PeterR

That has nothing to do with the expense of the equipment but the training drills which need nothing more that a shinai or bokken. The rapid movement training has its parallels in certain styles of aikido done either with bokken or empty handed (tsukuri renshu).

Trained kendoka are a joy to introduce to aikido - excellent posture and control of center, not to mention a level of fitness. However, I don't think kendo training per se will improve your aikido, perhaps adopting a few of the drills as part of your practice if you already don't do a variant.