Fencing Gear

[Iwant2bafencer]

As most of you know I am still a beginner. I have only been fencing for about. .a month and a few days. Now most of the guys (everyone else there is guys. Wonderful for me. Not ) dont have their own gear. (Lame, jacket, sword etc.) The ones that do. Are the sons of one of the directors. (Is it director or Master?) So I guess my question is a two part.
#1.) SInce I'm still a beginner I'm not for sure on staying with it. (Dont get me wrong I love it so far.) So should I get gear now? Or wait for later?
#2.) What kind of a price range am I looking at? (That's everything included.) Also Should I trust my none fencing parents to get everything for me for christmas?
I think that's all my questions for now. Any input would be great! Thanks Everyone!

----------------
Carpe Diem

[swordsen]

Wait until you are sure you will stick with it.
that being said, A complete set of gear (competition) will runn you anywhere from about $300 to well over $1000 depending on what you get.
If you want your parents to get it for you find a catalog and mark carefully EXACTLY what you want. Otherwise there is no telling what you will end up with.

[Konstantinos]

Iwant2bafencer-
I'd agree with swordsen. Wait until you are sure that you want to stick with it. If you are going to go the Christmas gift route...leave some hints here and there...like giant ribbons and arrows pointing at internet printouts of exactly what you want

As for what to get and what it will cost you, it depends on what you want the stuff for. Do you want it just for the club and practices? then you can get a Jacket, Practice foil, Plastron, Mask, Glove for about 150 <and actually pretty good stuff from triplette>.

I'd be weary of starter sets...i got the Santelli starter set when i first started up and was not overly happy with the practice foil and glove. the glove cant even be used safely in practice :\ Also figure out if you want to get a mask that will last you a long time and can use later in competitions <12k punch test and all without removable bib> or go with a cheaper practice one with a removable bib <later to be placed on a practice dummy of your choosing >

-Konstantinos

[ 11-06-2001: Message edited by: Konstantinos ]

[Pierfrancesco]

i've only been fencing for about 3 months (gee that went fast) and was considering getting some gear as well. it is quite convenient that christmas is just around the corner hey
but yeah you'd want to make sure you're definitely going to keep going with it cause it aint cheap. i certainly couldn't give it up now, i'm addicted

the first thing on my list is definitely a glove, the club have only got like 2 left handed gloves and they're crusty as ! fortunately its the cheapest bit of kit too

[Scaramouche]

Right now I have the same Santelli starter set that Konstantinos was talking about. I'm kinda miffed about it because now that I'm thinking of entering competitions next semester and I already spent $160 on this and now I have to spend even more on an electric set when I could have just gotten the electric set right off and essentially saved myself $160!

So I say wait till you know if you're going to stick with it and decide whether or not you ever want to compete. If you want to compete, buy an electric set right off. If not, just get the dry beginner set.

[damianip]

A key item to remember is that you get a mask and jacket which are USFA competition legal. A bib with a riveted or snap-in bib is not. The bib must be sewn in. Santelli's low end mask bibs are not sewn in.

I don't know if anyone still sells jackets which are not USFA competition legal. AFS had some a while back.

Usually, if you want your own gear, you'll eventually want to try competition. Make sure your equipment will suffice if you do.

Paolo

[neevel]

If your club's providing equipment, there's no need to immediately get your own stuff until you're sure you're going to stick with it. There's nothing wrong with getting things piecewise-- maybe a weapon and glove first, then parts of the uniform later. Also, if you wait till you know you want to stick with it, then you'll also be ready to get higher-end gear than the cheapie starter sets, which is a better choice in the long run. The mask in particular is a good place to get something better than the bottom-line model.

-Dave

[three_hundred_fifty_five]

Originally posted by Iwant2bafencer:
<STRONG>#1.) SInce I'm still a beginner I'm not for sure on staying with it. (Dont get me wrong I love it so far.) So should I get gear now? Or wait for later?
#2.) What kind of a price range am I looking at? (That's everything included.) Also Should I trust my none fencing parents to get everything for me for christmas?</STRONG>

1. No, do not get gear now.
2. Quit now. Save your money for law school.

[lochinvar]

In his somewhat acerbic manner, 355 makes a good point.

The stuff is expensive. Especially if you are serious about competing at the international, national, or even regional level.

So, don't buy anything until you're SURE you want to continue.

After all, it's not like there's a big market for used fencing equipment...

[swordsen]

Actually I suspect there could be a rather good market for used fencing gear. it is just that we are too scattered out to really manage it well.
I have never had any trouble getting rid of any used gear i wanted to sell off. and I haven't gone to ebay to do it. (Yet)

[Purple Fencer]

Originally posted by swordsen:
<STRONG>Actually I suspect there could be a rather good market for used fencing gear. it is just that we are too scattered out to really manage it well.
I have never had any trouble getting rid of any used gear i wanted to sell off. and I haven't gone to ebay to do it. (Yet)</STRONG>

I'm going to put some stuff up on Ebay this weekend.

The problem is, the VAST majority of fencing stuff is either older than dirt and in deplorable condition, or whoever's selling has no idea what he's talking about ("I have a fencing sword with a name stamped on it....someone named France Lames").

I occasionally see a decent mask or jacket up, but only rarely.

[latenight]

Ebay is a good idea. I got rid of a bunch of stuff there and got about 80% of what I paid for it back. The average person seemed to have no idea that they could get brand new gear for just a little more than they paid me for
it.

Maybe my gear just stinks nice, I don't know.

You could always say it belonged to Justin Timberlake and rake in a grand....Ah the beauty of EBAY

[ 11-08-2001: Message edited by: latenight ]

[ 11-08-2001: Message edited by: latenight ]