All jokes aside, in many languages you would actually pronounce it "maymay" or "meh meh" rather. I mean even in English you have the word "memetic", which is pronounced in a similar fashion. You don't say "meemetic". So while I understand that MAYMAY does sound awkward to a native English speaker, or anyone indoctrinated by the enforced pronunciation through the internet ("IT'S MEEM AND NOTHING ELSE!"), I really don't get why people are mocking folks who pronounce the word the way it sounds absolutely natural to them.
Hey Matt, in regards to the glove rubbing on the inside causing blisters, callous etc, have you ever tried wearing inners. In cricket wicket keepers often wear cotton inner gloves. They help prevent rubbing/chaffing etc and absorb sweat instead of letting it go into the leather.
I would love to have some kind of adjustable wrist on a pair of fingered gloves like this. It would help secure the gloves, but it could also prevent excess material from getting in the way.
I saw multiple Konings breaki quite soon, as in less than half a year. My club mate got a pair recently and the stitching broke in their third class at 3 points when his hand got stabbed, he's back to the sparring gloves now. Another club mate has them for half a year and on multiple places the outer leather is getting dangerously thin and cracks are showing (yes he waxed the shit out of them after every training) In switzerland I meet a swiss fencer that managed to rub his gloves through on the leather between thumb and index finger of the right hand, by changing grips from hammer to thumb grip. Timeframe was about half a year as well. This is quite alof of money for something that breaks so soon, unfortunately. I own my sparring gloves for 2 years now and I'm about to replace them at the start of next year, after many hours of training and countless tournaments. PS Still better quality control than Red Dragon!!!
I placed my order in September, and I'm still waiting. Eagerly though. I considered picking up some of the Polish sparring gloves, but I really want a good set of heavy gloves for mixed weapons / two-handed weapon use. I really do agree with Matt that the wrists should be rethought, and perhaps include an integrated hard cuff.
Leather artisan here. Neatfoot's oil works wonders, but since the leather used seems tanned with chrome (too shiny looking to be vegtan leather), keep in mind one would need to apply several coats until it digs in. Also, it smells horrible. Important: neatfoot's oil darkens leather. I find it pleasing aesthetically, but perhaps you don't want that happening on your leather pieces. Now, if that's not your thing, or you can't buy the oil, just get the cheapest hands cream you can find. Apply lots and leave overnight, wipe what's not absorbed, and repeat until satisfied with the leather's softness.
Am I right in thinking neatsfoot oil can also ‘rot’ organic thread? I’m not sure if the thread in the konings glove is natural or man made, but I’d stick to dubbin or saddle soap...
Ian, no, neatfoots will not rot other organic materials, which is a good thing, since I use not both on the leather goods I sell, and to keep all my own leather stuff in shape, so it won't get dry and brittle.
Dogs LOVE Neatsfoot Oil soaked leather. I have been making custom sheathes for almost 14 years, was trained by world class leather craftsmen, they wont use it for anything that might be lying around the house, preferring various sadfle soaps and other oils. Neatsfoot Oil is made from Calf Shin Marrow, very tasty to several animals, not just dogs, unfortunately. Even Olive Oil can work well and be less attractive to chewing beasties...
Matt, I haven't tried these, but short wide fingers cause.. Issues.. As well.We need gloves properly sized like footwear.I could see the palms having a slip slot for, um, thumb, fore, ring and wee finger.I'm prone to wearing bracers and widening the wrist and cutting off the excess to enhance wrist mobility.
I really hope we get a really good fingered glove. I had hoped for these but a friend got them and during his first sparring match in training one of the finger plates broke and injured his finger... But I have hopes for the future
I think you just have to accept injuries as a part of the activity, like in any martial art. For example, a boxer usually has a padded helmet but it is still very possible that he may broke his nose.
Sure, but this was the very first use. I was pointing out that the quality control might not be up to snuff. And speaking of injuries, all except one in our club (Vami) has been due to improper safety gear. the exception was a fracture because the force of a hit turned the parry to the side and twisted the arm. It is about controlling the variables. I use SPES Heavies because everything else I have felt did not stand up to what I want. Remember, a fracture in a hand puts you out for at least a month (ain't nobody got time for dat) Injuries I accept as a risk are not impact based they are stress based, due to eg. not warming up properly, or just ware and tear. Same reason I have use a plastron, I have walked into a stab without one and that settled it. To summarise: Yeas injuries happen, but if you don't work to prevent them you are a bit of an idiot.
i know guys who had their hand pierced through the gap between the thumb and the other fingers on the heavies. nothing is perfect. did you contact st mark about the issue though? if a plate broke im sure theyd like to see what came wrong, i suspect you are right about quality testing, its hard to test individual parts when they are of such complex design. you cant just whack all new gloves enough before you sell them... well hope your friend was alright and that he has learned not to get hit in the hands again xD
I think we have to accept, as a community, that until the majority of us are willing and able to get custom fitted gloves, we will always have lots of problems with them. Oh, and I'm also pretty fed up with the over preponderance of black, I don't enjoy feeling like a wannabe ninja.
