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Post by Deleted on Feb 22, 2011 23:09:25 GMT
Does anyone know where to buy a good fencing foil? I'm taking a couple of fencing classes and it would be nice to have my own rather than whatever was cheapest for my instructor to buy en mass. A glove would be great too. I live in the CONUS.
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Post by Vincent Dolan on Feb 22, 2011 23:19:55 GMT
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Post by adtharp on Feb 23, 2011 0:02:01 GMT
I would ask your coach. There are several options you need to think about. Do you want it to be electric? Do you want pistol or french grip? I generally go with absolute. I would NOT ever buy the Hanwei stuff.....
I have never seen a local sporting goods store selling fencing equipment.
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Post by Larry Jordan on Feb 23, 2011 0:45:58 GMT
Hold off on the foil. Does the school/program push a French or pistol grip? Purely sports fencing or some classical fencing influence?
Do get your own glove. If you don't want to wear someone elses sweaty bib, you can get your own mask as well.
In any event, discuss these options with your instructor. He/she might be able to point you to a source.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 23, 2011 7:07:35 GMT
They don't really "push" either, and I'm sure my fencing instructor would be competent to teach either, but all of the foils he's provided for the class are french grip. And I'm fairly sure it's sports fencing. It need not be electric.
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Post by Elheru Aran on Feb 23, 2011 16:05:23 GMT
I'm with adtharp up there, I've never seen foils in a sporting-goods store; those places seem oriented exclusively towards the regular sports, and fencing is a fairly niche sport. I would take it up with your instructor, see where he gets his foils and if perhaps you can purchase one at a discount through him. I also second the suggestion of getting your own mask; there's enough viruses floating around these days, you don't need to run the risk of picking something up from someone else one of these days.
As far as the Hanwei foils, I think they're probably adequate, but I haven't seen ANY reviews of them so I can't really comment. Most of Hanwei's fencing material is oriented towards Renaissance re-enactment and stage fencing though, so it wouldn't really be appropriate for a regular fencing class.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 23, 2011 16:59:48 GMT
Well, I tried asking my instructor and he told me there were plenty of places to buy one online. So....
I found a couple of things and have a couple of questions. Mostly, what kind of customizations would I want? Rubber grip or leather? Is the felt padding good enough? Do I want the grip to have an aluminum core? How about stainless steel guard?
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Post by Deleted on Feb 23, 2011 20:07:51 GMT
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Post by adtharp on Feb 24, 2011 14:26:21 GMT
Andernerd:
If you want to know more about specific fencing equipment, head over to fencing.net, they spend their time talking exclusively about sport fencing. I don't advise the Hanwei equipment because it is not up to regulations in almost all fencing organizations including the USFA. We are talking about sports equipment here - I wouldn't by my tennis rackets from hanwei either - unless I wanted replica 17th century ones, then they might be the best....
As for all of the customizations - really just get whatever you want - we don't know what you want. The base stuff that the foil comes with will be fine. You will probably need to by a new weapon in 6-8 months when you start competitively fencing anyway. You need to know more about fencing before you can know what you want - using tennis again - you are asking if a clay court is better than a grass court when you haven't played on either! Right now a court is better than no court!
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Post by MEversbergII on Feb 25, 2011 16:19:21 GMT
I've handled the Hanwei ones years ago; they were ok. I own the practice foils form fencing.net; pretty good value - I think it was about 25 bucks at the time.
M.
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Post by D'artagnan on Feb 25, 2011 23:34:43 GMT
I'm captain of a University Fencing Team, and fencing, like any other sport is subject to commercialization and is often bout out by big companies. It all depends what you are looking for, what quality, and how much you are willing to spend, just like any other sword. Do you want something cheap, but an all around good beater? Or do you want something to compete with and with no expense spared to give you the extra edge?
Personally, my team use a range of Absolute, Fencing.net, and others. I myself personally use Leon Paul equipment which is also what the US fencing team uses. But I also participate in regular large city tournaments. If you are just looking for something to practice with, either dry or electric fencing, I suggest "Absolute Fencing" all the way. The foils are like 25 dollars and electric are about the same. The also offer pretty respectable beginners packages (glove, jacket, foil, bag) which most fencing stores offer. However I warn you, their regular jackets are made of canvas and tend to shrink in the wash, so get extra big sizes. There higher end stuff (stretch material) one of my teammates swears by. I have had a dry foil from absolute that has held up for three years now. The electric one held up for a solid year of abuse before a wire went bad.
Depending on what you are looking for, let me know and I'll help in any way I can. Always good to see someone else take up the sport.
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Post by LittleJP on Feb 25, 2011 23:58:56 GMT
Hey, I'm going into university next fall, and I'm thinking up of starting fencing again. Given I'm more or less a complete beginner (I know which end to fold, how to lunge, and where to hit), how open are the fencing programs to people like me?
Sorry for thread derailment.
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Post by adtharp on Feb 26, 2011 0:48:47 GMT
JP,
They usually take anyone with a pulse, and I'm not joking. Unless you are planning on attending one of highest rated schools (Columbia, Notre Dame, OSU, etc.) they will love to see you. They need people to fill out their squads. Generally schools are just club teams that go to competition, even if they are a varsity (I don't know what the equivalent in Canada would be), they probably need people for a second string or there is a club for recreational fencers.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 26, 2011 3:01:39 GMT
Well people need to start somewhere, and I've only ever met one person who started in elementary/middle school.
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Post by LittleJP on Feb 26, 2011 4:59:41 GMT
Hmm, I was just thinking of doing it for fun, but if it really isn't that popular of a sport, I might as well try competing.
Was planning the same for Tae Kwon Do.
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Post by D'artagnan on Feb 26, 2011 9:53:24 GMT
I do attend one of the big schools mentioned in that last post. And our coach is friendly enough, but he is still a coach, so perhaps not the most endearing type of fellow. However the Professor that runs the community club fencing (free BTW) is like a bald, aging, sword slinging monk type. He gladly accepts anyone there is a cheap one year fee and besides that private lessons cost some but they provide electric equipment for those who want to do assaults of fun bouts
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