Beginner's Gear Guide to LED Saber
So, you want to get started in HEMA (historical European martial arts) or LED saber combat, but you don’t know where to start? Well don’t worry, if you come to one of our classes we have all the equipment needed for your first lesson! The only thing you need to bring is athletic clothes and shoes and a willingness to learn.
But let’s say you’ve had that first lesson and you’re ready for more, the idea of acquiring gear for these sports can seem intimidating. This guide to gear will help you get an idea of what kinds of things we, as experienced instructors, recommend for various levels of your martial arts journey.
If you’ve already acquired beginner gear and are ready for that next step, keep an eye out for our Next Steps Gear Guide or talk to us at class about next steps.
LED Saber Combat Beginner Gear Guide
Buying an LED saber can be intimidating; there are so many sellers out there and all of them claim to be the best. This is further complicated by the many purposes various LED sabers aim to fill: some are mostly designed for cosplay and no to light contact, some are more robust and suited well to choreography and spinning tricks, but ill-suited for full combat, and some are made strong and aimed almost exclusively at dueling.
If you have your eye on a saber you like already that’s great! We’ll be able to tell you if it is one we would recommend based on your desired activities.
If you don’t know where to begin, however, here are some recommendations to get you started.
The Catalyst
The Curios
The Catalyst and the Curios are both great entry level sabers for their great construction, affordable price point, and versatility. For ultimate affordability they can be purchased as an empty hilt and with a blade length of 30, 32, 34, or 36” depending on your preference, but we would recommend also adding the Baselit RGB chassis to add both color changing LED and sound fonts to your saber. Both hilts are long enough to be used with either one or two hands, but the Catalyst has a slightly longer hilt for more comfort with two hands. Both come with a mid-grade blade that is suited to learning the basics of combat, choreography, and spinning, and the blade socket is a standard 1” diameter, meaning the blade can easily be replaced or upgraded to a heavy-grade blade to change the point of balance or lend it more towards heavier contact.
And speaking of combat, if LED saber dueling is something that interests you, other great equipment to purchase to get started would be of the protective variety, most importantly hands and head.
For head protection a basic fencing or HEMA mask is recommended, such as the wonderful examples below.
Basic Fencing Mask (white)
Fencing Mask w/ Removable Liner
Basic Fencing Mask (black)
Hand protection can be a little more variable. Gloves designed for HEMA can work well, such as the examples provided below. However, lacrosse or hockey gloves also work well for this purpose and are often not quite as restrictive as HEMA gloves, though they may also offer less protection in some cases.
STX Stallion 75
Dragon Slayer Gloves
Rapier & Singlestick Gloves
The Dragon Slayer Gloves offer the most protection of any soft glove commonly available, while the Rapier and Singlestick gloves are less protective, but allow for greater manual dexterity and cover more of the wrist and forearm.
The gear above is the minimum base for which to begin your LED Saber Combat journey. A helmet, saber and gloves. The path you follow from here will determine what safety gear will best suit your needs. Stay tuned for our blog about Competitive LED Saber Combat formats and which is the best (in our opinion).