foils - BF and Leon Paul

[Mike]

Hey all,

I'm still fairly new at fencing (3 months now, I think), but I want to
get a foil to practice with at home, particularly to have a bit of a
go at flicking. I'm not sure what to go for in a blade though - for a
newbie like me is there any point in going for FIE Maraging blades?
Assuming not, the choice seems to be between BF Non-Maraging blades,
and the various models put out by Leon Paul.

Given that a Paul France costs about the same as a BF Blue
(non-maraging) which would people recommend? I never see much
discussion about Leon Paul foils, apart from the Golubitsky-Pro.

cheers,
Mike

[wreckferret]

On 22 Jul 2003 07:07:40 -0700, dixit michael.owen@hushmail.com (Mike):

>I'm still fairly new at fencing (3 months now, I think), but I want to
>get a foil to practice with at home, particularly to have a bit of a
>go at flicking. I'm not sure what to go for in a blade though - for a
>newbie like me is there any point in going for FIE Maraging blades?
>Assuming not, the choice seems to be between BF Non-Maraging blades,
>and the various models put out by Leon Paul.

Don't waste money on Maraging blades yet. Go through a few cheaper
ones before realising how utterly useless foil is. But don't let my
slight bias sway you...

>Given that a Paul France costs about the same as a BF Blue
>(non-maraging) which would people recommend? I never see much
>discussion about Leon Paul foils, apart from the Golubitsky-Pro.

My wife used them (PF, PE) for a while and, seeing their longevity
etc. gave LP stuff up as a bad idea. She is now well-pleased with her
new blades from, erm, Blades (in Staines, assuming you're in the UK).

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wreckferret ICQ#163264
UK-based Epéeist/Sabreur Make spammers pay... use CruelMail!

[wreckferret]

On 25 Jul 2003 05:28:43 -0700, dixit michael.owen@hushmail.com (Mike):

>Thanks for both the replies - I'm going to give the BF blades a try.
>We have a few Leon Pauls in our club, and they seemed a bit floppy to
>me. This means I have to get to Staines... Is the Leon Paul shop the
>only fencing store actually IN London?

Nope - there's Duellist too, near Chiswick.

Haven't you found the British Fencing website yet? There are plenty of
equipment suppliers' links there...

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wreckferret ICQ#163264
UK-based Epéeist/Sabreur Make spammers pay... use CruelMail!