Welcome to the Workshop

I was one of the early adopters of the gear produced by Craftsmith. Even from start I could see a high level of expertise, professionalism and customer care. I have one of the early prototypes of his arm guards and quick release scabbard and I use them to this day! And on the cosmetic side, he painted my mask, and as soon as I get a new one, he’ll paint that one as well!

Craftsmith’s work can be found everywhere in my HEMA gear. He does amazing things when decorating masks, even if you (like me) only have a vague idea and a dream when you come to him. My arm guards are perfect, custom made to allow for the additional wrist mobility needed for sword & buckler fencing. My shin guards – his prototype – barely noticeable during the fight because they move with me instead of hindering knee mobility. I’m always looking forward to what he’s going to make next, because I know that he will put the greatest care and attention into every piece.

Craftsmith did an awesome job with each of the different items I commissioned from him. The quality was high and solid, the time within which the work was finished and the products handed over absolutely adequate. Craftsmith came up with ideas to achieve the requested result, and was at the same time even actively looking to see if there might be an even better ways to do it. Options were always presented and discussed with me, to find the one which I would like best. The communication was very professional, proactive from his side and always timely. Having witnessed his great work first hand made me place several orders and being able to say that I can highly recommend Craftsmith.

Excellent craftsmanship and beautiful artwork. I truly couldn’t be happier with the quality of the paintwork and the arm guards. I’d recommend Craftsmith to anyone in a heartbeat.

I’m very happy with my new forearm guards by Craftsmith! They’re light, yet sturdy, and the perfect length for my forearms. I’ve had trouble with forearm guards before, because they were too long for me, hindering wrist movement and chafing my skin. Craftsmith’s have a much better length and they stay in place, because they can be attached to the elbow guards. Like this, I can even leave them on my jacket and just have to loosen them a bit, when I take it off. They haven’t seen heavy use in sparring, so far, but they’ve taken a few hits for me and kept me well protected. They are definitely part of my main kit now and I’d recommend them to anyone!

This forearm guard review based on first impressions – I’ve only had a single sparring session and first half of that was done carefully. I wore a SPES Light jacket under these guards.

Overall, I’m very pleased. They are simple, but well done. The buckle that can be used to tighten up the cords could be slimmer, but it worked well. It’s nicer than not having one. The guards are slim, almost suspiciously so on my forearms. This was really nice as Ox and such postures became rather easy. When I asked to be hit harder, I didn’t get any bruises where the guards covered forearms. Jacket alone was another story.

My sparring partners commented that they noticed the edge sliding against the hard surface even when I didn’t notice any hits. I presume the hard surface helps with protection that way too, which I like.