Egregoros

(off-topic from your post, but you're someone here to ask about this)

How much would be reasonable to expect to spend on beginner gear in the US for HEMA, for two-handed longsword? (Mask, gorget, gloves, jacket, longsword)
I've been borrowing, and don't want to keep doing that.

I know it leans expensive. I'm double-checking with you (thank you) that I'm not missing out on a smarter avenue. My irl people (each deeply libshit) are pointing to Purpleheart Armoury as the only worthwhile option. True or not true?

@Kierkegaanks @vitalis There's already a little bit of a schism, some cult my uncle belongs to headed by some disgraced bishop (maybe? He was high up, I know) who talked up Trump and downed Francis, apparently they're a little too extreme even for the Opus Dei weirdos who wear cillices (edit: They're called CORAC).

They'll eat each other eventually, I remember back in high school, down in the Southeast US, this woman in class asked if I wanted to go to church with her to become a Christian, I told her I was already Catholic (easier than the alternative), she said, "No, a *real* Christian".

unless you want to pay extra in tariffs to get stuff direct from european manufacturers, your main options for US distributors of HEMA gear are going to be either SoCal Swords (socalswords.com) or Purpleheart Armoury (woodenswords.com). between the two I have bought more from PHA because they have a wider selection of stuff and its more often in-stock than stuff from SoCal. I also am biased towards supporting PHA because I have personally visited them at their warehouse in Houston, Texas and they are wonderful people. That being said, I have bought stuff from SoCal before simply because they had stuff that was actually in-stock but was out of stock at PHA.

Your priority for HEMA gear acquisition is pretty much what you listed in order, which ought to be a mask first, then gorget, then heavy clamshell gloves (don't start with five finger gloves), then a jacket, and last a longsword feder. ngl it would be costly to buy all of them at the same time, so its best to get them over time without breaking your bank.

Here are my personal recs:

Mask:
https://www.kultofathena.com/product/red-dragon-hema-red-dragon-fencing-mask/ (in general I do not recommend Kult of Athena for HEMA gear but this mask is a solid budget-friendly choice)

Gorget:
https://socalswords.com/products/destroyer-modz-roughneck-gorget

for gloves I swear by HF Black Knights but they are almost always out of stock everywhere. If you're willing to stomach tariffs and shipping cost, this is the one piece of gear that may be worth importing direct as you don't want to skimp out with investing on hand protection and if I'm being honest I have seen failures with every other glove manufacturer EXCEPT the Black Knights. That being said, I would still recommend the SPES Heavy Gloves which are usually always in stock:
https://www.woodenswords.com/product_p/spes-gloves.v3.htm

for jacket I recommend the SPES AP Plus Light but it can be a little pricey:
https://www.woodenswords.com/product_p/spes-j-lt.htm

if you want a more affordable jacket, I personally started HEMA with the Red Dragon jacket from KoA. its a little stiff in the beginning but it breaks in fine and is adequate protection. but I did eventually upgrade to a SPES jacket myself
https://www.kultofathena.com/product/red-dragon-hema-sparring-jacket/

I would not worry about what feder to get until you have all the protective gear

@vitalis @Kierkegaanks There's about two dozen flavors of baptist around a 5 mile radius of my childhood home so even they're all different flavors of batshit.

I remember one woman, Victoria, nuttier than squirrel shit. Her pastor "informed" her of a whole bunch of "knowledge" so she argued with a science teacher until she was blue in the face about how there's breathable oxygen in space, that Africa is a country, and that our brains are made of metal. Also some real fun story about how her pastor stuck an "electric rod" into the river he was standing in and God's love protected him. I just remember she was deathly afraid of balloons and my being any sort of queer meant she tried to bully me until I rubbed two balloons together and she ran headlong into an old door trying to escape the sound.