Feders at LCLO
When we planned our first tournament, Lane County Longsword Open (LCLO), we decided to do a few things differently than what we've seen at other events. One of those things was to have stricter gear requirements, both in terms of protective gear, and for the weapons used by attendees. To the latter point, we decided to have minimum and maximum ranges for weight, length, and flex. As part of our gear check, we not only confirmed that feders met those requirements, but we logged measurements for future review. Part of this was done to get an idea of what variables in feders are currently trending, but we also wanted to use this data to inform our future requirements. To this end, I wanted to write a bit about what we saw, and what take-aways we can make.
I should also note that I recognize our sample size was small. We had a last-minute drop so only had 29 competitors, broken up into two tiers. Two feders didn't pass our requirements, but both respective fencers found alternatives, so we ended up doing gear check on 31 feders total. (Though we lost the specs of one of the disqualified feders, so only have detailed records for 30.)
Despite the small sample size, I think the information we collected is useful enough to form some preliminary thoughts about where we may move our requirements for future events, and what trends we're seeing.
Weight
I'm going to start with the easiest criteria because it's the lowest-hanging fruit. Quite simply, weight isn't usually an issue at longsword tournaments, because nearly every feder you can find made by a reputable manufacturer falls below the max weight we identified, if the feder also falls below our length cap. In our rules, we stated:
Feders must weigh at least 1.25 kg, and less than 1.7 kg.
We landed on 1700 g as an extremely conservative number. The reality is that 1700 g is the stated weight of a Sigi XL and Kvetun Solothurn, both feders that exceed our length limits. My concern on developing a max weight requirement was that we relied primarily on paper data; while we've been collecting information on feders at our club and the local scene, and on the feders non-locals bring to our Fight Nights, we never bothered to weigh feders too, so we weren't sure how significant weight discrepancies were in actuality. For example, on paper a Sigi Feder in standard length weighs 1600 kg, but it wasn't clear how much higher real life examples might weigh given handle rewraps, customization options, and minor manufacturing differences.
The highest weight feder I noted when we wrote our rules that still fit our length requirement was the stated weight of the Chlebowski Standard at 1660 g, followed by the Kvetun FFG at 1630 g. So, going with 1700 g gave us plenty of room as a starting point.
The highest weight feder we actually encountered at LCLO weighed in at exactly 1600 g, which was a Sigi Gothic in standard length. Not only was this the heaviest feder, but it even beat out two Sigi King standards by about 20 g, which I found rather surprising. It wasn't the outlier either - a second Sigi Gothic standard weighed in at 1590 g.
As far as minimum weight goes, we went with 1250 g as that's the paper weight of the basic Sigi Light feders. Again, we expected everything to pass here, and the lightest feder we encountered came in at 1306 g (a Regenyei short).
When planning for our next tournament, I don't think I'd opt to change the minimum weight requirement, but I would push to move the max weight down, to at least 1650 g, or maybe even closer 1600 g. I don't think this would notably impact the feders folks want to compete with, especially when noting that the average weight feder at LCLO was below 1475 g for both tiers.
Length
At LCLO, we listed requirements for both blade length and overall length (OAL):
Feders must... have a blade no longer than 102 cm (40.16”), and have an overall length (OAL) no greater than 135 cm (53.15”). This length is without safety tip.
One thing we noticed when writing these rules is that many other tournaments don't do unit conversions accurately. Often they'll take a measurement in one unit, then convert to the other unit and round that number, such that the stated numbers aren't actually equal. This is aggravating, as it's unclear which unit is the preferred "real" maximum length. So, we endeavored to more accurately list the conversions, starting with cm (it being both the smaller and the preferred unit by manufacturers), despite the final imperial measurement being a decimal and more difficult to decipher using standard tape measures. (Our tape measures were in cm, which kept things easy during gear check.)
We didn't add a minimum blade length because going too short was disadvantageous; as we disallowed single-arm actions outside a grapple, and already had a minimum weight rating, we didn't feel like anyone could game the rules by benefitting from an ultra light but shorter weapon. The maximum weapon length is pretty much already standardized by the Sigi Feder standard, at 135 cm. While some North American tournaments aim to include the Sigi XL (at 139 cm OAL), we expressly aimed to exclude it. As I couldn't find a single example of a feder falling between 135 cm and 139 cm, we stuck with the smaller number. In retrospect, we should have gone to maybe 136 cm for minor QC discrepancies, but things worked out and no feder we encountered was longer than 135 cm.
The original draft of our length requirements set the blade length limit at 101 cm, another standard set by Sigi, as their regular length blades hit that 101 cm mark. With the advent of Haft Arms however, a manufacturer quickly picking up steam and selling a feder with a 102 cm blade (but still 135 cm OAL), we opted to try out the longer blade length as our limit. This proved fortuitous, as we saw two Haft feders at LCLO, as well as a Sigi King standard that was half a centimeter above the advertised 101 cm length, and a Kut Armory feder at 102 cm.
