great new feder for that price. I did use your reviews to help decide on an AP Light Pro jacket though so thanks there!
Hi, thanks for the really informative reviews. I’m about to get sparring gloves. You said the medium size was too small for you, but so I can get some context, what are your hand measurements (circumference around knuckles & palm, and distance from bottom of hand to top of middle finger), and your height? Thanks 🙏 ⚔️
Hi thanks, my measurements are ~195mm (Length) and 220mm (Circumference). I'm 6'2". So in the mediums. Watching back I see its easy to miss some stuff. My Standard cuff gloves are Medium and fit fine. I'd recommend extended cuffs to have that bone protected all the way, especially with new lighter jackets. The hourglass mediums for some reason were coming over my thumb. I see the cuff only has 2 holes for string while I often see them with 3. So maybe it was a mistake and had a small cuff on it. I actually pulled them apart and attached them to an inner glove further away. Everyone who tries them on now can actually move but still hate the hoof. But I think the Hourglass design is a lot stricter about where your wrist can be but the standard versions allow (Hand length) your wrist some freedom.
Ah, that's a good idea, I'll look into that. I use the latex palm work gloves or leather gloves, with extra padding taped around the thumb. SGs are fully rigid at the thumb so I still get broken thumb nails etc, without some actual padding there.
I'm currently trying to decide between a SPES red lobster glove or a hoof pattern sparring glove. Right now I'm leaning towards sparring glove because they can fit in a saber guard and the only other gloves I have for saber are lacrosse gloves. I know this video was mostly for longsword but do you have thoughts on using a sparring glove for saber?
I use a red dragon gloves for all my sabres. The only exception would be if you just have a knuckle bow, and there heavy military sabres as opposed to Gymnasium. What sabre are you using? If yours has a large guard then sparring gloves would be over kill, I personally don't feel like I get a good grip with them on a sabre, and I don't use thumb on the spine. You'll probably get other gloves in the future for sabre and lighter weapons, so I'd say focus on whats best with longsword now. Have you gotten to try both types of gloves?
After my questions yesterday it feels like this video was just made for me xD. I really don't get why spes didn't just make the thumbs like the thumbprotections blast caps for them. There was this solution out there. They just needed to copy them... Instead they came up with this foam and the cable ties. Both just get wrecked in sparring.
I was already planning on making it once the new spes gloves arrived but your comment made me make it faster. Ya they didn't change there production line and just add that little foam. The thumbs aren't grounded at all and you take all the impact. They just released a pre-production batch of Level 2 Spes heavies that have a grounded thumb tip that look pretty good and less bulky than SF and Blast Caps. But it hasn't hit full production, so might be a while once these are gone. histfenc.com/productcart/red-lobster-limited-heavy-gloves-level-2
@@superiorhema It seems like the new thumb cap has plastic between the thumb and the blade. Not sure how that will work out. It looks like it is just the tip of the thumb though.
@@petritzky ProGauntlet has plastic on the thumb pad I think as well and I don't think anyone has commented negatively on that. I do think the new design will reduce the amount of times your thumb gets crushed between the sword and plates but we'll find out with reviews.
In combination with the AP Light jacket, would you recommend a sparring glove mitten with extra long cuffs, or a sparring glove mitten with hourglass cuffs and an additional forearm protector? This is primarily for longsword so protection is of importance but I absolutely need to be able to go into right Ochs unhindered.
I would always buy extended cuff. It means my arms stay under 250g each. And it's nice not having to put on extra stuff. I actually bought extended cuff SGs a little after this video. I'm sure the hourglass is better if it fits properly. But I actually got hit directly on the wrist when wearing those. There angled so far out, that when someone cuts at your hands from your arm's direction then it goes under the cuff. (Like when you're in Ochs and they cut an Unterhau)
@@superiorhema Good to know, thank you. In that case I'm going to get a pair of extended cuff mittens. My current setup is SPES heavies plus rigid forearm protectors and the weight grinds me down in longer session. Somewhat bearable for longsword but it's worse with single-handed weapons that hit hard enough to require extra arm protection even on heavy jackets. One of my lightest weapons has the nastiest sting, it's a steel jian but the edge is so thin (about 1mm) that it really bites into arms and legs.
@@heirihunziker Spes Heavies and Spes Forarms come to ~800g on there own. Each side. So that's like holding a military saber in each hand before even grabbing your sword. You'll notice an immediate weight decrease. Ah with a really thin blades, the downside is they can hit directly between the wrist plates. I've had that with a 1.5mm Messer edge, and some thin longswords. So you'll want to make some sort of arm band or bracelet for the wrist. Doesn't have to be as strong as the one I made above^ but something have resistance between the gaps. I saw Federico Malaguti had some on in a recent sparring vid.
