Hey there friends, we’ve got a cool new feature available for our swords: rainguards. If you’d like to give your sword some extra character, you can now add one in our Swordbuilder app—provided you choose a leather grip for your feder.
What we call rainguards are covers or caps, usually made of hardened leather, that fit snugly over a sword’s crossguard. Although their exact function or historical name remains unclear, their frequent appearance in medieval and Renaissance imagery suggests they were widespread and commonly used. Besides offering an extra layer of protection for a sheathed blade, our practical fencing experience shows they provide a comfortable rest for the thumb during certain techniques. Finally, they add unique character and a touch of liveliness to any sword that bears them.
Rainguards will only be available with leather grips, as they don’t really work with our cord grips. If we ever find a good and aesthetic solution for cord grips, we’ll definitely let you know 🙂
There’s more news! To answer one of the most popular questions—“How much would shipping to my country cost?”—we launched a small app called the Shipping Quoter. You can find it through our website’s menu or via links in the Swordbuilder. Simply search for your country and you’ll see the estimate. Please keep in mind that prices may change long term.
Check the Shipping Quoter here: https://sigiforge.com/shipping-quoter/
On a related note, our biggest overseas shipping partner, FedEx, recently merged with another company here in Slovakia. The merger wasn’t easy even for us since some of their processes changed. Unfortunately, the biggest impact for us has been a steep price increase—nearly double for some destinations, and around 20% for most others. Despite our best negotiations, we couldn’t bring the new prices close to the old ones.
So, we started talking to the competition and struck a deal with UPS. Until now, we hadn’t used UPS simply because they wouldn’t grant us an exception for shipping “bladed instruments” from Slovakia (we tried at least once each year). Thankfully, that’s resolved, and we can now ship with UPS to over 50 countries. Not all destinations are covered, but many of the most popular ones now come with significant savings. For example, shipping to the US is about 40€ cheaper with UPS compared to FedEx—that’s over a 40% difference!
We’re always working to find the best options for our customers. Some factors, like tariffs and inflation, are beyond our control—but wherever we can make a difference, we will.
Otherwise, all is well. Summer hasn’t quite arrived in Slovakia yet, but we’re working hard as usual 🙂 Stay cool—and if you need anything, just let us know!
Yours sincerely
SIGI