Matt, what do you think about the idea of making sparring gloves and jackets using non-Newtonian materials? They're already being used for the pads/armor in motorcyle gear and I think in some sports gear as well, in theory this should allow for gear that's not too bulky or restrictive but at the same time allows for excellent protection against hits from swords.
The biggest problem with the König gloves in my opinions is that it takes quite a while to get them and they're fairly expensive. Apart from that though, they're really solid. Edit: Personally I haven't gotten any blisters or similar on my hands from using the könig gloves and I haven't heard about that from anyone in my club using any glove(granted a lot of them use an additional inner glove).
One guy in my club had his thumb broken while wearing SPES Heavies, I'm not sure if they have changed it but his gloves don't have any protection for fingertips.
I have these. In my experience, if the wrist were tighter I couldn't put my hands in there. For me, the main issues are that I can't move the thumb up, and that they are too padded on the palm. Why so much padding on the palm?
I've found that high-end hockey gloves (not street hockey - actual ice hockey) work quite well. However, the ones I use cost $100 USD, 15 years ago. (I got them at a hockey specialty store. In looking on Amazon.com, I'm not seeing the same level of quality.) The ones I have also contain plastic plates on the inside - particularly over the top of the thumb. They've held up really well - it's only been in the past year or so that they've started rotting off my hands - ie, the inside of the glove has finally worn through. Question: how is the protection along the outside base of the pinky finger? (ie, the part of the glove that would get hit with an upstroke/hand pick?)
It's been said 100 times and I'll say it again, Hockey gloves are NOT okay for steel longsword. Now with that out of the way, the Konings have some sort of plate on the tops of the fingers that run down to the fingertips and I believe the sides. This includes the pinky so it is fairly well protected. IMO the Konings are a really good balance between mobility and protection, but they don't fit my hands which is why I go for the Sparring Gloves.
For that cost, you should just buy the SPES heavy... It is the best gauntlet for sure. I understand that Matt does not like how restrictive they are and yes, they do limit your movement a little. But! Your fingers are the most fragile thing you have and the hands will get hit the most during sparring. Spare no expense in protecting them.
I completely agree that SPES Heavies are incredibly protective (except for the end of the thumb). I personally cannot use a longsword with them though unfortunately.
scholagladiatoria I feel the same, I honestly prefer to take the risk and not fight with my gloves but I guess the problem may come from the fact that I have similar hands to yours
I understand. They are what they are. A big hunk of leather and plastic. It is harder to use the sword with them. But I want my hands protected... As for Giorgianni... Fighting without propper protection is suicide. Your hands will get smashed sooner or later. I get that Matt uses the koning, they are probably protective enough for your hand not to get reduced to pudding sooner or later. But anything less protective than that? Fuck that... Not fighting without propper gloves. Also, you probably know but... They do make their fencing jackets on order aswell, exactly for the measurements you give them. Do they not make the Lobsters like that also? Someone could mail them...
I'm kind of disappointed that they still don't seem to have more than the stock size. My hands are too small and I had to sell em cause the plates would dig into my pinky so hard that it broke the skin every time.
Hey Matt nice video I have a question but it has nothing to do with this particular video Just want to know if there are any historical accounts or information on how gurkhas fight with their kukris
When you make a fist, what’s the rough diameter of the glove? I’ve been thinking of a pair for what we do, but I’m not sure if I could grab the handle of a Roman Scutum with it. What you you reckon?
Vladimir Velcic-Fisher Matt already answered this, so I'll just echo him. Metal gauntlets have bad shock absorption. They do great against cuts and thrusts, but being knocked with blunt weapons are where steel gloves fall a bit flat. You could make them really padded, like in Battle of the Nations, but then they are very heavy and suck to wear. Stuffing them with padding would also leave you with almost no capacity to employ any sort of fine motor skills, which the Könings improve on greatly.
Couldn't you have a glove with articulated fingers, but a hard, mitten like, shell over them? The shell wouldn't be connected to the fingers necessarily, but would distribute incoming blows over multiple fingers without affecting dexterity too much.
I've seen some like this in re-enactment gear, but honestly forget if they were based off any period source or not. However, you still have the spread issue to deal with - If you make the cover wide enough to spread your gloved fingers apart beneath it, then the shells are awkwardly large and cumbersome. If the shells are kept small, then you're giving up a lot of movement in the fingers. You get a *Little* more dexterity out of shelled-glove than you do out of a mitten, but they're still awkwardly cumbersome things either way.
Steel is quit hard to handle. You need to polish them regular and keep them clean, and also the Koning gloves are heavy, steel gloves are even heavier. I have the Konings myself, and I haven´t cleaned them once and handle them quit reckless and they are still good.
Because steel gauntlets are much worse than modern designs. That is just a fact... We have better materials which allow us to make different and better designs. Everyone who does both HEMA and reenactment can tell. Getting hit in a historical gauntlet is not pretty. It will protect your fingers somehow, but you can get your fingers broken quite easily in finger gauntlets. As for mitten gauntlets, the historical ones are unwieldy and heavy. SPES mittens are better.