@@superiorhema Thanks again, I'll cover the sparring glove wrist 'accordion' as by your example. And if I need more interior protection in any spots, I recently bought a square meter (10 sq ft) of 6mm Poron XRD yellow foam which was expensive at 100$ but since one can use it to pad jackets, pants and pretty much anything it's a versatile investment. Although 3mm would have been more useful but I wanted something to replace the non-breathable EVA foam inserts in the AP Light and for the ribs and sternum, 6mm seemed more appropriate. I tried D3O in the shoulders which did worse than the EVA foam, hopefully the Poron will do better.
I don't personally know anyone who's used them. I have spent many hours seeing reviews and posts about them. The general trend is: that it is pretty hard to get hurt in them, they're reasonably light, and good dexterity. But also brought up is that the ProGauntlet does everything better and still feels nicer. And that multiple people have shafing and blisters in infinity gloves. But Infinity gloves are always being updated, every month there making the next ones updated and fix more etc. When you order I think its more like a ~4 month wait, and they're obviously half the price of PGs. Don't base a lot on what I say, that's just what's circulating.
@@superiorhema Answers the question asked! Thanks again brother, and if you ever end up near Utah hit up True Edge Academy, we would love to have you down.
SPES heavy is good, but heavy. Didn't quite realize just how heavy until I used some others for a while, but for their protection it's pretty much worth it. Never had issue with the thumb and gave away the fiddly thumb protection add-ons pretty much right away. Worth the price.
I had the five-finger special sparring gloves for a while and they were... Okay? They were super light and I loved that. The finger articulation wasn't that interesting. The hardened finger tops hurt on the inside without a second pair of gloves and the yellow stuff on the inside of the palm just got in the way, so I cut open the palms and used them that way. The hardened plastic over the fingers doesn't offer much protection from hard hits, is completely stiff, and wears down relatively quickly; I took to making pvc pieces to tape on top to support the left hand while I kept using the otherwise still-pristine right glove, which ruined the articulation on the left one. The knuckle, wrist and forearm protection was alright, but the elastic bands wore away and had to be replaced. Wouldn't really recommend.
Red dragons... Light and comfortable, but not up to longsword stuff unless you just use synthetics.
I also wear asymmetric gloves - same as you. The different hands have different purposes and different protection / mobility concerns. I understand why manufacturers don't make asymmetric glove sets, but they should.
Absolutely
Straight to the point. Great video
Thank you!
Iono bout you but the Sparring Gloves w/hourglass cuffs have been fantastic for me. The only issue is that you really do want to wear an underglove as they bite into your hands a good bit. Other than that I've had no issues with them.
I do wanna try the Infinity and PG at some point but the PG is almost a pipe dream lol
Oh I wanted to like them but assume I'd need large for them to fit. I wear medium in every glove though. They were completely unusable for all of us. But still too big for the one person here with smalls. So I cut them apart and attached them to an inner glove with an extra 2 inches down.
Lol indeed, but getting closer. You can follow there updates on FB, there productions starting back up. The sooner you get your name on an order the sooner you could get them.
@@superiorhema thats odd. I ordered a medium as well and have no issue with the fit. I use a mechanix speedknit glove with light rubber padding on the back of hand and finger that helps a lot in the SGs. I know a lot of people swear by the SGs and I went that route because of the thumb issues with the SPES heavies. I have to say that the way the SGs secure the thumb to the glove is a bit questionable (with the single elastic thread) but I love that the entire thumb is enclosed and sits flush when thumbing a blade. Makes it pretty secure.
I've heard good things about the Infinities though and while I'd love the Pro Gauntlets that price tag is just nuts lol. Can get a great new feder for that price. I did use your reviews to help decide on an AP Light Pro jacket though so thanks there!
Hi, thanks for the really informative reviews. I’m about to get sparring gloves. You said the medium size was too small for you, but so I can get some context, what are your hand measurements (circumference around knuckles & palm, and distance from bottom of hand to top of middle finger), and your height? Thanks 🙏 ⚔️
Hi thanks, my measurements are ~195mm (Length) and 220mm (Circumference). I'm 6'2". So in the mediums. Watching back I see its easy to miss some stuff. My Standard cuff gloves are Medium and fit fine. I'd recommend extended cuffs to have that bone protected all the way, especially with new lighter jackets.
The hourglass mediums for some reason were coming over my thumb. I see the cuff only has 2 holes for string while I often see them with 3. So maybe it was a mistake and had a small cuff on it. I actually pulled them apart and attached them to an inner glove further away. Everyone who tries them on now can actually move but still hate the hoof. But I think the Hourglass design is a lot stricter about where your wrist can be but the standard versions allow (Hand length) your wrist some freedom.
What underglove do you use for your SG Mittens? I use two 800N Olympic fencing gloves and they work quite nicely.
Ah, that's a good idea, I'll look into that. I use the latex palm work gloves or leather gloves, with extra padding taped around the thumb. SGs are fully rigid at the thumb so I still get broken thumb nails etc, without some actual padding there.
