Fencing.Net - Your Guide to Fencing & Fencing Equipment

DropkickDuffy · 04-30-2004, 07:26 PM

Hello there,

I'm the president of a collegiate fencing team and I am in the process of ordering equipment. I am looking for some basic masks, jackets, electric foils, and lames. I was wondering what would be the best retailer to go with? I have looked into Blue Gauntlet, The Fencing Post, Physical Chess, and Santelli. I was wondering who has the best price/performance ratio and club deals (eg. discounts).

Cheers

prototoast · 04-30-2004, 07:39 PM

I know triplette has, in the past, given good deals to clubs. I don't know about any club deals for blue gauntlet, but in general, they offer decent quality for a very low price.

CvilleFencer · 05-01-2004, 12:15 PM

Blue Gauntlet has a 20% discount they give to clubs. Physical chess has some good club prices but they can be slow (like 5 or more weeks) on large orders and they are pretty bad about dealing with returns. They only do them on Fridays when the have time!

Esun is a great source for cheap gear (some US vendors but their low-end gear from them and private label it) but you can only pay with a bank draft or cashiers check and shipping from Hong Kong is not quick. Also on orders of $800 or more you will have to pay a rather heavy US tax.

Triplette is not a bad company and I know some on the board love them but in my experience anything they have can be gotten with better quality and/or prices somewhere else. I hate their uniforms for the bad tailoring and over pricing and their boxes for being very buggy. I will say that their customer service is good and their bungy reel system is as good as anyone else’s from what I have seen. They can be a good and cheap source for FIE blades. This is about the only thing I use them for but they do have good prices on BF and Vniti blades.

If you are looking for good gear that will last a while I would say order from Fencing Post. Good service and prices and I have never had any problems that were not handled quickly and courteously. Also their low-end stainless lames last a lot longer than copper for the same price.

I would avoid a net only site called Fencing USA as I have heard tons of horror stories and they seem very fly by night. Also the only thing I have ever seen of theirs was crap.

I tend to buy most of my club gear from Blue Gauntlet. I have had more problems out of them than any other vendor except Physical Chess (of course we do about $8000 a year with them so mistakes will happen), but they have always been minor ones that were handled quickly and they ship and process returns very quickly.

Hope all of that helps some. I will post some links below and feel free to PM me if you have any specific questions.

http://www.blue-gauntlet.com/
http://www.esun.com.hk/index.html
http://www.thefencingpost.com/
http://www.physicalchess.com/

akaiyuki · 05-01-2004, 09:27 PM

My school's fencing team has quite a few people who orders from BG, I'm one of them myself. I like their masks the most. We don't get much problem with the BG stuff, the only thing is that if a blade needs rewiring, the glue is much harder to get out for some reason.

telkanuru · 05-01-2004, 11:07 PM

My school team deals exclusively with BG because of the club discount. Their generic epee blades are not quality, and I would not reccomend the SG Super foil blade (I like the super epee). The $20 washable glove is excellent for club use, too. We've had a couple of screw ups (2-prong instead of bayonet on a foil and 2 sabres), but that's it. Good on returns, repairs. Fencing on a budget. They have pretty good deals on some top end brands at times, too.

As a tip, ask your club members if they want anything for personal use before you order. Saves shipping and money.

telkanuru · 05-02-2004, 12:28 AM

Oh, and I nearly forgot. If you do go BG, do not under any circumstances, even dire financial need purchase the BG french grip. They go to pieces in no time and the rubber is crap. It's worth the extra $5 per weapon to get the Uhlmann french grips. I've had no problems with their pistol grips, tho.

Mistaratsnatch · 05-03-2004, 10:48 PM

hmm..i own the BG french grip...Its been fine and now problems. Maybe its just the way we fence with it. I didnt like the feel of it's thinness before...but after i got use to it feels great.

telkanuru · 05-04-2004, 07:28 PM

Yeah, just don't tighten the pommel nut too much. They have a tendancy for the inner plastic to split. And the rubber on the grip isn't as great as some, namely uhlmann. It's one of those 'feels pretty good until you try the better thing' items.

prototoast · 05-04-2004, 08:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by telkanuru

Yeah, just don't tighten the pommel nut too much. They have a tendancy for the inner plastic to split. And the rubber on the grip isn't as great as some, namely uhlmann. It's one of those 'feels pretty good until you try the better thing' items.

I had that happen to a stupid plastic sabre grip I used. It kept coming loose and I had to keep tightening it. What I didn't notice, was that the pommel was just digging into the grip and just making everything a mess. It ended up ruining the bell guard, because I had to keep tightening it more and more, and eventually the blade started digging into the bell guard.

grotto · 05-05-2004, 12:56 PM

The college I started fencing at has all Santelli gear. (some of it 14+ yrs old) Santelli gear may be a bit more expensive but it is VERY durable the collegiate masks (even the old ones) pass the punch test every term (yes the current punch test). The button out bib is nice because you can throw all the bibs in the wash. (some sewing would be needed to use these for competition though, the bib must be sewn in to be legal.) the jackets also last forever. I'm sure which ever vendor you choose you will get a "club" discount for large orders. hope this helps

KC · 05-05-2004, 11:37 PM

The Fencing Post is who we use almost exclusively... No mess-ups on orders (hey Triplette learn from them) and they give a 20% on any item just mention the website.

I love the equipment for beginers and their customer service has been very helpful.

For instance I was ording the Full Arm 05 from them with the battery, charger and case for the unit. Saul calls me at work (keep in mind this is from Californial to Tennessee) and tells me that the case is not worth the 70 bucks they charge and that I could find a better one from any number of local sources. He then wanted to know if I wanted to take it off the order... So for him to turn down business to make sure the customer would be happier in the end means a lot to me. Saul will have 100% of my business.

