The Sport Feder by Kingston Arms is purpose-built for HEMA club sparring and practice. The edges of the 9260 high carbon steel blade are thick and blunted for safety and to resist damage and wear on the edges. The last third of the blade toward to tip has significant flex to make it a safer practice sword when thrust at your sparring opponent – in addition to this, the tip is flared and thickened for additional safety. The tip can also take an additional leather or plastic tip to increase safety (not included). To ensure that the sword can perform well in the bind, the rest of the sword blade is more stiff.
For HEMA, this product has been classified as either appropriate for all skill levels or appropriate for those with Advanced Skills. Michael Turner, instructor at Tuathair Academy of Martial Arts, assisted us in categorizing these items for the different skill levels of HEMA participants. These categorizations are meant as guidelines. Please refer to tournament rules for specific competition requirements. For this purpose, we do not include swords that may be used in cutting competitions in the HEMA category.
The crossguard and pommel are steel and featured is a ramped thumb indentation on both sides to facilitate an ease of guard transitions with a gloved hand. The pommel is squared at its base to aid with edge alignment for the rearmost hand.
The grip is wood with a rectangular cross section and is overlaid with a tight wrapping of cordage.
This Feder is a durable and agile performer, well-suited for simulating the real longsword in European martial arts.
Kevin –
Best deal on a steel Feder I have seen As soon as this came up in the new section I bought one and told everyone in my club about it. Never seen a feder priced this low and I have been looking for quite a while (was using a nylon feder). Now I was uneasy with the price as you often get what you paid for but, took the chance as it is from KoA :)
When the sword arrived and it looked fantastic. Very good quality, grip is a good size so when I have gauntlets on I still have room. Fit and finish are excellent – better then or on par with the other steel feders used in my club. But the real test of course is in the use.
Now the tip is a bit more flexible than I expected (bend point closer to end than other feders I compared to) but, I have not had any issues with whippiness. Weight is perfect and balance as expected. After 3 classes (and I let others try it out) against 3 other manufacturers (and much more expensive) feders the edges are holding up well and the guard has not come loose which others seem to do often.
Overall I am a mid range skilled sparrer and this feder is perfect and holding up well. So glad I did not pay double or more for one.
Sean –
Cheap and good It is a good and cheap federschwert for the price you should buy this if you wajt a cheap feder
Chris –
Good inexpensive starter We picked up a few of these to test out as loaners for our HEMA longsword class. After a few months of abuse they are holding up pretty well, even going against Regenyeis and A&A feders regularly. One has the cord coming undone slightly but I was able to glue it down. I wouldn’t suggest these for HEMA tournaments, but as a students first steel or loaners for new students, these are perfect
Mark –
Best sword for the price I’ve seen I don’t know if this most recent batch was an Mark II, but I found this to be very satisfactory. Weight and balance are perfect; it’s got a decent bend on the thrust, not too light, but not so heavy that you risk hurting someone even in proper gear. Pellwork did not mark the blade at all. Overall I’m thrilled.
Peter –
Great Value Great starter feder to defer some of the costs of getting into hema.
Darren –
Great Feder for the price This is a great first feder if you just getting in to HEMA. Well balanced, flexible, with a comfortable grip. The hilt to cross guard mating is much better than others I’ve tried that can cut up your hands if you’re not wearing gloves, it wont with this sword. Shipping time from KOA was outstanding as well, very impressed and will definitely order from here again!
Doug –
Good but needs quality control My blade took a wicked bend right at the crossguard during some moderate sparring. It seems to be a heat treat issue as it is rather soft where the schilt meets the tang, where it should be more rigid. It’s probably not all of their blades but mine was a bad one, and sadly it happened a few months after the warranty expired.
Christopher B. –
Bent within the first few months This sword holds a set very quickly.
Glenn Best (verified owner) –
Incredibly solid starter feder for the price! This sword has held up very well with only some minors burs and bends. The blade isn’t too wobbly but has enough give to not hurt my sparring partners. This feder has taken quite a bit of abuse including heavy enough sparring to cause some sparks to fly as well as getting run over by a car! (Long story). The corded grip is still 99% intact with only a single frayed end near the cross guard. I’d highly suggest to anyone who wants a decent starting feder for HEMA.
Robby –
So I’ve been fencing with this sword for sometime. Everything from drills to hard sparring, and considering as I bought it as a less expensive starter it has been fantastic. I can’t give it 5 stars, because it took a nearly imperceptible bend (about 3/4 up the blade) from a particularly hard thrust during a sparring bout. All in all, I highly recommend this feder to any beginners, or to anyone who wants a more affordable beater.
Grant Parrinello –
I’ve had 2 of these break in less than 6 months of use. Save your money, spend $70 more and geta Rengenyei.
Essen (verified owner) –
Overall a very good sword, but is it better than others in the same price range?
I’ve had this sword about 8 months now and been using it for drilling with my HEMA group
I have yet to spar with it but it has taken a few full force blows and smashing a few pumpkins without any noticeable damage
The cross guard is still tight and I haven’t had the cord wrap loser at all, the cross guard is quite comfortable for thumb grip too both in gloves and not.
I do have a few reasons why I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it over day a Purple Heart feder though. Firstly it’s a peened construction which is nice and much better than threaded however I think for a feder a nut construction is the way to go so if it ever loosens up from hard use you can fix it or even adjust and modify it much easier. Because keep in mind you’re probably going to use your feder a lot more often for much more damaging tasks than you would a sharp you have for cutting, so to me being able to repair or adjust it is a good idea. Secondly it’s a very long and heavy sword, I believe it’s just a few inches shy in total length from the Albion maximillion which is a great sword, so one could argue that this is more of a war sword or in between a great sword and longsword, and it definitely feels the part with the balance snd overall weight feeling much heavier than other feders I’ve handled, which does have its pros, firstly in training it’s going to condition you to being able to wield a heavier blade which means if you switch to a lighter blade for sparring you’ll be much faster (assuming you can deal with this one’s weight as if it’s normal), or if you use this in sparring you’ll have much more striking power and reach since it’s longer
But in general id say a purpleheart armory feder is likely better for more people, however, it is definitely the right sword for some to use and is a great option as long as you know what you’re signing up for
ks21 (verified owner) –
I haven’t had the chance to spar with it yet, but the sword looks good. There were a couple of scratches and smudges, and the last 6″ or so of the blade tilt to one side slightly. Not sure if thats normal. Overall very satisfied.
Bingus –
Yea the whole blade broke clean off of its tang after about two months of use, once/twice a week tops. I certainly liked it, good length and proportions, but no feder should break that quickly.