Exploring the science behind sword combat

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Author Biography:

My name is Daniel Cousins. I am a biomechanist and avid HEMA fencer. I am passionate about science, safety, and sword fighting so this is going to be a mix of my three loves.

Equipment

This page is dedicated to basic information about the equipment used in HEMA and will be updated as I write on specific topics.

  1. Understanding Ratings
  2. Masks
  3. Back of Head/ Overlay
  4. Gorgets
  5. Torso Protection
  6. Leg Protection
  7. Hand and Arm Protection
  8. Resources

Understanding Ratings

What is a Newton? A Newton is the international standard unit of force, and Newton’s second law is that Force=Mass x Acceleration. The easiest way to think about it is that the mass of an object is fixed, but the amount of force it hits you with is dependent on how fast it is going and then how fast it slows down after it makes contact. If my mass were 100Kg and Earth’s acceleration from gravity is 9.81m/s/s then the amount of force I apply to the ground is 981N; the gravity on Earth’s moon is 1.62m/s/s so my force would be 162N. The way that a manufacturer gets an N rating on their clothing is by performing a standardized test, EN 13567. This test will take a round probe with a diameter of 4mm and push it into a material at a very slow rate of 100mm/min, and increase the amount of force until it punctures. The numeric value is how much force it takes for the probe to puncture (350N, 800N, 1600N).

Masks

  • Mask rating are given in two different levels by the Eurpoen Committee of Standardization (CEN). There are two different parts the mask that are used in the rating criteria, the bib and the mesh mask itself. Some masks may also be certified by the FIE (Federation Internationale d’Escrime).
    • A CEN1 mask has a bib that is rated for at least 350N of puncture force and a mesh mask rated for at least 600N.
    • A CEN 2 mask has a bib rated for at least 1600N of puncture force and mesh rated for 1000N.
    • FIE will have the same force rating as CEN2 in addition to material and geometric specifications of the mesh wires.
  • This current helmet rating system is insufficient for protecting people from concussions. Ideally helmet manufacturers will report the impact absorption of their products.
  • The mask is a critical peice of equipment in HEMA and there are a variety of options depending on your budget and the a good way to get one is going to be trying out the fit. Hopefully, people at your club have different helmets that you may be able to try on before making a purchase as the size recomendations may not fit properly.

Back of Head/ Overlay

  • A back of head protector/ overlay is an important peice of equipment since direct strikes to the back of head are banned but accidents do happen. The type that you need to wear is dependant on your helmet rating and the tournament requirements. A lower rated helmet will probably need a higher level of protection for the overlay. An easy way to break it down is that there are four types: back of head insert, soft shell, hard shell and built in.
    • A back of head insert is a hard peice that can be attached to the helmet. For highly rated helmets, a back of head insert could be an acceptable means of protection. This will leave the rest of the helmet exposed which I am not a fan of given the amount of mesh available for a sword tip to catch on.
    • A soft shell is puncture resist padding that wraps the entire helmet, often with a semi rigid insert on the back of the head. I apprecite these for their potential to help in force reduction and reduce the sound of getting hit in the head. Some tounrmanets will allow these with any helmet while others will only accept them with a high quality helmet.
    • Rigid shells are the same principle as the soft shell except they are made completely with hard plastic. I switched from a soft shell to a hard shell for a tournament and prefer the soft shell. I find these do not fit as well and as someone sensitive to sound it is very loud when you get hit. They have a large benefit of minimum friction, allowing a strike to glance off instead of continuing on is path. This could greatly reduce the amount of head and neck injuries.
    • Built in options such as the Cobra mask are a combined hard shell and helmet. The soft and hard overlay options are good but have a major flaw of where the mask sits. It is very easy for a blade to get caught inbetween the helmet and the overlay and cause a large amount of rotation on the neck. These built in options do not have that flaw and are highly recommended by people in the community but are quite expensive.

Gorgets

  • There really isn’t that much to be said about a gorget other than wear it!
  • I do advocate for a hard component within the gorget across the throat and many tournament rules will include this as well. There are a lot of layers that cover your throat but having that additional level of solid protection will be a game changer if someone lands a clean thrust to your throat.
  • There are different styles of gorgets but much of it is personal preference and what fits comfortably with your gear.

Torso Protection

  • There are two parts to torso protection: the plastron and the jacket.
  • The plastron is an optional (typically recommended) hard plastic plate that can be worn under or over the jacket.
    • The main purpose of it is to reduce the impact of a thrust to the body. I have taken thrusts to the torso both hitting and missing the plastron and it makes a massive difference.
    • There are two main things that will differ between plastrons: the fit, and the drip. Each maker will have different sizes and shapes to their plastrons, which one works for you is going to depend on your body. Luckily, they are fairly thin and easy to modify to increase the fit.
    • Some are more decorative than others which can be worn on top of the jacket and they can look pretty cool if that is something that appeals to you.

Leg Protection

Hand and Arm Protection

Resources

FIE gear requirement