Upgrading gloves

[Moe]

Hi!
In this weekend we are going to test a possible solution for the lacrosse and riot gloves.
You can see it at:

http://www.salafenix.eu/viewerArt.php?doc=mecaguen&i=en

As soon as possible we will upgrade the information about the test.

[admin]

Now that I have my steel gauntlets working like I always wanted them to, I'm going to switch to using gauntlets for steel feder fencing.

[Motley]

Now that I have my steel gauntlets working like I always wanted them to, I'm going to switch to using gauntlets for steel feder fencing.

What have you done? I am sure that you have said in the past that you *really* didn't like steel gauntlets for unarmoured fencing. I am just curious what changed your mind.

[admin]

In the past I mostly didn't approve of steel gauntlets for two reasons – firstly because they often have ‘offensive’ bits (edges etc) and secondly because they usually seemed to be used by people using excessive force and bad technique.

However, these days we wear good and all-encompassing protective kit for steel sparring, so there is no danger of injury from the gauntlets themselves (my objections before mostly centred on nylon sparring where many people have bare skin in places).

Many types of gauntlet give poor mobility and heavy weight for ‘blossfechten’ sparring, however if someone has gauntlets that they are prepared to use then I don’t have a problem with it anymore – especially as we don’t have any good lighter weight alternatives for steel longsword/feder sparring. I have even thought about putting together a special pair of steel gauntlets for ‘blossfechten’ (easy to reduce their weight by having a leather cuff for example), but since I did some alterations to my regular gauntlets I now have far more mobility than before and I don’t think the weight bothers me (in fact they are also lighter than before, thanks to my alterations!). I would personally rather have a tight-fitting pair of heavy gloves (eg. Gauntlets) than a massive pair of lighter gloves (such as the Brine Supercross).

[Motley]

Cool thanks, makes sense.

Out of curiosity what style of gauntlets do you have? Hourglass? Is it just tweaking to make them fit better or have you done something special?

I think the problem with gauntlets is that good ones are great bad ones (which most people that I have fenced with have, cos they are cheap) are absolutely horrible.

[admin]

Yes, the problem with gauntlets, having made a few and worn a few, is that they are an absolute bitch to get to fit right. I don't see how anybody could mass-produce good ones.

My gauntlets are hourglass and to get them working right I cut various bits off the edges of the main plate, reshaped them slightly and removed and remounted the thumbs (which were basically attached at the wrong place and wrong angle for my hand). Actually I have yet to remount the second thumb, but it's an easy job once you know what you are doing.