I'm currently trying to decide between a SPES red lobster glove or a hoof pattern sparring glove. Right now I'm leaning towards sparring glove because they can fit in a saber guard and the only other gloves I have for saber are lacrosse gloves.
I know this video was mostly for longsword but do you have thoughts on using a sparring glove for saber?
I use a red dragon gloves for all my sabres. The only exception would be if you just have a knuckle bow, and there heavy military sabres as opposed to Gymnasium. What sabre are you using?
If yours has a large guard then sparring gloves would be over kill, I personally don't feel like I get a good grip with them on a sabre, and I don't use thumb on the spine.
You'll probably get other gloves in the future for sabre and lighter weapons, so I'd say focus on whats best with longsword now. Have you gotten to try both types of gloves?
After my questions yesterday it feels like this video was just made for me xD.
I really don't get why spes didn't just make the thumbs like the thumbprotections blast caps for them.
There was this solution out there. They just needed to copy them...
Instead they came up with this foam and the cable ties. Both just get wrecked in sparring.
I was already planning on making it once the new spes gloves arrived but your comment made me make it faster. Ya they didn't change there production line and just add that little foam. The thumbs aren't grounded at all and you take all the impact. They just released a pre-production batch of Level 2 Spes heavies that have a grounded thumb tip that look pretty good and less bulky than SF and Blast Caps. But it hasn't hit full production, so might be a while once these are gone. histfenc.com/productcart/red-lobster-limited-heavy-gloves-level-2
@@superiorhema It seems like the new thumb cap has plastic between the thumb and the blade. Not sure how that will work out. It looks like it is just the tip of the thumb though.
@@petritzky ProGauntlet has plastic on the thumb pad I think as well and I don't think anyone has commented negatively on that. I do think the new design will reduce the amount of times your thumb gets crushed between the sword and plates but we'll find out with reviews.
@@superiorhema yeah at the moment the only thing we can do is speculate. Waiting for reviews is the better option.
In combination with the AP Light jacket, would you recommend a sparring glove mitten with extra long cuffs, or a sparring glove mitten with hourglass cuffs and an additional forearm protector? This is primarily for longsword so protection is of importance but I absolutely need to be able to go into right Ochs unhindered.
I would always buy extended cuff. It means my arms stay under 250g each. And it's nice not having to put on extra stuff. I actually bought extended cuff SGs a little after this video.
I'm sure the hourglass is better if it fits properly. But I actually got hit directly on the wrist when wearing those. There angled so far out, that when someone cuts at your hands from your arm's direction then it goes under the cuff. (Like when you're in Ochs and they cut an Unterhau)
@@superiorhema Good to know, thank you. In that case I'm going to get a pair of extended cuff mittens. My current setup is SPES heavies plus rigid forearm protectors and the weight grinds me down in longer session. Somewhat bearable for longsword but it's worse with single-handed weapons that hit hard enough to require extra arm protection even on heavy jackets. One of my lightest weapons has the nastiest sting, it's a steel jian but the edge is so thin (about 1mm) that it really bites into arms and legs.
@@heirihunziker Spes Heavies and Spes Forarms come to ~800g on there own. Each side. So that's like holding a military saber in each hand before even grabbing your sword.
You'll notice an immediate weight decrease.
Ah with a really thin blades, the downside is they can hit directly between the wrist plates. I've had that with a 1.5mm Messer edge, and some thin longswords. So you'll want to make some sort of arm band or bracelet for the wrist. Doesn't have to be as strong as the one I made above^ but something have resistance between the gaps. I saw Federico Malaguti had some on in a recent sparring vid.
@@superiorhema Thanks again, I'll cover the sparring glove wrist 'accordion' as by your example. And if I need more interior protection in any spots, I recently bought a square meter (10 sq ft) of 6mm Poron XRD yellow foam which was expensive at 100$ but since one can use it to pad jackets, pants and pretty much anything it's a versatile investment. Although 3mm would have been more useful but I wanted something to replace the non-breathable EVA foam inserts in the AP Light and for the ribs and sternum, 6mm seemed more appropriate. I tried D3O in the shoulders which did worse than the EVA foam, hopefully the Poron will do better.
Any thoughts on the Infinity glove? Know anyone who has tried them?
I don't personally know anyone who's used them. I have spent many hours seeing reviews and posts about them. The general trend is: that it is pretty hard to get hurt in them, they're reasonably light, and good dexterity. But also brought up is that the ProGauntlet does everything better and still feels nicer. And that multiple people have shafing and blisters in infinity gloves. But Infinity gloves are always being updated, every month there making the next ones updated and fix more etc. When you order I think its more like a ~4 month wait, and they're obviously half the price of PGs.
Don't base a lot on what I say, that's just what's circulating.
@@superiorhema Answers the question asked! Thanks again brother, and if you ever end up near Utah hit up True Edge Academy, we would love to have you down.
@@aanathan0 Thanks! For sure!