We disqualified one feder for exceeding both the blade and overall length requirements - a Regenyei of some sort. While it was stated to have been a standard, I suspect it was an orphaned custom, as the dimensions were too unconventional compared to all the Regenyei standards we've seen over the years.
Our length limit was for the untipped metal blade. It occurred to me at the event that this meant people could try to add a little extra length to get beyond 102 cm, especially if thermotipping at home. With tape, we could cut the tip off and re-tape, but we had no easy way to remove or reshape thermoplasic tips. A consideration for future events may be to have a maximum tipped length, and then have a heat-gun on site for any thermoplastic tips that may put a blade into a questionable length.
Ultimately I'm happy with the length measurements we listed as requirements, and I don't think I'd change them for our next event. Surprisingly, there wasn't a huge difference between blade length averages between our Tier A and Tier B competitors; feders in Tier A averaged about 1 cm longer, but a number of Tier B competitors used our club loaners, which were all shorty size, so this may have biased lengths to the shorter end of the spectrum. What was surprising is that the most common blade length in Tier A was a shorty size, but the average length of Tier A feders was only 0.7 cm longer (1.1 cm OAL).
Flex
Arguably the most controversial limit we imposed on feders for LCLO was putting a cap on stiffness:
...feders must flex with less than 18 kg of pressure. Blade flex will be measured when gear is checked using the Franklin method by pulling down at the cross; numbers claimed by the manufacturer will not be used to assess if a blade's flex is appropriate for use. Blades must return to their initial shape after flexing without being manually bent.
Most events we've attended had a flex ceiling at ~19.5 kg. While much of the longsword community has moved away from Regenyei strong levels of stiffness (20+ kg), they've largely continued to allow fairly stiff feders despite the abundance of more flexible options on the market. A well-structured thrust can waffle a mask with a feder that flexes well below 18 kg, and can certainly result in head impact that can lead to concussive force. Accordingly, In an effort to improve safety in our local scene, our club standard is a stiffness ceiling at 18 kg.
A big consideration when developing a cap like this is how many folks we'd ostracize. Understandably, feders are not cheap, and some fencers can't afford to replace them easily. When we put in place our flex ceiling at our club, we did so knowing we'd disappoint a couple local fencers whose feders wouldn't pass, and we expressly didn't lower it further so as to not DQ an even greater number of feders.
This calculation is undoubtedly a factor when other clubs and events consider similar flex ceilings, and why I believe most clubs and events in our region have continued to allow stiff feders. However, we firmly believe that safety should take priority over sunk costs, and someone needs to be the catalyst for change, so fencers don't continue to buy unnecessarily stiff feders and injure their friends. We decided to start the conversation at 18 kg and see how it went, before considering an even lower cap in the future.
At LCLO, only one feder was DQ'd for being too stiff - a Regenyei standard in medium flex that buckled at 18.6 kg. This is definitely on the high end of Regenyei mediums; at our club we have a lot of Regenyei feders, and the most flexible medium-flex came in at 15.7 kg, and the least flexible was DQ'd at 20.6 kg. Regenyei feders not only have a wider band of flex across their medium category than Sigis, but they also start stiffer on the low end.
Discounting the feder we DQ'd, the two stiffest feders at LCLO came in at 17.6 kg and 17.4 kg, respectively. Both were Regenyei feders - the first a standard size and the second a shorty. The next six stiffest feders all fell in-between 16.2 kg and 16.9 kg. All but one (a Malleus Todesca) were Regenyei feders.
The lightest feders at LCLO were a Regenyei standard light (10.7 kg), and a Swordier SwHZ-1011 (10.9 kg).
Based on the above, had we lowered the flex ceiling to 17 kg, we would only have DQ'd two more feders. A mere 0.5 kg ceiling drop, and we'd only have DQ'd one more. I'm not sure we actually will lower the ceiling for our next event, but I certainly think we can make the case that a small drop continues to move us in the right direction, without affecting an undue number of fencers. There's obviously a limit for how low this cap would ultimately get, but my feeling currently is that it's at least another kilogram lower than our current club standard.
Lowering the stiffness cap was one thing we asked about in our after-event survey, and I was surprised how amenable folks were to the idea - I had expected more push-back. Whether it's fencers themselves gravitating towards flexier blades, or the result of manufacturers trending in that direction, I'm happy to see the shift, even if it's been slow.
