Epee Grip Question

[howtobrew]

Hello,
I'm a relative newbie.
I have decided that I have more precision with a French Grip than with the usual pistol grip. And, I am fairly successful against the over fencers in our salle with it.
But, there is one fencer in our salle who suggests that I get an oversized French grip like his, which he terms "rubber over wood". And yes, his view is that there is no point in using a French grip unless you pommel grip it (correct term??), although I like the fact that I can switch back and forth between pommeling my epee to gripping it tightly to take their blade. But an oversized grip may be useful nonetheless.

So, experienced fencers: What do you think? Worth trying? Where would I order one? Can I buy the grip and get my current blade reworked, or are blades such that it's easier to buy them as a complete build?

PS, I am in Pasadena, CA and am 40 yrs old.

[D+F+P=Hadouken!]

Originally Posted by howtobrew

Hello,
I'm a relative newbie.
I have decided that I have more precision with a French Grip than with the usual pistol grip. And, I am fairly successful against the over fencers in our salle with it.
But, there is one fencer in our salle who suggests that I get an oversized French grip like his, which he terms "rubber over wood". And yes, his view is that there is no point in using a French grip unless you pommel grip it (correct term??), although I like the fact that I can switch back and forth between pommeling my epee to gripping it tightly to take their blade. But an oversized grip may be useful nonetheless.

So, experienced fencers: What do you think? Worth trying? Where would I order one? Can I buy the grip and get my current blade reworked, or are blades such that it's easier to buy them as a complete build?

PS, I am in Pasadena, CA and am 40 yrs old.

www.fencepbt.com

They have nice, thick and chunky french grips.

[oiuyt]

Another type to look at is the newish (2-3 years old?) LP oversized carbon-fibre french grips. They take a pistol-length tang and pommel nut, rather than a standard french pommel and are designed to be the maximum legal length all in grip. Larger and more square, almost think tennis racket than typical fencing grip.

Unfortunately with the relatively low LP profile in the US they're harder to check out for yourself. Hopefully LP'll repeat their experiment from 2 summers ago and have at least an informational/display booth at nationals again in Sacramento.

-B :)

[veeco]

Originally Posted by howtobrew

Hello,
I'm a relative newbie.
I have decided that I have more precision with a French Grip than with the usual pistol grip. And, I am fairly successful against the over fencers in our salle with it.
But, there is one fencer in our salle who suggests that I get an oversized French grip like his, which he terms "rubber over wood". And yes, his view is that there is no point in using a French grip unless you pommel grip it (correct term??), although I like the fact that I can switch back and forth between pommeling my epee to gripping it tightly to take their blade. But an oversized grip may be useful nonetheless.

So, experienced fencers: What do you think? Worth trying? Where would I order one? Can I buy the grip and get my current blade reworked, or are blades such that it's easier to buy them as a complete build?

PS, I am in Pasadena, CA and am 40 yrs old.

Hi, and welcome to fencing!

Since you are starting out, it might be worth it to actually try out your clubmates weapon to see if you like his grips, and decide which you prefer.

Some French grip users like thick grips and others prefer thinner ones. One other thing to keep in mind is that you cannot bend the wooden ones, so if you plan on doing that, you should avoid them.

Out of curiosity, what kind of French grip do you use now? Are they just all rubber or rubber over metal? IMO, the plain rubber ones are kind of crappy because they tend to warp when you mount them, leaving you with a hard to grip, and not precise weapon.

Anyway, try out your clubmate's weapon for a bout or two (if he is the same handedness) or try other French grips until you decide what works best for you. Different people have different needs.

[O_O #2]

everyone has different preferences. never accept that there is a "correct" way to hold the "right" grip. Try different things and do what feels best to you.

[howtobrew]

What grip do I currently have? I am not quite sure. It is part # EER7-F from The Fencing Post at http://www.thefencingpost.com/Epee.htm
I don't know whether it is classified as rubber or plastic.

On my other epee, I have a large pistol grip, Visconti I think. Can I install another French grip on it? or a LP Gardere?

Thanks,
John

[LUDICROUS]

Sadly no, pistol grip tangs can't have french grips attached. Its too short for a french grip. However, french grip tangs can be filed down to fit pistol grips.

[mfp]

Originally Posted by LUDICROUS

Sadly no, pistol grip tangs can't have french grips attached. Its too short for a french grip.

Not entirely true -- the Leon Paul carbon fibre french grip can be mounted on blades with a short tang.

[LUDICROUS]

They can?

(god damn it, this forum has no smiley along the lines of msn messengers :S and :| )

Hmm, might try out one of them someday.

[DHCJr]

The LP carbon fibre is quite large, not quite a tennis handle, but close. Also, you will need a special pommel and wrench. I have not tried it with a normal pistol grip pommel, but it is rather deep, so I would have to check if a standard wrench would be long enough.

[veeco]

A standard wrench isn't long enough, and most importantly, it is not thin enough. You need to buy a special tool from LP just for this purpose.

[veeco]

Originally Posted by howtobrew

What grip do I currently have? I am not quite sure. It is part # EER7-F from The Fencing Post at http://www.thefencingpost.com/Epee.htm
I don't know whether it is classified as rubber or plastic.

On my other epee, I have a large pistol grip, Visconti I think. Can I install another French grip on it? or a LP Gardere?

Thanks,
John

That's the part number of the epee you're giving us, not the grip. However, from the picture that I can see, it seems it is indeed one of the rubber grips.

I would encourage you to try "rubber over metal" handle, which is part number FF26. Make sure you order the right handedness.

[DHCJr]

Originally Posted by veeco

A standard wrench isn't long enough, and most importantly, it is not thin enough. You need to buy a special tool from LP just for this purpose.

I have had a chance to compare and I do agree that the standard allen wrench or outside wrench is not long enough. I did get an extra long T-handle allen wrench a while ago and haven't seen it's like since that is long enough. But not thin enough, is obviously wrong. The LP wrench is a whopping 10 cm outside hex. I can fix a normal outside hex or allen wrench inside.

I was not talking about tightening an LP pommel with a standard wrench, but with using a standard pommel.

[howtobrew]

Originally Posted by veeco

I would encourage you to try "rubber over metal" handle, which is part number FF26. Make sure you order the right handedness.

what is the advantage of rubber instead of plastic?

[veeco]

The advantage of rubber over metal, or rubber over wood, over just plain rubber or just plain plastic is that the harder metal or wooden core prevents the grip to warp when you mount it. A warped grip will give you some trouble hitting the same spot consistently.

It also gives the grip a higher rigidity which will give you more precision with your point.

Fencing with a plastic or rubber grip could be compared to fencing without any grip, holding the weapon by the tang.

Besides, the plastic grips are very brittle and a grown adult will break them very easily while fencing.