Review(-ish) of a Numair Craft prototype feder

If any of you have read my account of my HEMA club’s first year, well, things have moved on since then, practice has become much more regular (or had before the whole COVID-19 lockdown thing anyway), and the equipment situation has also improved slightly, but one thing we’re still struggling with is the availability of affordable gear — particularly the issue of establishing domestic production for some of the most expensive items such as practice swords. In some cases we’ve collaborated more or less directly with local producers, while in other cases the craftspeople have made things on their own initiative with varying levels of feedback from us at various stages of the project. The feder prototype I’m going to discuss is an example of the second kind. The craftsman (who has a website at Numa Blacksmith but tends to respond most quickly on the related Facebook and Instagram business accounts) had discussed specifications with me on several occasions, and inspected the Regenyei short feder I have when we met a couple of years ago, but for the most part he has been pursuing the project independently. The initial result came out early this year and I was offered the chance to test it out, but the pandemic got in the way and it wasn’t until a couple of weeks ago that we managed to find a way to get the prototype into my hands.

In the interest of full disclosure, the prototype is being lent to me for evaluation, so I haven’t paid a single cent for it. On the other hand, the craftsman specifically asked me for candid (and, if, necessary, harsh) feedback to inform the further development of the product.