Makers
Distribution of makers at LCLO wasn't particularly surprising. Thirteen feders were Sigis (two of which were federblunt Kings), and 11 were Regenyeis. The remaining feders were from Haft Arms (2), Kut (1), Malleus (1), and Swordier (1). If anything, the biggest surprise was that Regenyei wasn't the dominant maker, and that instead Sigis slightly outnumbered Regenyei.
There are always some small number of niche models. I expect we'll see more Haft feders in the future, owing to them piggybacking Sigi's reputation, and the fact that you can get one faster than most other feders. I suspect we'll see more Swordier models in the future as well, since they're economically priced and also fairly easy to get. It'll largely come down to how durable Swordier models are that will determine whether the brand has any staying power. The Kut feder was nice to see, as it's from a small maker very involved in the community. Kut's popularity is growing among some segments of the HEMAsphere, and given that they're also economically priced, I wouldn't be surprised to see a small uptick in how often we see them, but since the ordering process isn't super straightforward, I don't think we'll see Kut numbers increase drastically in the immediate future. The Malleus was the clear outlier to me - the Todesca is a niche model limited in length, and I don't anticipate an uptick here.
One thing I'm always curious about is what medalists at tournaments actually fought with, and I wish more tournaments would track and publish this so we could see these trends, if only because there are a lot of anecdotes out there about what one "should" use at a tournament versus what one might prefer to use for training purposes, in that some specs are perceived as better or worse in competitive settings.
Medalists in Tier B used a Regenyei standard medium, a Swordier SwHZ-1011, and a Sigi Gothic standard. Average weight between the three was 1494 g, with the gold medalist using the lightest sword (1400 g), and the bronze medalist using the heaviest (1594 g). This largely fits in with the common anecdote that standard-length feders offer the reach one wants at a tournament, but there was no clear preference on feder weights among the medalists. Only the gold medalist had a feder that took more than 16 kg to flex, while the other two were below 13.5 kg.
Medalists in Tier A used a Sigi Feder standard, a Haft Arms Tournament Feder, and a Sigi Maestro shorty. Average weight between the three was 1512 g, with the gold and silver medalists both using feders within 6 g of 1540 g (one higher, one lower). The bronze medalist was the only one to use a shorty length sword, weighing over 100 g less than the other medalists. All three medalists used feders that flexed below 15 kg (two of which, again, were below 13.5 kg).
Take Aways
At Masterless, we're pretty good about tracking the latest HEMA trends and staying apprised of the latest gear available. We're also vigilant about trying to understand safety issues, and modifying our gear requirements based on own experience, and what we're seeing in the community. That's why rather than simply copy the gear requirements of larger, established tournaments, we opted instead to develop our own criteria and review it after LCLO '26, so that we can continue to move the needle on safety in a positive direction.
Based on the above, I'm tempted to propose the following for our next longsword event:
Weight: 1.25 kg - 1.61 kg
Length: 102 cm blade limit, 136 cm OAL limit
Flex: under 17 kg
On weight, I'd like to move the maximum down to just exceed feders like the Sigi Gothic standard. The weight of these does't seem problematic, perhaps because so much of the weight is concentrated in the schilt, and this seems like a fair upper limit.
For now, the max blade length of 102 cm will allow Haft feders to be used, and there's not enough information to suggest this length will break the meta yet. Unless Haft feders start to dominate the upper tiers because of the minor length increase, I don't think we need to move the blade length down. The OAL limit seems reasonable, and I'd extend it one cm just for quality control differences, knowing that pretty much everything is otherwise expected to fall within the 135 cm range.
Flex is the biggest consideration, and I'm tempted to move it down one whole kg at minimum since it wouldn't affect many feders. After drafting this article, I learned that at least one prominent European tournament opted to lower their flex ceiling to 16 kg, which is more along the lines of what I'd actually prefer, but given the feders we saw at LCLO this year, a 16 kg ceiling would have excluded another eight feders (about 25% of our competitors). Seven of those were Regenyei models, and one was a Malleus. Instead of a 2 kg ceiling drop, by iteratively moving the ceiling down instead, we can help inform new purchases, and delay a further decrease for another year, while only affecting two of the aforementioned feders in the near future.
With these potential changes in mind, my advice to folks looking to buy new feders in the next year is to avoid Regenyei medium-flex blades. The consistency is not good enough to guarantee you'll end up with a blade that flexes below 17 kg, so if a Regenyei is on your list, stick to the light flex blades instead. All Sigi feders should work, as would the Haft.
While not represented based on LCLO data, Masterless has collected good data on other feders we've handled, and with a potential 17 kg ceiling at future events, I'd also suggest staying clear of the following based on the possibility of ending up with something too stiff, unless you can coordinate with the vendor or maker accordingly to get something flexier: Albion, Aureus, Blackfencer, Chlebowski, Krieger, and VB.