Hello, my name is Radu, since 2020 when my journey with HEMA started, I have had my fair share of trying different types of gloves.
A couple of months ago I found myself at a breaking point, literally because my old gloves were disintegrating, I used a pair of 1st gen SPES Gloves that I bought second-hand from a colleague. Investing in a new pair of gloves (or the first one for that matter) is a pretty daunting task financially speaking especially since you want to have quality assurance when you get your gloves. Since the latest versions of SPES Heavy Gloves were pretty bad (some of my colleagues’ gloves shattered after a couple of sparrings, and not only one pair) and honestly they are way too expensive for what they deliver, I had a few other options left.
I’ll share with you my research, from cheapest to most expensive:
Shoukat Fencing gloves are pretty rough around the edges and the profile is bulky but they use a pretty thick plastic that protects your hand all over.
Superior Fencing gloves might seem a good choice, especially since they are for quite some time on the market and they add improvements from user feedback every new iteration but it’s a gamble with them. They offer decent protection and have a slim profile but after a couple of spars, they might start falling apart.
SG Sparring Gloves, are a good option, especially the Mittens Long Cuff, but I tested them and they are not my cup of tea. We will write a dedicated review for them.
HF Armory Black Knight was my second pick for gloves, I’ve heard very good reviews. These gloves have very good mobility and impact resistance with a slim profile and stylish looks. Read the full review here.
Kvetun Armory Xiphosura 2.0. And ohh boy I love these gloves! Granted it took 3-4 months for them to be delivered because I ordered custom size, but they’ve recently added standard sizes which are cheaper than the custom ones (duh) and cheaper than most gloves on the market. I don’t even know where to start but I’ll go with what won me over. The design, gosh how I love the design of these gloves. They have a very compact profile, with many plates intertwined, offering a lot of mobility, very sleek and modern looking but still keeping a medieval vibe to them. Protection-wise they are 10/10, the thumb is encased in plastic but not in a cumbersome way, and as for the rest of the hand, the protection is just top-notch. Lastly, the mobility on these is 9/10 only because they hardly compare with five-finger gloves but otherwise, you get way more mobility than any other heavy gloves on the market.
They also have some downsides, first of all, the price tag and delivery time, and the second one is the sewing of the plates which is at risk of breaking (which already happened) but they are fairly easy to repair.
You can get two options: standard, which is 198 EUR, or custom for 240 EUR.
To sum this up for the Xiphosura 2.0
Pros:
- Very good protection
- Design and Mobility
- Weight
- Serviceable
Cons:
- The price might be a bit steep
- Delivery time
- Sewing that might break