Review from the new owner of the St. George fencing suit

The following feedback on our St. George fencing suit comes from fencer and fencing instructor Michael Sprenger. Michael is very experienced in both fencing and the use of various well-known equipment in historical fencing in both training and competition. He is currently known for the HEMA podcast “Sword Gehisper”, which he runs together with Alexander Fürgut. He also recently trained as a mental trainer and would like to use mental training profitably in our sport. He was the first fencer to order his suit. Here is his review with his first experiences .

"Before buying the St. George jacket and trousers, I was able to test the prototypes, which ultimately led to the purchase decision. When choosing the size, I went with my regular clothing size 50 at 1.80m/75kg. Jacket and Pants fit perfectly, not too loose, not too tight.

This brings me to point 1 – mobility. This is – compared to everything I know so far – outstanding. The pants in particular are great and don't get in the way one bit, even though they are fully padded. The trousers seem a bit long and bulky at first. However, this wears off when you put them on. The length of the pants makes them very flexible and comfortable in the knee area without looking bulky. The jacket is easy to put on, comfortable to wear and very flexible. Despite the Master Guard chest protector worn underneath.

The chest protector brings me to point 2 – the protective effect. The jacket has slight deficiencies against stitches compared to my previous AP from Spes. However, even with chest protection, it is still more flexible and comfortable to wear than an AP. The protection against blows is comparable, if not slightly better. The additional padding in the shoulder area is particularly effective and yet flexible. But the most important thing is that it is a certified product, developed by Uhlmann with In Motu and manufactured by Uhlmann. This means that not only the fabric but the entire garment is tested and meets the requirements according to FIE Level 2. A disadvantage in terms of protection and comfort is that the arms are not padded from the elbow onwards. I had previously worn forearm protectors for kickboxing etc. under my fencing jacket, which is no longer possible. The elbow pads also require additional padding. Products such as those from Spes, which are just a hard shell without padding, are not very comfortable. Since these are the elbow pads I have been using so far, I had to add additional padding under the jacket. This in turn restricts freedom of movement and thus compromises the actual idea of ​​unpadded sleeves, namely better mobility. Although this is less of a problem with the jacket than with the elbow and forearm pads, it is currently a problem that does not occur with jackets with padded sleeves.

My conclusion: I don't regret the investment at all. If you accept that HEMA equipment is always a compromise and that the perfect jacket (super mobile, super protective, super cheap) probably won't exist, then the St. George jacket is a really good compromise. If I really wanted to complain about something, it would be that the strap (which is supposed to prevent the jacket from sliding up) always slips out of the holder. But since the jacket doesn't slip up even without the part, that's not really a problem."

Michael will also do a video review in the coming days.
We are excited.