Absolute Force hand protection

[Sir Edward]

These are those WMA/HEMA gloves that everyone's been talking about. We're trying to encourage everyone to look into these, and VAF is going to be seriously encouraging them for the students as well.

I'll be ordering a pair.

http://www.afinternationalsporting.com/product_info.php/products_id/169/cPath/8?osCsid=oe4fjhvg6808oj5bu844oo58h7

[Sir William]

Cool, thanks for sharing.  I was going to put in a snarky comment about doing it in harness if you want that much protection but hey, I'M not doing it in harness either so who am I to talk?

It doesn't look like I'm not going to get another Saturday class for a while so I'll hold off on these.

[Sir Brian]

I'll be ordering a pair.

Excellent! I'll just wait to check out yours then!

[Sir William]

It looks like you can get an entire 'harness' as it were; pants, shirt, arms and leg armor.  Even a fencing helmet.

[Thorsteinn]

I've got an email exchange going about their legality on the SCA field. I just sent in the SCA hand protection requirements which unfortunately list Hockey Gloves as OK w/o stating that you are more than likely to get broken using them.

[Sir James A]

I've got an email exchange going about their legality on the SCA field. I just sent in the SCA hand protection requirements which unfortunately list Hockey Gloves as OK w/o stating that you are more than likely to get broken using them.

These don't seem intended for SCA use, and if someone does, I'd probably still do at least a half-gaunt with them. Rattan and blunted steel are worlds apart with hand protection.

[merc3065]

Any idea how these will protect your hands and knuckles when used with cudgels?

[Sir Edward]

My pair arrived on Friday, though I keep forgetting to take some pictures. Maybe tonight I'll put them on and work through some actions and see how they feel.

My first impression is that they'll be pretty protective for HEMA. They have a clamshell design, with a bifurcation at the front (think of Spock's "Live long and prosper" hand position). The bifurcation does not extend all the way back to the knuckle, it's just enough to allow for variation in grip between the front and back edges of the hand.

The thumb guard looks nice and strong, and the piece that extends to the thumb-tip does not fully enclose the tip, but has a diagonal sweep to it. It looks to me like a strike that would come from the front of the thumb, like the one I took a few years ago that bypassed the steel plates on my hourglass gaunts, would deflect under the thumb rather than squarely strike it. It extends past the thumb, so even if your thumb is bent in such a way that the plate stays straight and separates a bit, it looks like there's still some good protection here.

The material they used appears to be a combination of dense rubber foam and vinyl. It's very stiff stuff, and looks like it'll absorb quite a lot of impact.

The cuffs come back quite a ways on the forearm, but it flexes at the wrist, and the lacing is elastic cord.

It's also just an outer gauntlet, with no enclosed palm or anything. I'd probably still want to wear a fencing glove inside. I think it's a must.

[Ian]

So is it impossible to use a grip with your index finger around the ricasso then?

[Sir Edward]

So is it impossible to use a grip with your index finger around the ricasso then?

Yes, that's true, but for most HEMA, we're using swords where that would be a bad idea anyway. Rapiers have protective hilts anyway, and that pretty much just leaves ring-hilts where you'd want to put your finger over the crossguard.

With most European style crossguards, putting your finger over the crossguard is a good way to lose it.

[Sir James A]

So is it impossible to use a grip with your index finger around the ricasso then?

Yes, that's true, but for most HEMA, we're using swords where that would be a bad idea anyway. Rapiers have protective hilts anyway, and that pretty much just leaves ring-hilts where you'd want to put your finger over the crossguard.

With most European style crossguards, putting your finger over the crossguard is a good way to lose it.

I'm so used to gripping with my bottom two fingers, and directing with my top two, the split-finger design looks almost perfect. Just need to remember to measure my hand and head (for the mask).

[Sir Edward]

I played with them a little tonight. My hand measures about 8" around, so I went with the Medium, since they said 8.5" and down is M, and 9" and up is L. I wish they were just slightly longer in the wrist, but it still works on me. There's no real extra room for a leather glove. I can barely manage it with some leather gloves, and it fits better without.

I went through some motions, and they'll definitely take some getting used to. The clamshell catches on the crossguard sometimes, though it rolls over into the "thumb grip" pretty easily. Recovering from that is what seems to trip me up.

I won't be using them all the time, but when I know I need some real safety, I'll give them a shot.

[Lord Dane]

How much were those, Sir Edward?? They don't look like much protection in the pics for hand strikes (even if for just practice). Much prefer my heavy leather gloves in my profile pic. I wear those under my gauntlets and they are perfect for heavy combat or practice with wooden wasters.

[Sir Edward]

They were about $130, and they're definitely protective. High impact stuff. I'm more concerned with how they'll move, so I need to use them in a fight to see. In some ways steel gaunts are still a lot better, but these also protect a few places that we've taken injuries in steel gaunts.

One of the problems with steel gaunts is that some of the plate edges can get rammed into your hand, or the blade can slip under the plates and strike your finger directly.

These don't have much in the way of weak spots. Even at the wrist, where it looks thinnner, it's overlapping layers.

[Sir Brian]

Hmm, they do look promising. Do you think you'll be able to make it to MASHS this Sunday?
We can give them a go then.