Wow, this question gets asked by non-HEMA people about 4 times a day. Here is the answer: Steel gauntlets tend to have very little if any impact protection - they are designed to protect from cuts and thrusts. If you make them bigger and more padded, like they do in Battle of the Nations, then they end up quite heavy and you cannot move the hand in the way you need to in HEMA.
There was a while where they did allow steel gauntlets in most tournaments, however the problem was that the quality of any given gauntlet varies so widely it's impossible to mediate in regard to safety. $300 steel gauntlets are still probably not adequately made to protect from the constant use that a HEMA practitioner would put them through. Taking whiterose armory as an example you're looking at upwards of $800 for that, and even then, our historical counterparts had the resources to constantly fix or replace that equivalent cost if anything went wrong with them. Essentially we had three phases.... Phase 1 was "Yes, they're allowed because there's nothing else except lacrosse gloves, which also aren't perfect." Phase 2 was "They're allowed but there are better options now and due to the safety restrictions of the rest of sparring gear, you can't punch or grapple with them, thus handicapping yourself" And now we're in phase 3 which is "Steel Gauntlets made well enough that they are effective enough at protecting your hand cost 2 or 3 times as much as the most expensive HEMA gloves available today, they don't offer adequate protection at the edges of the fingers, they'll tear up your opponents weapon / gear and you're still handicapping yourself, so no they're not allowed." And then there's also the fact that most HEMA is meant to simulate fighting an unarmored opponent, and modern materials do a much better job of simulating this than historical gauntlets. Hope this helped.
I feel like the makers missed a trick not making them in green leather, given how throughout this video I kept think Matt was wearing a set of Hulk hands
Matt. I must ask this. Aside from Donald McBane who as I know loved the smallsword, were there any Scots who favored swords during the Victorian era that weren't broadswords, or the occasional smallsword? Any Scottish sabre wielders, or dare I ask... Scottish spadroon wielders?
Hey Matt, I've just watched the King Arthur Legend of the Sword movie, and while it's a pretty silly movie with typical Guy Ritchie hallmarks (not a bad thing completely, I've enjoyed some of the dialogue quite a bit), over all I was decently entertained by it, and in parts it even had some decent sword fighting (although most of it was rubbish, with typical telegraphed, overswinging stage combat). Also the dude keeps putting Excalibur in the ground and in the water, and dragging it across hard stone floor, although considering that it *is* Excalibur, that doesn't really matter, I consider it a show off about having a magical undamageable sword. So, if you've watched it, maybe you'll make a video about it!
already had calussess from gymming, and only had a frictionwound from my koenigs once! of caourse its because of my glorious handsweat that has perforated the whole inside of the glove xD
Nothing, leather gloves or armored gauntlets, but sparring was not like how they did it today. What they did was slower and more technical, to prevent injuries.
curious thing is, that they had the tech to build "fencing masks" but they trained in a different way, it's not like modern military constantly does a paintball like training.
How well would actual metal gauntlets that are properly made to protect your hands for sparring. Say you had a pair of Gotic gauntlets would they protect your hands better or worse than modern gloves?
Steel gauntlets tend to have very little if any impact protection - they are designed to protect from cuts and thrusts. If you make them bigger and more padded, like they do in Battle of the Nations, then they end up quite heavy and you cannot move the hand in the way you need to in HEMA.
I would assume so as you can't really pad insides of those gloves that much. How different would you say armoured vs unarmoured fighting actually is? How transferable are the skills?
I think you should show off one of the ubershinai in a video sometime (if you still have any). I think it would be very educational for non-HEMA and new-HEMA people to know what we used to use. I still have my old wooden wasters from Purpleheart, but they don't get used anymore.
Matt, I've noticed that a lot of gauntlets dig into your fingers when there is fairly large amount of force is applied in the hand. Is there historical evidence of people injuring their hand from punching with gauntlets on, or any designs that allowed you to punch safely?
Gloin79 I don't think that's always the case. The hand is made up of many delicate bones so it is difficult to protect it without making the gauntlet overly big and cumbersome. But if you make your gauntlets too big, you can't hold a weapon as well as you can with bare hands
hm I think I misunderstood your comment, i thought you where saying that the ends of the plates would dig in to you hands when a reasonable but not bone breaking force is pushing on the plates. This is something that often is the case in bad reproductions of "scale" fingergauntlets.
Gloin79 I could have worded that better. I do know that a lot of "one size fits all" gauntlets tend to do that. I meant that even with custom fitted gauntlets strong hits to the hand can damage the hand. And I'm assuming even in historical times there were poorly fitted or even poor quality gauntlets that did not protected the hand as well as it should have, which was my original question.
you can move your fingers inside current mitten gloves, if you want to make them move more freely you would need to make the mitten bigger which decreases overall mobility as mentioned in the video
If you do Fiore there shouldn't be need to cross your wrists in the way you showed. Hourglass gauntlets were popular in Fiore's times and they have "big cuffs" too.
