Repair Kit#

This is not an essential bit of gear, but most students don’t carry this stuff, so it can pay to be the person that does carry this stuff when one of the regulars doesn’t show up.

We’re hitting each other with swords all day so maintenance and repair is inevitable.

Sword Care#

For cleaning and deburring your sword, take a look at this Academy of Historical Fencing video. Here’s a basic shopping list:

• Mineral oil (available at pharmacies)
• or Ballistol (available at Canadian Tire)
• Scotch pads and/or sandpaper (available at Canadian Tire)
• Metal file for deburring (available at Canadian Tire)

You do not need to bring these materials with you to class; sword care is typically something you will do in your own time. If you’re attending tournaments, you should consider doing a round of care a day or two before so that you aren’t surprised at gear check if a burr is found.

In Your Sword Bag#

What should you have with you? If you have any gear held together with elastic paracord, it’s only a matter of time until some of it breaks. You can get spare paracord from Fabricland, sometimes only in black, but sometimes other colours if you’re lucky. A small pair of scissors (and a safety case!) or a swiss army knife to cut new lengths will let you keep fencing in the event of a cord popping.

If your sword is held together with a nut or screw, you can take the nut or screw for a walk to the hardware store and find the right size of wrench or hex key for it. You could also take your whole sword if you’re feeling bold. You will attract attention, and that can run the whole spectrum of open curiosity to hostile suspicion, so exercise some judgement.

If you tip your sword with leather and hockey tape, stock your bag with a spare roll and a handful of leather scraps in case the tip becomes damaged during sparring. Some tournaments will require you to present your sword untipped so that they can add the tip at gear check, in which case you can depend on organizers to have spare supplies.