Light vs Heavy Jackets for HEMA - Some Thoughts to Help Make a Decision

Hey all, Julian Schuetze here on behalf of the Collective.

I recently was helping some of our folk pick out jackets, and since I haven't been jacket shopping too much lately it's pretty staggering the difference in availability compared to over a decade ago (shocking!). One of the biggest topics that came up was light vs heavy jackets, which I did have quite a few thoughts about so I figured I'd write something up to expand on that in a more public way. If you're an experienced HEMA fencer I doubt that this will have any value to you, but if you're new looking for a jacket, or a coach who helps others pick their first jacket, this may be helpful. 

It's also worth noting that I'm writing this article under the context of intensive sparring. We spar at a high intensity, and participate in tournaments as such. We are willing to be struck, and strike others with speed and force (while still being controlled of course). This will of course result in different needs than those who do not. Just something to keep in mind. 

The other thing to keep in mind is that I'm presenting things as very binary: "Heavy vs Light" when in reality it's much more granular than that. But, I'm keeping it simple to make it easier for beginners to identify a starting point, and then spend more time looking into their options to determine what's the best suited jacket for them.

Before I get into weapon needs, or other factors, the way I see the difference between the two is pretty clear:

Heavy Jackets (Eg: SPES AP, Hussar, etc)

• Jacket is padded and provides protection from impact
  • As such, minimal extra protection is needed. Elbows & forearms is all you really need.
  • Extra padding = more material to move. This can reduce range of motion, and is more fatiguing. Heavier overall which can be very draining, especially in hotter weather.
    • In addition, there will be a longer break-in period for heavier jackets. That break-in period really does suck. 

Light Jackets (Eg: SPES AP Light, Officer, Imperial, etc)

• Reduced (or completely removed in some cases) padding and is less protective from impact.
  • As such, extra hard protection is needed. Shoulder to cover the AC joint, collarbone, elbow, forearm, and chest/rib protection is required depending on the sword you're fencing with
    • However, if you get these protectors and point them to the jacket, your mobility is significantly increased, and the reduced fabric weight means that you won't insulate heat as much as the heavy jacket and generally be easier to move around in.
    • These protectors do cost extra obviously.

So now the weapon we're using comes into play. Obviously, the level of protection you naturally need for longsword will be much higher than rapier or some lighter sabres. If all you're doing is lighter weapons like mentioned above, then the choice is obvious. Pick the lighter jacket because there's no need to go heavy.

Now, if you're planning on doing longsword, messer, swords that just hit harder, etc then that's where this discussion gets way more interesting. I think provided you get the appropriate hard protection for lighter jackets as described above, then those can be sufficient. So, if that's sufficient, then why would you want the heavier bulky jacket at all?

Well I can still think of a couple drawbacks of going light.

• A lighter jacket generally costs just as much as a heavier one. But now you're looking at having to purchase shoulder protection & torso on top of that. So the overall cost is higher.
• Chances are all these additional piece of protection to improve your mobility also have to be pointed to the jacket, so knowing how to do that is a bit trickier
• And the jacket still lacks hard protection in many areas - if you get hit there, it'll hurt more. Bicep, some tricep areas, your traps, wherever on the torso your chest protector doesn't cover. 
  • Your frame/build will play a big part of this. If your meat vessel is larger and built up with muscle/fat, then shots to these areas will still hurt, but you will be able to absorb more impact and reduce the chance of injury. If you have a smaller, slender frame, then there's not a lot of material to absorb that impact and you may still get hurt. 

So if budget is a concern, or you just in general just want something that's inherently more protective, and..."plug and play" with low effort, I would go with a heavier jacket.

However if you are willing/able to tolerate shots that hurt more and have the budget, then I would recommend the light jacket with additional hard protection. Not only because you have increased maneuverability and will fatigue less, but then you can also use that jacket for lighter weapons like rapier. Sure, you can use a heavy jacket for rapier as well, but whooo is that just significantly less pleasant. Having 1 jacket you can use for everything makes life much easier.

I know this article probably didn't have anything here that's groundbreaking, but I thought maybe making something that broke down the two from my experience as a competitor/coach for over a decade may help others. I hope you enjoyed/found it useful. But, that's what I think. What do you think? Agree/Disagree? Shoot me a message or comment wherever I posted this and let me know. I'm always interested in hearing people's thoughts :)

​Cheers