Cartel Univorm Review

[DangerMouse]

I know I should put this in the equipment review section, but since I'm the only one I know that has a Cartel uniform, I thought others might be interested to read it here.

What I replaced:
Allstar FIE knickers (non-stretch)
PBT 350N Jacket
BG cheapy plastron

What I Bought:
Cartel FIE 800N Jacket, Knickers, and Plastron.

The company:
Dealing with Bruno and the rest of Cartel was a pleasure. They custom tailored my uniform for no additional charge and answered all of my questions promptly.

The Material:
The material Cartel uses is extremely light weight (actually kinda translucent) and has a fair amount of stretch. The uniform is made entirely of stretch material, but is not as stretchy as the LP equivalent.

The Fit:
Since Cartel custom tailored my uniform, it fits well. However, it appears they based the sizing on one size too large for me. I decided that it was easier to have a local seamstress take in the jacket thant to send it back to France and wait. The knickers and plastron fit well. I think part of why it feels slightly baggy compared to my old equipment is that the jacket is about 1/3 the thickness of my PBT and my Allstar knickers are a size too small. If I had the correct size Allstar knickers, they would fit about the same as the Cartel ones.

In summary, the cut is about the same as Allstar and a little looser than PBT, which may be due to the thickness of material used.

Construction:
The uniform appears to be of acceptable construction. The finishing details are not as nice as the LP uniforms, but are nicer than the Uhlmann/Allstar. The seems are not stitched flat and the stitching is not as clean as it could be, but is acceptable. There are a few loose ends of threads, but nothing major. I had a button come loose from the Plastron, but that only took a few seconds to reattach.

The elastic used for the suspenders is much thicker than on my Allstar knickers. The jacket cuffs use the stretch of the fabric instead of elastic. One of my favorite parts of the uniform is the elastic used below the knees on the knickers. It is very soft and just tight enough to keep the legs from riding up without being tight enough that the elastic will wear out quickly from normal use.

The Cost:
The reason I decided to buy a uniform from Cartel really came down to cost. The total cost, including shipping, for jacket, knickers, and plastron was just over $400 (at the conversion rate 2 months ago). No other brand came close to this price for a quality product in a tall size (hence the custom tailoring).

Conclusion:
Buying from Cartel was easy and painless. They were very helpful and quick. Overall I think this is one of the best values available in a uniform. The construction is not as good as some of the better known brands, but the uniform is extremely comfortable and cost significantly less than any of the equivalent alternatives.

[telkanuru]

How long did it take from order to arrival?

[prototoast]

I'll add my two cents, since I also just ordered a Cartel jacket. With shipping, it was only about $180, which is roughly comparable to the Uhlmann World Cup.

The material is great. It's got a minimal amount of stretch, comparable to the uhlmann olympia. The biggest perk is that the fabric they use is very nice. It is extremely light and comfortable, and pulls moisture away from the skin. It's reinforced on the underarm, but everywhere else it is extremely light and comfortable. Shipping from France was not bad at all. Took under 2 weeks.

My biggest complaints about the jacket is that the tailoring is a little imperfect... the zipper is a little longer than the fabric there or something so it sort of bunches up. Tailoring is still better than a triplette jacket.

Overall, I love it, and highly recommend it to anyone looking for a light and comfortable jacket (though not recommended for someone who does not like being hit hard and is looking for some cushion.

[The Armourer]

Has anyone tried their FIE blades - they are nicely balanced and very light. If you like that sort of blade I think they are worth a look.

[CvilleFencer]

Would anyone mind posting the link to the English version of the Cartel website? I know it was mentioned somewhere in another thread but I forgot to bookmark it.

Thanks!

[Craig]

http://www.cartel-escrime.com/catalog/default.php

[CvilleFencer]

Thanks! One of these days I am going to add a page to our club website that lists every single fencing vendor in the world that will ship to the US... One of these days...

[achilleus]

Originally Posted by The Armourer

Has anyone tried their FIE blades - they are nicely balanced and very light. If you like that sort of blade I think they are worth a look.

The blade I had from Cartel was a BF...

As for their uniform, sounds like the Soudet uniform almost...

But they tailoring things, that's cool.

[DangerMouse]

Bruno used to run Soudet and assured me that the uniforms are pretty much the same. My order is not a good example for timing because I ordered it 3 days before they left for vacation for the month of August. It came pretty quickly after they came back.

[achilleus]

Originally Posted by DangerMouse

Bruno used to run Soudet and assured me that the uniforms are pretty much the same. My order is not a good example for timing because I ordered it 3 days before they left for vacation for the month of August. It came pretty quickly after they came back.

Knowing Bruno, I figured the uniforms were similar, just didn't know how similar...

[telkanuru]

Originally Posted by The Armourer

Has anyone tried their FIE blades - they are nicely balanced and very light. If you like that sort of blade I think they are worth a look.

My BF white I got from BG has a cartel stamp. It seems to be one of the more quality batches.