Combatcon is this week, July 21st-24th, and although we aren't able to make it out there in person this year, Arms and Armor is pleased to be a Gold sponsor of the event. We are donating two gift certificates as a prize. It's an event that we always try to attend, but with the crazy levels of demand for swords the last two years, along with everything else going on in the world, we just don't have any swords in stock to sell. Instead, we are busting our butts to produce orders as quickly as we can -- we've even added two new guys to our staff over the past year to ramp up our capacity.
If you haven't heard of Combatcon, it's a really fun melange of HEMA tournament and tons of classes on everything from martial arts, to stage combat, to lectures on history and material culture. It's always in the Flamingo hotel in Las Vegas, which makes it easy to fly in and out of, and kind of a fun adventure to drive to. A couple years ago I drove from Minneapolis to good ole' Lost Vegas with a Subaru full of swords, including some original antique swords from The Oakeshott Institute collection. While driving over the Rocky Mountains my car broke down and my lovely wife had to fly out, rent a car, and save me from the circling vultures. While our triumphant entry into Vegas was greeted with temps above 100 degrees, in the Flamingo it was nice and cool.
Our table at Combatcon last time we were able to attend
If you are thinking of going next year take a look at our selection of fine training weapons here. We don't make cheap or disposable training weapons, instead, all of our products can be customized, from relatively modest changes like leather vs. wrapped grip, to fully custom training swords with complex guards, custom handling characteristics, and one of a kind design. So, when you decide you want your ideal training weapon made just for you, check us out. You can also read this blog post comparing our fechterspiel to a historic original.
Arms and Armor Fechterspiel training longsword, based on original 16th century training swords and fully customizable.
Our sharp swords are also excellent for cutting competitions. Here is a previous blog post about matching your training sword and your sharp sword for optimal training. Check out our full selection of longswords here, most of which are well-suited to test cutting as it is currently practiced.
Arms and Armor Durer Bastard Sword, an awesome cutter!
Aside from the joy of seeing lots of fencers and sword aficionados, one of the best things about this event is always the other vendors. Mike Sigman from Albion, Gus Trim, Christian and Natasha from Purpleheart Armory, Chris Field and Josh Von Warbear from Sterling Armory, Bobbie Holyoak from Holyoak Whips, and Brian from DBK Custom Swords and Scabbards are all usually there, and they are all awesome. If you're are attending the event, please buy Mike a Diet Coke and Capt. Morgan for me. We will miss you guys this year, but really hope to be there next year.
Nathan Clough, Ph.D. is Vice President of Arms and Armor and a member of the governing board of The Oakeshott Institute. He is a historical martial artist and a former university professor of cultural geography. He has given presentations on historical arms at events including Longpoint and Combatcon, and presented scholarly papers at, among others, The International Congress on Medieval Studies.
Craig Johnson is the Production Manager of Arms and Armor and Secretary of The Oakeshott Institute. He has taught and published on the history of arms, armor and western martial arts for over 30 years. He has lectured at several schools and Universities, WMAW, HEMAC, 4W, and ICMS at Kalamazoo. His experiences include iron smelting, jousting, theatrical combat instruction and choreography, historical research, European martial arts and crafting weapons and armor since 1985