Loaning fencing equipment?

[arcon]

[ 10-19-2001: Message edited by: arcon ]

[saberbaby03]

I never loan my equipment, unless it is to one of my best friends, because i once loaned a body cord out, and guess what?!! I never saw it again! so i dont do it anymore.

annika

[Swordsworn]

Well, I will let my friends borrow anything but my blades. ( I don't like having my bend messed up ) Most of the other fencers I know are really good about loaning equipment too. Maybe it is because we are all pretty good friends and trust each other. Fencers from other areas give us weird looks when we share equipment though so.... Besides, with my kids, if I didn't let them use my equipment, we wouldn't have enough. (We are a poor high school team--wanna buy a hoagie?)

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"The sword isn't our lives, it just keeps us alive for the really good parts" - Graham Ashe

[Purple Fencer]

I loan my stuff all the time...mostly to teammates and other fencers I know. Most of the regular competitors in SoCal are pretty good about returning the gear, or replacing if they break it. I always tell them that if they got the touch the blade broke on, it was worth it.

That being said, however, those who tend to show an attitude can go somewhere else. Even those who wipe the floor with me get a blade or cord if they're good people. I loaned a foil to a guy who I've only beat once in 4 year a couple of tourneys back...and ended up fencing both him and my own blade in DE!


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Sam Signorelli -- I'll be mellow when I'm
DEAD!

[Zelda]

well, considering I am the only competitve lefty I know @ state level, I would lend equipment BUT no one ever asks!

[saberkid]

i will loan my stuff to my friends only, and i almost never loan my sabers, since i dont want them to change the balance or break the blade. i think I've loaned my saber once in a NAC he broke both his sabers and i was out of ppols and let him use my saber until he got his fixed (i dont have to much problem with other people balances, probaly because i have made all of there saberes and i balance them myself so we all have the same balance)

Chris

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Fence with the best die like the rest!

[Moonitic]

I don't lend my favorite weapon or favorite body cord. Since I'm usually IN my clothes, no one gets those. But extra weapons & body cords are usually ok to lend out. Mine are all clearly marked. And if ANYthing happens to one of my "babies"...people know there will be heck to pay. I usually watch them like a hawk.

That reminds me. I left one of my weapons with my little brother's fiancee so she could have an extra weapon. I'm in their wedding...I know I'll be seeing that weapon again!

[orion11]

I only ever lent out a weapon to a teammate i happened to be dating at the time...ah, memories...
But that was a special case. Now I will lend out bodycords if needed at competitions, cause i've got 3 spare bayonet-type, and i use 2-pring these days, and somehow i ended up having a second lame, so i keep it handy to lend as needed. I may get knocked out oif a DE early, but most people liked having my supplies available
and its nice to give a little, esp. if it speeds up an event, IMHO

[Dragoneye]

Hey gang,

We quite freely loan out our stuff within our club. I think the general consensus is that it is more fun if everyone is fencing, than if people are stuck on the sidelines due to lack of equipment. These guys are family, anyhow, and I trust them with my stuff. If stuff breaks, it breaks - unless they were being crazy with it, I'm not going to hold them responsible. It would have probably broken in my hands too.


Cheers,

Dragoneye.

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"Violent delights have violent ends." R&J - WS.

[arcon]

I wont lend my favorite foil and body cord or my mask.....most of us are doing the other fencer a favor if we dont loan our mask.

In one tournament,year ago or more i had 5 working weapons with me. Two of my club fencing mates were at the same tournament.
Each of them only had two weapons with them.
Before the day was over i had loan out all of my extra weapons but one(extra)...but it kept us all in the game..........arcon

[arcon]

Theres always an exception to the general rule and im sure ive met him at a tournament.

There was this one fencer....a young guy maybe around 15 years old...but ever time id see him at a tournament hed ask me to use an electric foil. I know it happened at least three times. Either he had really bad luck with electric weapons or he just never had them repaired.............arcon

[darius]

Wiping our shoes on our socks?

Ehrm, it's because when your shoes get dirt on them, you are liable to slip and fall. Since I would rather not, to avoid injury, I occasionally like to wipe my shoes off.

Now if I'm on the strip, there's no towel nearby -- and I'm not exactly going to execute the contortions to wipe 'em on my new FIE jacket!

But the socks, rather convenient, don't you think?

Looking cool has absolutely nothing to do with it.

darius

[Lumberg]

Jamais. I never loan anything out. I'll let someone borrow a tool for a quick repair in front of me, e.g. pommel nut wrench. Actually, that's the only thing I lend. I tell them to go to the armory if they need something else.

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Lumberg.
"...ahhh, we have sort of a problem here... yeah, you apparently didn't put one of the new cover sheets on your TPS report"

[arcon]

I see guys wipe there feet on white socks all the time.......honestly its a personal choice but personally i think its(lets be nice arcon) not cool. kinda like wiping your nose on your sleeve......I know the reasoning.......(they dont want to slip)...but truly there must be another way.
And men wonder why women think were slobs.(a lot of them)..................arcon

[mangofever]

Wiping shoes off onto hands, etc is to look strong. Realize that the fleeting feeling of strengh will transform into a really nasty booger of a flu....ouch!

P.S. with regard to lending equipment out to youngsters, you have to speak very kindly to them about the need to think about buying a used electric foil in the future, and that maybe the club will help (sigh...okay, I'll sell you mine for a few bucks something like that) To help out and encourgage young people to fence, the club may consider collecting old stuff, repairing them and selling them cheap to kids.
Beginner adults should be encouraged to buy their own "starter" sets for about $150. and as they stay with the sport or decide to compete, slowly replace their old stuff with better quality and "donate" it to the salle for re-sale to the kids or new beginners.
Whaddya think.

[This message has been edited by mangofever (edited 03-06-2001).]

[orion11]

I use my socks to clean my shoes all the time. its not about cool or anything, its about trying not to slip and pull a hamstring
(been there done that )
i admit it is messy, but if we all wanted to be squeaky clean, would we have geen lame's and rust stains on our breeches?

[mangofever]

according to your last statement, it's to show that you've been fencing a long time.
don't tell anyone!

[swordsen]

I'll loan equipment to just about anyone at local tournaments.

And I also wipe my feet on my socks. Fencing in enough dusty gyms and you will too.

[Clean Touch]

Frankly, I found a damp paper towel to be much more effective than my socks. Just dampen one from the bathroom, leae at the side of the strip, and in between actions dampen your feet as needed. Socks work in a pinch, but I like to look good when I win.



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Est-ce que l'attaque etait bon? Mais Oui!!

[darius]

I'd rather not use something as disposable as paper towels; while I'm not exactly Mr. Environmentalist, it seems a bit wasteful. After all, I just have to wash my socks, and it's one less thing to forget when grabbing all the stuff one needs to go to the strip.

When I'm fencing, nobody's looking at my socks anyway. (Hrm...maybe I need to work harder on that vertical leap!)

darius