Isto He was showing the way in which the wrists crossed, not the point in space at which they do so. Nothing about what he said implied he didn't mean finestra
If these gloves would be green they would be Hulk hands. Seriously, don't they space out the fingers a bit to much? For one-handed sword unsuitable i would guess and even with longsword to clumsy.
I'm trying to post comments as early as possible because it's good for the channel. It helps RUclips's algorithm decide how popular the video is. I do it for a few different channels. I'm 47 btw & not in school.
Honestly, I like the idea of these, but still think the SPES heavy are the best there is. Yes, they are a little unwieldy... But the protection is the best. Your fingers are really fragile. And the SPES heavy will protect them almost perfectly... except the thumb. They need to work on that, the thumb is a little exposed in SPES heavy. Still, in longsword, your hands get hit the most as there is a lot of fast movement around the crossguards when both try to parry and finesse around. So going for better protection is always the right cause. In our internal group tournament, a guy challenged me to a nylon sword duel. He took lighter glove as they were just nylons... I still took the SPES heavy. He did get 2 nice hits on with his nimble fingers... then I got an abhnemen (or however the hell you spell it) in so hard he had to give me the victory by quitting the fight. The lighter gloves did not protect his hand enough. The moral of this story: You may be more nimble in a different glove, but if your fingers get broken, you loose anyway. And not only the fight. Yeah, he did not use the Koning glove. Those would probably protect against nylons perfectly. But with steel feders, I know guys that can hurt you even through the spes heavy. So having something lighter is probably not the best of ideas.
i think which parts of your hand that get hit more often is determined of how you fence and who is your teacher, i for one rarely get hit over the hand but sometimes i get hit on the thumb and my little finger. aswell tell your friends to not hit like they are trying to hit through a brick wall maybe xD any gloves we pick we still gotta remember to practice in a controlled manner, and to protect ourselves with technique above all. i like the SPES heavies too tho, my biggest issue with them is the space between the plastic caste and the glove, i know a guy who got his hand pierced when a feder sent through the gap on em.
I have both SPES Heavies (with SPES finger protectors in the thumbs) and Konings. For sheer protection I love the heavies and to be honest once you get used to them they don't really hinder you too much even when thumbing the flat. Had a few hard blows with the Konings and whilst no damage was done you certainly feel it a LOT more, I've been bruised nicely through them on the sides of my hand. Does make me far more conscious of my hand placement when I'm wearing them, so that's a good thing ;)
When you can't punch your wall cuz it's covered in swords.
A problem I need to have in my life.
He said "meme" correctly! This calls for celebration!
At what mark?
At 9:34 when he flips us off
no pommel shit anymore
Nonsense!, clearly its pronounced "maymay"
All jokes aside, in many languages you would actually pronounce it "maymay" or "meh meh" rather. I mean even in English you have the word "memetic", which is pronounced in a similar fashion. You don't say "meemetic".
So while I understand that MAYMAY does sound awkward to a native English speaker, or anyone indoctrinated by the enforced pronunciation through the internet ("IT'S MEEM AND NOTHING ELSE!"), I really don't get why people are mocking folks who pronounce the word the way it sounds absolutely natural to them.
Hey Matt, in regards to the glove rubbing on the inside causing blisters, callous etc, have you ever tried wearing inners.
In cricket wicket keepers often wear cotton inner gloves. They help prevent rubbing/chaffing etc and absorb sweat instead of letting it go into the leather.
Do they make Hulk noises when you bump them together?
They call me Matt "Giant Gimp Hands" Easton.
Haha
I would love to have some kind of adjustable wrist on a pair of fingered gloves like this. It would help secure the gloves, but it could also prevent excess material from getting in the way.
I saw multiple Konings breaki quite soon, as in less than half a year. My club mate got a pair recently and the stitching broke in their third class at 3 points when his hand got stabbed, he's back to the sparring gloves now.
Another club mate has them for half a year and on multiple places the outer leather is getting dangerously thin and cracks are showing (yes he waxed the shit out of them after every training)
In switzerland I meet a swiss fencer that managed to rub his gloves through on the leather between thumb and index finger of the right hand, by changing grips from hammer to thumb grip. Timeframe was about half a year as well.
This is quite alof of money for something that breaks so soon, unfortunately. I own my sparring gloves for 2 years now and I'm about to replace them at the start of next year, after many hours of training and countless tournaments.
PS Still better quality control than Red Dragon!!!
You got Shrek hands
Johny Ricco Context is love, Context is life!
SOME
I wanna eat his onions
BODY
I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought that.
I placed my order in September, and I'm still waiting. Eagerly though. I considered picking up some of the Polish sparring gloves, but I really want a good set of heavy gloves for mixed weapons / two-handed weapon use. I really do agree with Matt that the wrists should be rethought, and perhaps include an integrated hard cuff.
Leather artisan here.
Neatfoot's oil works wonders, but since the leather used seems tanned with chrome (too shiny looking to be vegtan leather), keep in mind one would need to apply several coats until it digs in. Also, it smells horrible.
