french or german point set

[mousers11]

Other than german point being more expensive than french, what are the advantages & disadvantages between the two.
At the moment i use the new viniti blade with french point is it worth changing to german

[D+F+P=Hadouken!]

German tips are longer lasting and less malfunction prone. French tips are more delicate, but spare parts are hard to come by in a pinch. If your gonna use german, keep a lot of spare parts with you.

[Kettu]

I'm a fan of the sport 7 tips myself; they're built like German tips, but use the French screws.

[DHCJr]

You did not give whether Foil or Epee. You received an answers from 1 Foilist and one Epeeist. Sport 7 (Foil) is designed to match the French, but appears better made. The German Foil is actually more fragile, but a smoother tip. The screws stick up and the barrel and be deformed more redily.

In Epee, the parts are mostly interchangable and for the most part but not always, depending on the subcontractor, the German parts are smoother.

It would help if we knew which one.

[D+F+P=Hadouken!]

sorry, just assumed epee. He seems like a smart guy

[CvilleFencer]

And then of course their are the Leon Paul points for foil and epee. I am a big fan of the new design for foil and they have been the longest lasting tips I have ever used. The PTFE coated LP epee points are quit nice and very smooth, but I tend to use German points for the epee as they are very smooth and I can swap parts with most French style points in a pinch. There are also the Estoc Screwless points sold by Swordmasters and others. I tried the early foil version found it to be fairly fragile and short lived but I have heard from several people that they have improved greatly and that the epee points are very trouble free until they are damaged and it is more difficult to repair them than any of the others as the tip is a sealed unit. Also pretty hard to bum parts for in a tourney if they do break, but I really like the idea. Just keep in mind there are lots of options out there!

[glowstix]

Other than german point being more expensive than french, what are the advantages & disadvantages between the two.
At the moment i use the new viniti blade with french point is it worth changing to german

PPLLEEAAASSEEE get german tips for your own good. in foil, its not that big an issue. in epee, thats another story. at our state games, i was fortunate to have a vendor there and he held two blades up in front of me and asked me to press both tips in at the same time. the german one was absolutely smooth while the french was NOT. both passed the weight test too. from that point on i was sold on german tips. it was almost like a foil tip. they earn you about 2-4 extra touches per 15 touch bout. it seems like it takes soo much less effort to press the tip when compared to the french. for that alone, its worth the extra $12.

[reposte]

When it comes to miscellaneous foil accessories I always recommend to use whatever is most available to you in terms of maintenance.
I think you'll find this the most useful advice.

[Wraith]

For foil, I would recommend sticking with french, since mashed barrels are just annoying as all heck. For epee, german points all the way. They have a smoother action, and (in my opinion) are easier to repair because of the tolerances used in the manufacturing. However, I would say that the biggest determining factor is what the majority of your club uses. Use what they use, and that way you know you can find spare parts when it really counts.

[MyraTrue]

As others have pointed out, we don't know which weapon you fence. If your weapon is epee, I would also recommend going with German points. They are a little more expensive, but in my experiences, the barrels are less likely to dent (so the tip rides smoother) and the spring are less likely to mash (sorry, we've got some hard hitting fencers around here). In general, they remain in better condition longer than the French tips I have had, and take less maintenence in the long run.

As for foils, I am not a foilist any longer. From what work I've done in the armory with foils, I've noticed that the french tips we use as a club tend to get "sticky", and you have to clean the barrel out, and the tip has to be cleaned as well, to remove whatever has made the tips so sticky (dust and something else has usually made a serious goo). I've had more problems with barrels cracking on French tips, but beyond that, I can't say much about the French versus German debate in foil.