Broken mesh

[Puppet Master]

One little segment of mesh is broken on my mask. I've read the rules and they say the mesh has to be within 2 mm of each other. I havent' measured it yet, theres nothing here with mm on it.

Another segment bent 3/4 inch away from it, but I bent it back, and it passed the 12 kg. This one actually occurred before the the broken one, haven't tested the broken.

Its kind of bothered me that it broke, and it being close to the one that bent, though both are on my weapon arm side, which would take the heavier hits. When a tourney came and had equipment inspection, I got worried they wouldn't pass it, it did, but I didn't point it out either.

Its a non-fie, 3 years old; this isn't a budget or a chinese mask.

3 questions:
Is a mask like this legal, assuming its within 2mm. Is that the only rule?

Does it pose a serious safety hazard, or would YOU keep wearing a mask like this to serious competitions?

Thanks in advance, some of you are really helpful when it comes to equipment Qs and I ,and many others I'm sure, appreciate you taking the time to reply to these.

[damianip]

Replace the mask. How much do you value your life? If it's a non-FIE, what's the maximum replacement cost? 100 bucks?

This is doubly true if you fence épée.

If you don't relace it, at some competition soon, someone will see it and, theoretically, they'll make the decision for you by "retiring" the mask.


Be safe.

Paolo

NEVER use broken equipment! As much as you hate to do it, get rid of the old mask. Bite the bullet. Paola is right. Just because it passed the test does not mean it is safe.

Live long and FENCE!

------------------
You CAN teach old dogs new tricks.

[Purple Fencer]

Full agreement here. Besides, part of the mask inspection is to visually inspect the mask for deformations and the like. If I were to see that broken mesh, I'd want to reject it, perhaps even put the tester right there on the broken mesh, THEN do the test (I do this for deformed parts all the time).

If it doesn't get pissed off...the mask tester's job is to make sure you don;t replicate Smirnoff's accident.

Go grab your checkbook

------------------
Sam Signorelli -- Boldly going forward...'cause I can't find reverse!

[neevel]

The 2 mm refers to the spacing of adjacent rows of unbroken mesh, _not_ the ends of a broken segment:

THIS: ****************
2 mm
****************

NOT THIS:

****** <-2 mm-> *****

A mask with a broken piece of mesh is not legit for use in competition. The fact that the checker at a tournament overlooked it means just that-- they overlooked it (and should have paying better attention when visually inspecting it).

The unbroken bit that got bent out of position (and then bent back) is OK so long as it still passes with the punch, but when that happens it means you'll need to get a new mask before too long.

-Dave

[oiuyt]

Fixing that mask is easy....

Step 1 -- place mask on floor.

Step 2 -- raise foot -- stomp on mask

Step 3 -- repeat step 2 until mask is mostly flat

Step 4 (can be done prior to step 1 if desired) -- with a permanent marker prominently write "UNSAFE" or "FAILED" several times on any writable surface on the mask and bib.

Don't play games with personal safety, it's just not worth the risk.
-B

------------------
"Oh but you can't expect to wield supreme executive power just because some watery tart threw a sword at you!"

[Puppet Master]

ok, well thanks for the responses. Thanks for clearing the rules up. Guess i'll get a new mask, think I'll get an FIE one, $100 is a lot for a faulty mask.