Important: neatfoot's oil darkens leather. I find it pleasing aesthetically, but perhaps you don't want that happening on your leather pieces.
Now, if that's not your thing, or you can't buy the oil, just get the cheapest hands cream you can find. Apply lots and leave overnight, wipe what's not absorbed, and repeat until satisfied with the leather's softness.
i think matt already polished his, the new ones arent so shiny and got more of a matte texture
Am I right in thinking neatsfoot oil can also ‘rot’ organic thread? I’m not sure if the thread in the konings glove is natural or man made, but I’d stick to dubbin or saddle soap...
Ian, no, neatfoots will not rot other organic materials, which is a good thing, since I use not both on the leather goods I sell, and to keep all my own leather stuff in shape, so it won't get dry and brittle.
Dogs LOVE Neatsfoot Oil soaked leather. I have been making custom sheathes for almost 14 years, was trained by world class leather craftsmen, they wont use it for anything that might be lying around the house, preferring various sadfle soaps and other oils. Neatsfoot Oil is made from Calf Shin Marrow, very tasty to several animals, not just dogs, unfortunately. Even Olive Oil can work well and be less attractive to chewing beasties...
I've had two pair of Konings, and I'm a fan.
I only wish they made a large size.
Matt, I haven't tried these, but short wide fingers cause.. Issues.. As well.We need gloves properly sized like footwear.I could see the palms having a slip slot for, um, thumb, fore, ring and wee finger.I'm prone to wearing bracers and widening the wrist and cutting off the excess to enhance wrist mobility.
The thumbnail with the half open mouth is hilarious.
I really hope we get a really good fingered glove. I had hoped for these but a friend got them and during his first sparring match in training one of the finger plates broke and injured his finger... But I have hopes for the future
I think you just have to accept injuries as a part of the activity, like in any martial art. For example, a boxer usually has a padded helmet but it is still very possible that he may broke his nose.
Sure, but this was the very first use. I was pointing out that the quality control might not be up to snuff.
And speaking of injuries, all except one in our club (Vami) has been due to improper safety gear. the exception was a fracture because the force of a hit turned the parry to the side and twisted the arm. It is about controlling the variables. I use SPES Heavies because everything else I have felt did not stand up to what I want. Remember, a fracture in a hand puts you out for at least a month (ain't nobody got time for dat) Injuries I accept as a risk are not impact based they are stress based, due to eg. not warming up properly, or just ware and tear. Same reason I have use a plastron, I have walked into a stab without one and that settled it.
To summarise: Yeas injuries happen, but if you don't work to prevent them you are a bit of an idiot.
i know guys who had their hand pierced through the gap between the thumb and the other fingers on the heavies. nothing is perfect. did you contact st mark about the issue though? if a plate broke im sure theyd like to see what came wrong, i suspect you are right about quality testing, its hard to test individual parts when they are of such complex design. you cant just whack all new gloves enough before you sell them... well hope your friend was alright and that he has learned not to get hit in the hands again xD
Don't know if he did, probably though.
I've got high hopes for the upcoming Pro Gauntlets.
I’ve got a sidesword from Castille armoury and I’ve had no trouble getting my finger on it using my Koning gloves.
Interesting to know, thanks.
Hi Matt, what's your take on the 5 finger sparring gloves (polish company sparring gloves)
I think we have to accept, as a community, that until the majority of us are willing and able to get custom fitted gloves, we will always have lots of problems with them. Oh, and I'm also pretty fed up with the over preponderance of black, I don't enjoy feeling like a wannabe ninja.
Matt, what do you think about the idea of making sparring gloves and jackets using non-Newtonian materials? They're already being used for the pads/armor in motorcyle gear and I think in some sports gear as well, in theory this should allow for gear that's not too bulky or restrictive but at the same time allows for excellent protection against hits from swords.
The biggest problem with the König gloves in my opinions is that it takes quite a while to get them and they're fairly expensive. Apart from that though, they're really solid.
Edit: Personally I haven't gotten any blisters or similar on my hands from using the könig gloves and I haven't heard about that from anyone in my club using any glove(granted a lot of them use an additional inner glove).
One guy in my club had his thumb broken while wearing SPES Heavies, I'm not sure if they have changed it but his gloves don't have any protection for fingertips.
Same here. We still use them though, people tend to add finger protectors inside gloves too now.
Oh hey, I know Tea IRL. Cool to hear a shoutout to them.
I have these. In my experience, if the wrist were tighter I couldn't put my hands in there.
For me, the main issues are that I can't move the thumb up, and that they are too padded on the palm. Why so much padding on the palm?
I've found that high-end hockey gloves (not street hockey - actual ice hockey) work quite well. However, the ones I use cost $100 USD, 15 years ago. (I got them at a hockey specialty store. In looking on Amazon.com, I'm not seeing the same level of quality.) The ones I have also contain plastic plates on the inside - particularly over the top of the thumb. They've held up really well - it's only been in the past year or so that they've started rotting off my hands - ie, the inside of the glove has finally worn through.
