After some time practicing langes messer with the class loaners, I set out to find a training messer of my own to better suit my practice needs. This post describes my experience finding, comparing, and evaluating the messer models available on the market, and presents some data I compiled to help me make a decision.
I have been participating in the Kollektiv des Messerfechtens classes nearly since their inception ~2 years ago. For a long time, I trained with the class’s loaner messers: a modest number of short messers from St. James Armory. This worked well early on, but as classes grew and as I became more invested in the messer combat form, I found myself shopping for a training messer of my own.
Those who know me well can attest that I tend to be very picky when shopping for an item that I view as an investment. While many HEMAists boast an array of training equipment, I was looking to purchase (and store in a New York apartment) a single training messer that I could rely on for years to come. I had cursorily browsed the inventories of the gear shops I frequent, and had tried out the messer models that my classmates had bought, but none of these jumped out as the right model for me. So I began more in-depth research.
Before I could choose the right messer for me, I had to know what I was looking for. These were my requirements (your mileage may vary):
- I needed a training messer. This meant a blunt edge with a blade that can withstand repeated impact, a safety tip of some kind, and a balance that would not tend to hurt my training partner.
- I wanted a messer that would serve for sparring. While I expected to primarily use my messer for paired training in class, I wanted to be able to use the same equipment for free sparring (and tournament fighting, should I so choose). This implied that the messer should not be overly short, and again, should not tend to cause injury.
- I wanted to dial in the weight and balance. I am not the strongest individual, and had recently recovered from a wrist injury on my dominant side. I wanted a messer that was not so heavy as to (re)injure me from repeated motion, but not so light as to adversely affect parries and binds. Balance factors crucially into the feeling of weight of a sword of any shape, so both weight and balance were important.
- I wanted a good bang for my buck. I didn’t want to buy an expensive messer only to find out I didn’t like it very much. Likewise, I didn’t want to buy a cheap messer and wind up unsatisfied with the quality after a short period of time.
- Handle design was a distinguishing factor. The handle should be roughly hand-and-a-half length to accommodate gloves and still be usable for hooking techniques, and should be comfortable to use for an extended period. I prioritized this lower than the other requirements, but it was still something I took into account.
Summarizing these requirements, and factoring in what I had gleaned by feel from trying out my friends’ messers, I was looking for a messer that was somewhat light with a forward point of balance, with a length that fit my height and a durable edge, with good design as a secondary consideration, and preferably less than $400.
My work cut out for me, I set to compiling and comparing specs of blunt messers on the market. I started with the vendors I was familiar with, and worked my way to Googling various phrases related to training messers and unearthing manufacturers I didn’t know existed. I gathered stats ranging from the well-represented models in my school to messers that appeared made-to-order or no longer available.
I collected the results of my investigation into a spreadsheet, which can be viewed here. A static view is shown below.
The more messers I came across, the more it became clear that each vendor and/or manufacturer chose a different representation of many statistical quantities. The most pervasive of these differences was a choice between metric or Imperial units. This was common enough that I opted to maintain both, with a simple unit conversion serving to fill in the cases where only one unit system was quoted.
In addition, there was a fair amount of variation in the set of stats that were listed. For example, in characterizing the dimensions of the messer, several lengths are informative: the overall length, blade length, and handle length. Most models supplied two of these three, apparently assuming the third could be derived by addition or subtraction. There are, of course, ambiguities in doing this (e.g. crossguard thickness and whether or not to include the pommel), so some guesswork was taken out when all three were given. There were some essential quantities that were quoted by all models, such as weight and point of balance.
For each quantity, I performed some light statistics and added colored formatting to show how far each value departed from the average. Green represents a value below the average, red above, with darker shades representing a more extreme deviation in either direction. This makes it easy to see that, for example, the Arms & Armor messer is rather heavy with a point of balance unusually close to the crossguard. It is also longer than average in both blade and handle.
Now I finally had what I needed to start making a decision. The messer models having a below average weight with an above average point of balance were the VB, Ensifer, Krieger, and all of the Landsknecht Emporium models. From there, I narrowed it down to the VB, Krieger, and two of the Landsknecht offerings. Many of my classmates had the VB model; while I think this is a good option for many people due to its affordability and availability, the length and bulk of its handle were uncomfortable for me, and I was hoping to find something that better fit what I was looking for. In contrast, the other three entailed a leap of faith, since I had little or no prior opportunity to handle them personally.
So which one did I decide to go with?
I ended up taking the hidden option: make no decision and get lucky instead. It turned out a classmate had a Landsknecht Gottfried in brand new condition that he was willing to part with, having amassed more messers than he needed and harboring a preference for a similar St. James custom. I tried it out, and it felt so natural that the decision became quite easy. We made the exchange, gold for steel, and just like that I had my messer trainer.
After training with the Gottfried for six months, I still really like it. The problems I’ve had in using it have been few and of minor importance. The blade is a good length for my reach (I’m 6 ft. tall with average proportions), and I have never, ever felt like I would not be able to pull a strike for safety.
I was, of course, very fortunate in finding a messer trainer I really liked that I could start using right away. Even so, I learned a lot about the variety of messer models on the market over the course of researching their specs, and this knowledge translates well to other sword types as well. I hope that this information can be useful to any of you who may be shopping for a messer, and that the data compiled in my spreadsheet can help you determine which messer is right for you.