Yeah it helps. I will of course get a jacket eventually but since I haven't done much full on sparring I've been mulling the idea of extra underneath or not. Some do and some don't and I'm more inclined to err on the side of caution. Funny business HEMA is since it's still in an infant sort of stage. . I bet 10 years from now you'll have damn near full blown stormtrooper suits to don on. I do like the fact that a lot of HEMA gear is black though....cause that's just bad ass and so Sith like he heh.:jedi: