You can rent equipment for VISS!

The Vancouver International Swordplay Symposium is just two months away! One of the most common questions we receive is: “What if I don’t have my own equipment?” We want to keep VISS accessible to everyone, so if you don’t have your own equipment, we have you covered. We’ll be offering equipment for all attendees to rent.

Our rental equipment includes:

  • Longswords
  • Sideswords
  • 36″ rapiers
  • 42″ rapiers
  • Gorgets
  • Bucklers
  • Masks

To keep your costs down, we’ve made sure that you can rent the equipment for whatever length of time makes most sense for you: a single workshop, an entire day, or for the entire 3-day symposium. (Please note that masks are an exception; masks will only be available to rent for the entire 3-day period and must be picked up on Thursday night in order to ensure that you get one that fits properly.)

Supplies are limited and we want to make sure that everyone gets their equipment smoothly and quickly, so we encourage all attendees to reserve their equipment online. All registrants can opt in via our registration form to be sent an equipment registration form when we get closer to the event. Online reservation has not yet begun as of this writing.

To keep things simple, each item of equipment costs the same amount to rent. See below for pricing and our equipment rental policy page for more details.

Online reservation prices:

  • Per session: $5 per item for one session (single workshop or a session of sparring)
  • Per day: $10 per item for use in one full day
  • Full 3-Day Symposium: $25 per item for unlimited use during the full symposium
  • All Kitted Out: $60 for up to 3 items for unlimited use during the full symposium

We also encourage VISS attendees to lend each other equipment. Please feel free to use our VISS Facebook page to connect with other attendees who have or need extra equipment.

In addition, many of the above items, as well as gloves, jackets, and other protective gear, will be available for sale at Academie Duello during the event.

If you haven’t had a chance to register yet, there’s still time to benefit from our 20% early registration discount, which ends on January 1. Head on over to our registration page to sign up!