Question: how is the protection along the outside base of the pinky finger? (ie, the part of the glove that would get hit with an upstroke/hand pick?)
It's been said 100 times and I'll say it again, Hockey gloves are NOT okay for steel longsword. Now with that out of the way, the Konings have some sort of plate on the tops of the fingers that run down to the fingertips and I believe the sides. This includes the pinky so it is fairly well protected.
IMO the Konings are a really good balance between mobility and protection, but they don't fit my hands which is why I go for the Sparring Gloves.
For that cost, you should just buy the SPES heavy... It is the best gauntlet for sure. I understand that Matt does not like how restrictive they are and yes, they do limit your movement a little. But! Your fingers are the most fragile thing you have and the hands will get hit the most during sparring. Spare no expense in protecting them.
I completely agree that SPES Heavies are incredibly protective (except for the end of the thumb). I personally cannot use a longsword with them though unfortunately.
scholagladiatoria I feel the same, I honestly prefer to take the risk and not fight with my gloves but I guess the problem may come from the fact that I have similar hands to yours
I understand. They are what they are. A big hunk of leather and plastic. It is harder to use the sword with them. But I want my hands protected...
As for Giorgianni... Fighting without propper protection is suicide. Your hands will get smashed sooner or later. I get that Matt uses the koning, they are probably protective enough for your hand not to get reduced to pudding sooner or later. But anything less protective than that? Fuck that... Not fighting without propper gloves.
Also, you probably know but... They do make their fencing jackets on order aswell, exactly for the measurements you give them. Do they not make the Lobsters like that also? Someone could mail them...
You got length of the large and the width of the medium...?
Hmmmm, I wonder where my daily dose of Matt innuendo is.
I'm kind of disappointed that they still don't seem to have more than the stock size. My hands are too small and I had to sell em cause the plates would dig into my pinky so hard that it broke the skin every time.
which sword did John Malcolm Thorpe Fleming Churchill or "Mad Jack" carry in WWII?
Hey Matt nice video
I have a question but it has nothing to do with this particular video
Just want to know if there are any historical accounts or information on how gurkhas fight with their kukris
My konigs fit my Regenyei sidesword just fine.
When you make a fist, what’s the rough diameter of the glove? I’ve been thinking of a pair for what we do, but I’m not sure if I could grab the handle of a Roman Scutum with it. What you you reckon?
I would like to know your opinions on the Neyman gloves, I've been thinking about buying a pair.
Its nice to see matt easton has found his inner wallace and gromit
Absolutely!
It was very informative I do have one question so why don't you get custom made articulated metal gontlets such as on suit of plate armor ?
Vladimir Velcic-Fisher Matt already answered this, so I'll just echo him. Metal gauntlets have bad shock absorption. They do great against cuts and thrusts, but being knocked with blunt weapons are where steel gloves fall a bit flat.
You could make them really padded, like in Battle of the Nations, but then they are very heavy and suck to wear.
Stuffing them with padding would also leave you with almost no capacity to employ any sort of fine motor skills, which the Könings improve on greatly.
thanks for the info :)
In all green -- "Hulk mad! Hulk stab! Stab! Stab!"
"I've got the length of a large and the width of a medium" Oooh err missus!
im okay with mittens, so the sparring gloves mittens with long cuffs are my choice of gloves.
Couldn't you have a glove with articulated fingers, but a hard, mitten like, shell over them? The shell wouldn't be connected to the fingers necessarily, but would distribute incoming blows over multiple fingers without affecting dexterity too much.
I've seen some like this in re-enactment gear, but honestly forget if they were based off any period source or not. However, you still have the spread issue to deal with - If you make the cover wide enough to spread your gloved fingers apart beneath it, then the shells are awkwardly large and cumbersome. If the shells are kept small, then you're giving up a lot of movement in the fingers.
You get a *Little* more dexterity out of shelled-glove than you do out of a mitten, but they're still awkwardly cumbersome things either way.
Tell me more about spears…..! ;`*
The medium-long glove boat is a tough place to be.
It looks like Bowser gloves on the thumbnail of the video.
Is there any particular reason why, at that pricepoint, you dont just go straight to Steel Gauntlets?
Because steel gauntlets are not allowed in HEMA tournaments.
Steel is quit hard to handle. You need to polish them regular and keep them clean, and also the Koning gloves are heavy, steel gloves are even heavier.
I have the Konings myself, and I haven´t cleaned them once and handle them quit reckless and they are still good.
Because steel gauntlets are much worse than modern designs. That is just a fact... We have better materials which allow us to make different and better designs. Everyone who does both HEMA and reenactment can tell. Getting hit in a historical gauntlet is not pretty. It will protect your fingers somehow, but you can get your fingers broken quite easily in finger gauntlets. As for mitten gauntlets, the historical ones are unwieldy and heavy. SPES mittens are better.
Wow, this question gets asked by non-HEMA people about 4 times a day. Here is the answer:
Steel gauntlets tend to have very little if any impact protection - they are designed to protect from cuts and thrusts. If you make them bigger and more padded, like they do in Battle of the Nations, then they end up quite heavy and you cannot move the hand in the way you need to in HEMA.
