The foil I'm Buying...

[Lungin' Ry]

Hello all fencers, I'm thinking about purchasing a foil for myself and here is the one I might be purchasing: Uhllman Ultra German point right hand v2 pistol grip. I am an aggressive class fencer (as told by my coach) and am mostly a lunger/dodger... is this a good foil choice? Let me know your thoughts. Thanx.

[CvilleFencer]

Hard to go wrong with Uhlmann, but the V2A tip is a waste of money IMHO. After all it is the screws that are going to go first, followed by the tip, as long as you do not crunch the barrel when you are tightening it.

I am a pretty big guy who fences a very aggressive style. For me the best blades are Vniti or Leon Paul FIE blades. About the same price as the Uhlmann Ultra with a V2A tip but will last much longer and resist bend and such. FIE blades last about 3-5X longer than a non-FIE blade and the Vniti and Leon Paul are much better than most. The BF blades (that is what the Uhlmann Ultra is) is not that much lighter than either of these (you will probably not notice the difference in a blind taste test!) but the BF is not as durable. They are however great blades that are buoyant, controllable and very well balanced. I just break them about every 3 months as opposed to my Vniti and LP's that last for years.

You might also want to check out the product reviews section of this board. Best of luck.

[Lungin' Ry]

So I shouldnt Go with a v2 pistol handle or should I? And are leon pauls better quality than an uhlmann?

[Grey]

Not necessary. When you buy a blade, you will be concerned with several aspects of the weapon

1) Balance, the first and foremost important quality in weapons (at least in my opinion)
2) Weight, you will want a light blade definately.
3) Blade resistance, basically you guage when you thrust and the amount of resistance the blade offers should be hard enough to ensure that it will not break fast but soft enough not to cause stress to your muscles.
4) Flexibility, A flexible blade breaks less often. You will not need that much flexibility in the blade yet as you won't be flicking any time soon lol.

Purchase a simple normal foil, without any special tips etc. Find out what you want in your weapon first (try to kee pthe budjet low, you don't want to buy an expensive weapon and find out that you don't like the feel) and follow the points given above. Once you've determined what you want, go for an FIE blade if you're staying long term in fencing.