Which Blade to choose?

[telkanuru]

Buying a new EPEE blade (which one?) I prefer stiffer blades, but really just something that gives me the best point manipulation.

[davtsung]

Oops, I voted my preference, and not according to yours! For you, Vniti would be the way to go I think. They be a bit on the heavy side, but are stiff and confer excellent point control. The Stm's gold are quite whippy.

[noodle]

only old vnitis are stiff and heavy
they've recently redone how they make the blades and they are thinner, whippier, and lighter. i don't know enough about the first two blades to weigh in.

[davtsung]

I recently bought a Vniti, and they are still (at least this batch) as stiff as can be. Need Popeye arms to flick with mine.

[noodle]

maybe you got an old batch, or maybe they changed.
either way, afaik, you may get something you don't want if you order a vniti.

[telkanuru]

When people say Vinitis are heavy, they are using a very relative term. Can anyone make this objective?

[davtsung]

I can bench 170. They still feel heavy in COMPARISON to other blades. I agree, it's tough to use relative terms, but in asking for an opinion, responses all tend to be relative. I could try to weigh by blade sometime if that would help. Pick up an StM, and then pick up a Vniti, and I think you'll agree.

[noodle]

old vnitis are quite literally 50% heavier than the average blade. by weight. how's that for not objective? i don't have the exact numbers, though.

[davtsung]

Outside of tennis, Vniti's have proven to cause more cases of tennis elbow than anything else in the world.

[telkanuru]

old vnitis are quite literally 50% heavier than the average blade. by weight. how's that for not objective? i don't have the exact numbers, though.

You could be fencing with rebar by accident

Are they heavy enough to actually negatively impact fencing. I'm a fencer who normally fences in absence and adores the stop hit. Most of my game is provoking an attack which I then stop-hit. Are they right for it, is the real question.

[davtsung]

I think before we address the blade thing, we need to address your stop-hit proclivities!!!

[noodle]

it entirely depends. i'd say a light french grip would be best for your game. vnitis are heavier, which makes control a bit tougher, but when you beat with one, its quite the beat. and they don't break. ever.

[davtsung]

Yes, but after a couple of years, you need a tetanus shot just from looking at one.

[telkanuru]

I think before we address the blade thing, we need to address your stop-hit proclivities!!!

Yar! Your arm is swiss cheese! Vinitis never breaking is a major, major plus for this poor college student.

[davtsung]

More like American cheese, though I'm not quite sure how that's better.

[vincikai]

get a BF white if you prefer stiff point control,
buy BF blue if u like flick,
a vinti for practice.

[telkanuru]

I currently own a BF white. It is lovely, and the best thing ever. However, it is much too much money to switch my blades too.

[davtsung]

get a BF white if you prefer stiff point control,
buy BF blue if u like flick,
a vinti for practice.

Buy a saber if don't flick and don't like point control

[CvilleFencer]

I would have to say go with the Vniti, followed by the Prieur. I have both, and have had StM's in the past. The StM blades are very fragile and I have yet to have one that lasts more than three months. The feel is awesome, but the durability is crap. Vniti's just do not break. Not that I have ever seen and I own six of them. For their epee's they are nice blades, and while a bit heavier than normal FIE blades it has not been a huge problem. My Vniti epee, which is a few years old, is the most flexible epee I have ever seen. To whippy for me to use in practice since I like to do a lot of offensive beats followed by very fast attacks. The Prieur feels very light, but is a bit fragile, bends easily and just feels kind of wrong to me. It is also very flexible.

I would really suggest that you go with an LP epee. The non-FIE ones last forever, they are the lightest blades around, come in either very stiff or quite flexible varieties depending on what you ask for, and are almost as indestructible as the Vniti. They also only cost about $40 bare from LPUSA. These are my premier tourney weapons even above the BF blades. I have four of them that I use as my primary weapons, with last surviving BF, a Vniti and the Prieur as my backup weapons. I like the feel of the BFs a bit more, but the fact that I can buy 3 of the LP blades for the price of one of the BF blades won me out, and they really are the lightest blades around, and very fast to use once you adjust to the feel. I think as more people are exposed to them they will become just as if not more popular than the BF FIE blades in the US. My $0.02.

[telkanuru]

Thanks for the input. I have tried the LP blades and simply do not like how they feel. They feel like the bend wrong, somehow, and are *too* light (<- weird).