There was a while where they did allow steel gauntlets in most tournaments, however the problem was that the quality of any given gauntlet varies so widely it's impossible to mediate in regard to safety. $300 steel gauntlets are still probably not adequately made to protect from the constant use that a HEMA practitioner would put them through. Taking whiterose armory as an example you're looking at upwards of $800 for that, and even then, our historical counterparts had the resources to constantly fix or replace that equivalent cost if anything went wrong with them. Essentially we had three phases.... Phase 1 was "Yes, they're allowed because there's nothing else except lacrosse gloves, which also aren't perfect." Phase 2 was "They're allowed but there are better options now and due to the safety restrictions of the rest of sparring gear, you can't punch or grapple with them, thus handicapping yourself" And now we're in phase 3 which is "Steel Gauntlets made well enough that they are effective enough at protecting your hand cost 2 or 3 times as much as the most expensive HEMA gloves available today, they don't offer adequate protection at the edges of the fingers, they'll tear up your opponents weapon / gear and you're still handicapping yourself, so no they're not allowed."
And then there's also the fact that most HEMA is meant to simulate fighting an unarmored opponent, and modern materials do a much better job of simulating this than historical gauntlets. Hope this helped.
Darth Vader wants his gloves back...
Seriously a guy at the local HEMA club has a pair, they are awesome and look so well made.
More brilliant content on quality
PLEASE somebody should make a "HULK EASTON" and a "MATT SHOWS MIDDLE FINGER" meme out of this video!
I feel like the makers missed a trick not making them in green leather, given how throughout this video I kept think Matt was wearing a set of Hulk hands
Matt. I must ask this. Aside from Donald McBane who as I know loved the smallsword, were there any Scots who favored swords during the Victorian era that weren't broadswords, or the occasional smallsword? Any Scottish sabre wielders, or dare I ask... Scottish spadroon wielders?
Hi Matt, what video is the inset footage from?
Hey Matt, I've just watched the King Arthur Legend of the Sword movie, and while it's a pretty silly movie with typical Guy Ritchie hallmarks (not a bad thing completely, I've enjoyed some of the dialogue quite a bit), over all I was decently entertained by it, and in parts it even had some decent sword fighting (although most of it was rubbish, with typical telegraphed, overswinging stage combat). Also the dude keeps putting Excalibur in the ground and in the water, and dragging it across hard stone floor, although considering that it *is* Excalibur, that doesn't really matter, I consider it a show off about having a magical undamageable sword.
So, if you've watched it, maybe you'll make a video about it!
already had calussess from gymming, and only had a frictionwound from my koenigs once! of caourse its because of my glorious handsweat that has perforated the whole inside of the glove xD
Are your saber gloves finished yet?
Do you use thin gloves under those?
Hi Matt, Curious about these gloves, do you reckon they'd handle getting hit with a blunt Dane Axe?
No, very little handles that except steel mitten gauntlets.
Damn, looks like I'm making my own gauntlets again.
Thanks mate
Yes! Waaaaay too much black in HEMA.
Black is great but not if everyone is wearing it.
Do we know what they were using historically for longsword? And how frequent hand injuries were?
Nothing, leather gloves or armored gauntlets, but sparring was not like how they did it today. What they did was slower and more technical, to prevent injuries.
They did not have fencing masks and did not fence in the way that modern longsworders do.
curious thing is, that they had the tech to build "fencing masks" but they trained in a different way, it's not like modern military constantly does a paintball like training.
Do you really need that much padding under the hard plastic plates to get the necessary protection?
Benjamin Boyle probably
"need" is relative xD its hella more comfortable and helps with absorption
How well would actual metal gauntlets that are properly made to protect your hands for sparring. Say you had a pair of Gotic gauntlets would they protect your hands better or worse than modern gloves?
Steel gauntlets tend to have very little if any impact protection - they are designed to protect from cuts and thrusts. If you make them bigger and more padded, like they do in Battle of the Nations, then they end up quite heavy and you cannot move the hand in the way you need to in HEMA.
I would assume so as you can't really pad insides of those gloves that much. How different would you say armoured vs unarmoured fighting actually is? How transferable are the skills?
I need ML -matt easton, 2017-
Hand protection : check. Ability to flick the bird : check .......take my money already.
Slightly puzlled because youtube is suggesting me Monthy Python after I watched this video. Maybe the algorithm just saw a Brit with big paws.
Sparring gloves has a 5 finger version
I am aware.
What did people use for longsword before Feders were discovered?
Wooden wasters, mainly
In the UK, 'ubershinai' and wasters mostly. And reenactment swords which were very dangerous and you can't thrust safely with.
I think you should show off one of the ubershinai in a video sometime (if you still have any). I think it would be very educational for non-HEMA and new-HEMA people to know what we used to use. I still have my old wooden wasters from Purpleheart, but they don't get used anymore.