(Note: I was not paid to say this, however I would be willing to discuss it)

Swordmaster · 05-07-2004, 12:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KC

...tells me that the case is not worth the 70 bucks they charge and that I could find a better one from any number of local sources. He then wanted to know if I wanted to take it off the order...

That is because he doesn't stock the cases! I have found their (Favero's) cases to be quite durable and the fact that they nest together makes for a more compact and secure transportation package. If you haven't ever seen some you owe it to yourself to check them out. http://www.sword-masters.com/catalog...roducts_id=224
Cheers!

Swordmaster · 05-07-2004, 12:42 AM

I service several clubs around the nation. If you are interested in a quote please contact me. I don't sell the cheapest crap I can get my hands on, so don't expect me to be a low bidder... but I do my best to service my clients to the best of my ability, while trying to provide good equipment at the best value.

KC · 05-07-2004, 08:54 AM

I have seen the same grey case that everybody else has and I don't think its worth $70.00 do you??? Anyway I can buy an aluminum gun case for half that and its far more durable with foam packing to boot. And it will hold more than what I need it to.

Bout ender · 05-19-2004, 12:24 PM

try www.fencesmart.com ...so far they have had the best deals that the club I goto has been able to acquire. We tried BG, Santelli and Blade but they were all a little overpriced. For the basics, FenceSmart was the way for us to go.

drseudo · 05-19-2004, 05:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bout ender

try www.fencesmart.com ...so far they have had the best deals that the club I goto has been able to acquire. We tried BG, Santelli and Blade but they were all a little overpriced. For the basics, FenceSmart was the way for us to go.

Oh wow. That website is a real winner.

noodle · 05-19-2004, 07:47 PM

mm...
ordered a lot of sabre and epee complete weapons from fencesmart for my club.
i got badly put together epees, some sabre blades and a few sabre parts (not nearly enough to complete the weapons). still waiting. been almost a year. they won't respond to my emails.

hpfencing · 05-20-2004, 01:02 AM

Swordmaster is right, you will get good quality from him. It may cost a little more but you will not have to replace it very often.

Most clubs have a lot of kits and set-up prices and try to sell the junk that no one should be fencing with.

I also use Fencing Post but Swordmaster's has the best quality for the price and Scott will reeally work with you.

CvilleFencer · 05-20-2004, 09:34 AM

I do all the ordering for my club and I have come to the several conclusions:

1. Every vendor will make mistakes. The quality or service comes in how quickly and painlessly they fix their mistakes.

2. Customer service for fencing gear usually consists of mailing something to your house and maybe talking to you for 3 minutes on the phone, but most likely reading your e-mail order. Hence my amusement at vendors (like some on this board) who claim that their great service is what makes their expensive prices worth it. Go with the person who has the cheapest gear on the equipment you want.

3. Buying cheap gear costs you more in the longrun. Overpaying for gear under the theory that if someone charges more for it, it must be better somehow is equally foolish. If you get toothpick electric blades from BG or FS they will break in a very short time. If you buy the cheapest of gloves from Blade or Physical chess they will wear out in a month or two. However just because Swordmasters sells their nylon Jacket for 85 dollars does not mean it is a better 350N nylon jacket that anyone else sells for about 60 (it probably came from the same factory), it just means you could have saved 25 dollars buy getting the same thing from the Fencing Post, Physical Chess, or others.

In short, do not cross off a vendor because they make one mistake. It is how they deal with problems that is the only real chance most of us have to see how they interact with a customer. The smaller vendors may get things wrong a bit less often just on the percentages (BG can do over 40 orders a day) but you will often pay more for it and if you are a club ordering 20 or 30 sets of gear you may find that the small guys will assure you they have the items in stock or on the way only to be blown off for weeks until they get in their next shipment, after already charging your card so they could pay for it.

In short it all comes down to perception and personality. If you will never do business with a vendor after they sent you a bayonet body cord instead of a two prong but then made it right you will forever be hoping around looking for the "magic vendor" that never makes a mistake and you will wind up paying a lot more by going through the places that claim to have the best service or products around (SM, TCA, Blade) than if you go through a high volume dealer that can offer a good discount for clubs (BG, FP) or you can go through the cheapest guys and take your chances on both quality and customer service (PC, FS, FA, Esun).

Anyway that is my to cents on the "Looking for a good vendor" and the "club fencing gear" threads. Our club ordered almost 10G worth of gear last year and 4G (so far) this year so I have dealt with just about every vendor in the US and several in Germany. I usually order from BG for most of our club loaner and beginner gear and the Fencing Post for our more experienced fencers with the occasional order going to Leon Paul and Fechtsport Lagenkamp in GE.

Anyway, hope some of that helps.

Swordmaster · 05-20-2004, 09:53 AM

Cville,
Thank you for the comments. I will probably pull those less expensive jackets and knickers off of the web, since as you say, you can get them any where else cheaper...but price is not eveything as you have mentioned. The reason some of my "me too" gear is higher is that I have found that doing business over the internet, especially on uniforms is much more expensive since people usually don't pay attention to sizing charts (not all 42's are the same) and you have to send it back and forth. I have even sent multiple sizes of the same item, at my expense (and not billed for them until they are returned), to try to resolve sizing issues.
If some one is looking for a quote on club equipment and looking to buy in larger quantities, I suggest calling or emailing the vendor directly. I get along with all the other vendors and we have a sharing relationship. I believe in a free market economy and the ability of the buyer to choose from whomever they want to buy.
In essence, I have but one thing to sell and that is myself. I look forward to speaking with anyone about your orders at almost anytime day or night.