stm question

[UTEpee]

hey all,
ok so i was looking at the epee blades on the fencing post website, and i came across two types of stm blades, a "regular" i guess, and a "colored". just curious, does anyone know what this "colored" means? is it a type of coating or finish, or just colorized with no other effect?

also, any thoughts on leon paul non fie epee blades, as far as what to expect of them regarding their characteristics?

[noodle]

colored is basically that. its has a color coating. if its an unspecified color, its likely to be rainbowish, as some StMs are. this coating protects the blade from rust, so it costs a little extra and is usually worth it.

i've never owned an LP blade, but i'm going on reputation alone: they're strong, stiff, straight, and one of the best non-fie blades you can buy. put a backwards bend into one, though, and they die.

p.s.: we have a product reviews section. maybe look at it?

[UTEpee]

right, forgot about the reviews section, lots of good stuff there. and thanks for your reply!

[CvilleFencer]

As Noodle said with regards to the coloring, although he left out one important part... They look very cool!

LP non-FIE blades are the best blades that you can get IMHO. I can and have fenced with whatever I want to and I switched from the BF FIE blue blades to the LPs. I still like the BF FIE blues, but I just went through them to fast. The LPs are lighter, they flex just right for me, are stiff enough for my style of fencing and mine have never broken. I have one that is somewhere between 1-2 years old and it is still just fine. After my last cleaning, polishing and rewire it is hrd to tell it from my new one. Some highlights:

They don't rust, at least not unless you abuse them buy keeping them in shower or the trunk of your car.

They just last forever.

They are super light. In fact it took me about a week to get used to the feel.

They are super resistant to the nicks, dings and chunks that get taken out of most epee blades.

The only downsides are that after a lot of hard use the blade flattens out towards the point so that you have to put some extra glue to aviod broken wires, but that is long after most other blades would have broken on me so it is not an issue. Another odd thing for French Grip users is that LP does something odd to their tangs on some blades that makes them not work well with normal 6mm nuts, but I am not sure what the deal is, and it only matters to French grip users.

I have used BF, LM, StM, Vniti, Fleche, FS and even FL. About the only epee blades I have not used are the new PS blades by Prieur (I just have not gotten around to trying them yet). Out of all of them I like the LP best for the combination of durability, value and feel. The BF FIE blues are very nice blades, but I can get two LP's for the same price and they will last twice as long. And just for the record I am not a paid spokesman for LP brand epees... although if they ever offered I would take my salary in store credit!

[aikijohn]

I have been using an S+M 'N' blade now for about 6 months and am quite happy with it; I first purchased one of their 'blue' blades expecting it to be similar to my BF FIE blue, however the S+M colored blade looked like it was just painted with a blue 'wash', perhaps gun blueing (?); I sent it back and went with just a regular blade. I have found the S+M blade to have its balance well back to my hand, which I prefer, much like the BF blade. The weight distribution issue is my one gripe with my LP non-FIE blade; although I think it's an awesome blade in terms of lightness and durability, the weight is more out toward the tip which makes the blade seem off balance to me. Also, my LP is whippier than the S+M or the BF; I use it mainly when I need to flick. Again, all three blades are excellent, I'd just check out the S+M colored blades before you buy.

[D+F+P=Hadouken!]

the LP doesnt have the stopping power of the BF whites, its basically impossible to hit too hard with, cause its so freaky flexible. With that said, a really strong beat will have it vibrating like a tuning fork, and since its so light, will displace it. Those are the downsides. The upsides are that they are very very durable, and dont really kink, which is a bonus. The flexibility allows for some very sick flicks, think back flicks, or a flick from prime to under the hand. I'm waiting for LP to make a flickier blade that will do corkscrew flicks.

[CvilleFencer]

I am always hearing people say that the LP blades are super flicky, and I have never understood why. So I took some of the blade I have laying around the house here and locked them all in my vice and hung a 1500 (two epee weights) gram weight off the end of it and measured the deflection. One BF, two fleche and an FL all were more flexible that all but one of my LP blades.

I think that the misconception that they are super flicky is because of this. Most traditional blades only flex at the foible and somewhat into the forte region. The LP blade, due to its design, tends to have a the built in flex at the same spot, but also bit more flex along the entire blade than you would get with a traditional shouldered blade like the BF or StM blades. As such, if you are flicky with your arm/shoulder, you will get huge arcs in your blade on "flicks" (maybe shops woudl be a better word...), but if you flick from the wrist and fingers it will be very controlable.

I have never had a problem with my LP blades standing up to hard beats or vibrating to much either. Maybe it could be the way some of you have them set up (bell or grip not fully flush with the weapon, grip a little loose, or maybe something with your bell guard like a lose rivet?) or the way you are holding them (death grip style)? Different people will always have differant results and perceptions on things like this. I guess I should be greatful that everyone does not use the LP blades. I love the look on my oponents face when win or lose the bout, he is out a 100+ dollars when his BF blade snaps, sometimes more than once in a tourney!