Matt, I've noticed that a lot of gauntlets dig into your fingers when there is fairly large amount of force is applied in the hand. Is there historical evidence of people injuring their hand from punching with gauntlets on, or any designs that allowed you to punch safely?
if the gauntlets does that, the gauntlet is of bad design
Gloin79 I don't think that's always the case. The hand is made up of many delicate bones so it is difficult to protect it without making the gauntlet overly big and cumbersome. But if you make your gauntlets too big, you can't hold a weapon as well as you can with bare hands
hm I think I misunderstood your comment, i thought you where saying that the ends of the plates would dig in to you hands when a reasonable but not bone breaking force is pushing on the plates. This is something that often is the case in bad reproductions of "scale" fingergauntlets.
Gloin79 I could have worded that better. I do know that a lot of "one size fits all" gauntlets tend to do that. I meant that even with custom fitted gauntlets strong hits to the hand can damage the hand. And I'm assuming even in historical times there were poorly fitted or even poor quality gauntlets that did not protected the hand as well as it should have, which was my original question.
There needs to be a HEMA company that makes taylor made gloves already.
Maybe they could make mitten-like plates to wear over the glove.
then you've got a mitten glove again like the other main gloves
Gloin79 No, you could move your fingers individually below them.
you can move your fingers inside current mitten gloves, if you want to make them move more freely you would need to make the mitten bigger which decreases overall mobility as mentioned in the video
Gloin79 You don't get my pointer at all.
Indeed I don't understand your point, how would you put a mitten over it while keeping finger mobility?
wish they had black ones when i bought mine :v
Hulk hands?
If you do Fiore there shouldn't be need to cross your wrists in the way you showed. Hourglass gauntlets were popular in Fiore's times and they have "big cuffs" too.
Isto Fiore crosses wrists, not sure what you mean by that
Only in posta di fenestra and it's shown hands withdrawn. There is no single drawing where wrists are crossed in front of you when holding sword.
Isto He was showing the way in which the wrists crossed, not the point in space at which they do so. Nothing about what he said implied he didn't mean finestra
Did anyone else click on this video thinking this was a review for hulk hands?
Haaaaa. Talladega Nights. "What do I do with my hands?"
Getting them tailored would probably cost more than the whole glove, sadly.
Eyyy, I'm in the video
Esthetically, the Koning Glove wins hands down.
If these gloves would be green they would be Hulk hands. Seriously, don't they space out the fingers a bit to much? For one-handed sword unsuitable i would guess and even with longsword to clumsy.
They look like Hulk hands in the thumbnail.
CAN'T GO ONE FUCKING VIDEO WITHOUT SAYING CONTEXT!!! Gawwd!!
3 minutes, not a personal best but it will do.
3 minutes still quite fast, you should notify your school
I'm trying to post comments as early as possible because it's good for the channel. It helps RUclips's algorithm decide how popular the video is. I do it for a few different channels. I'm 47 btw & not in school.
Break the HEMA obsession with black? Begone, fiend! I'm so glad I've finally found a group/movement wearing my colour :D
Fioreists are people too. I heard...
Honestly, I like the idea of these, but still think the SPES heavy are the best there is. Yes, they are a little unwieldy... But the protection is the best. Your fingers are really fragile. And the SPES heavy will protect them almost perfectly... except the thumb. They need to work on that, the thumb is a little exposed in SPES heavy. Still, in longsword, your hands get hit the most as there is a lot of fast movement around the crossguards when both try to parry and finesse around. So going for better protection is always the right cause.
In our internal group tournament, a guy challenged me to a nylon sword duel. He took lighter glove as they were just nylons... I still took the SPES heavy. He did get 2 nice hits on with his nimble fingers... then I got an abhnemen (or however the hell you spell it) in so hard he had to give me the victory by quitting the fight. The lighter gloves did not protect his hand enough. The moral of this story: You may be more nimble in a different glove, but if your fingers get broken, you loose anyway. And not only the fight.
Yeah, he did not use the Koning glove. Those would probably protect against nylons perfectly. But with steel feders, I know guys that can hurt you even through the spes heavy. So having something lighter is probably not the best of ideas.
i think which parts of your hand that get hit more often is determined of how you fence and who is your teacher, i for one rarely get hit over the hand but sometimes i get hit on the thumb and my little finger. aswell tell your friends to not hit like they are trying to hit through a brick wall maybe xD any gloves we pick we still gotta remember to practice in a controlled manner, and to protect ourselves with technique above all. i like the SPES heavies too tho, my biggest issue with them is the space between the plastic caste and the glove, i know a guy who got his hand pierced when a feder sent through the gap on em.
I have both SPES Heavies (with SPES finger protectors in the thumbs) and Konings. For sheer protection I love the heavies and to be honest once you get used to them they don't really hinder you too much even when thumbing the flat.
Had a few hard blows with the Konings and whilst no damage was done you certainly feel it a LOT more, I've been bruised nicely through them on the sides of my hand. Does make me far more conscious of my hand placement when I'm wearing them, so that's a good thing ;)
MATT SMASH PUNY PEASANTS!
MMA gloves
those gloves are abysmal!
Hulk hands?