Durable Fencing Shoes??

[Miguelito]

Anyone out there who's had experience w/ different brands of fencing shoes and could recommend something w/ superior sole durability? I'm about to have to throw out $165 hi-top Addidas Adistars because the sole on the lead foot's worn through on one side after just 6 1/2 months.
Blade claim's that their hi-top Star Fighters have an especially durable sole. (although I'm sure every manufacturer would make the same claim about their product)

Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

Miguel

[epeemike81]

I have had no trouble with the asymetrics. other than that.... no suggestions.

btw, you CAN get fencing shoes resoled....

-m

[neevel]

The one person I know who did extensive fencing with Star Fighters (she was on the Yale WE team) found the lifespan of them was about 3 months-- she didn't mind because she was getting them for $25/pair through the team. That was 4 years ago, so they may have made some changes to the shoes since then.

German Adidas (which currently means the Eqt. asymmetrics; the D'Artagnans are made in China) are going to be best for durability. Perhaps there is some element of your footwork technique (do you slide the feet a lot?) contributing to the wear, but if you fence extensively on copper strips you're going to have to resign yourself to going through shoes fairly rapidly. If that is the case, perhaps you should consider getting one good pair for competition, and then using cheapies (or even non-fencing shoes) for practice (so long as they don't die _too_ quickly).

Mike's right about re-soling-- any shoe repair shop will be able to handle that, for much less than the cost of new shoes. If the rest of the shoe is in good shape, that's by far the cheapest option. You may even be able to have a more durable sole put on. Fencing shoes have to balance wear requirements on copper strips (which requires a harder sole) and adequate grip on ordindary gym floors (for which a softer sole is better). If you're mainly practicing and competing on copper, you could get a harder material put on.

-Dave

[weapon7]

I had a pair of starfighters that did last five months. They let go right were the shoe meets the sole. When I mailed them back, the owner at Blade said tough luck. His quote to me was "You should not expect these shoes to last more tnan six months. They are not made to last any longer." I will never buy from Blade again.

I have since gotten a pair of the BG Victory shoes. They were only $45 and are holding up very well.

[Xaaron Swiftblade]

Completely black airwalks!!! Wear 'em everyday for just about anything I do... have had 'em bout a year and are only now starting to tear.

[damianip]

I don't know anyone who is happy with the durability of Star Fighters. My son's lasted about six months but really went downhill when he picked up his weekly fencing frequency.

His toe blew through the front at the junction of the upper and the sole. This seems to be where they like to fail.

He's on Adidas D'Artagnans now. We'll see how they do.

I have Adidas black stripe boots, and they've held up well, but I never fence on copper. The'll probably need new soles in a few months, but the uppers are in good shape.

Paolo