dead lame

[remise]

I have, what I hope is not a complicated question. My daughter fences foil. Her lame was tested several months ago and was fine. It was tested over this past weekend and tested out 'high' - around 10 ohms. In my book, that's time for a new lame.

Since I don't fence foil, I'm not sure what causes the "Death" of a lame. My daughter kept her's very well - she never stored it near her wet stuff, never rolled it up, it didn't have any of that green stuff on it...so what could have happened to it? What are the signs that a lame is going to die? Thanks to everyone in advance.

[DHCJr]

Like anything else you wear, it should be cleaned. Because it is still registering, I would say it is not because of broken wires, but even that can be fixed with patches.

First here is something you can do at tournaments. If there seems to be a jump in resistance between panels, there is probably corrosion in the seams. What you can do is take the 2 panels at one end of the seam and move them back and forth to break up the corrosion. Do this along the whole seam and see if this helps. Also what you can do is spray it with Windex, but make sure do NOT use the sudsing variety, or diluted ammonia.

To clean use Woolite or some other detergent for delicates and dilute ammonia, about 1 capful per gallon. Hand wash, rinse, rinse again and again. When you think you have rinsed enough, rinse another time. If you leave any soap, you will leave a residue on the wires, so rinse one more time. Hang to dry in a closet or in the garage, never in the sunlight.

[mifencer]

Originally Posted by remise

Since I don't fence foil, I'm not sure what causes the "Death" of a lame. My daughter kept her's very well - she never stored it near her wet stuff, never rolled it up, it didn't have any of that green stuff on it...so what could have happened to it? What are the signs that a lame is going to die? Thanks to everyone in advance.

Maybe she got hit a lot in that area.

[melihop]

Originally Posted by DHCJr

Hang to dry in a closet or in the garage, never in the sunlight.

Why not in the sunlight??

[DHCJr]

deteriation. It is not much, but it does hurt. Many delicates also have the instruction.

[Purple Fencer]

http://homfencing.com/Washing.html

[Craig]

Originally Posted by remise

I'm not sure what causes the "Death" of a lame.

There is actually a set of microchips inserted into every lame by the super-powerful fencing equipment kabal. They will ensure that you must purchase a new lame every 6 to 12 months to guarantee their paid vacations to Bali!

For epeeists, they have a special metal treating process that causes the contact spring to self destruct.



edit - some idiot came in here and started ranting. we really don't know who he is...checking server logs...oh, that's just lack of sleep...nothing to see here, move along...

[mifencer]

Originally Posted by Craig

There is actually a set of microchips inserted into every lame by the super-powerful fencing equipment kabal. They will ensure that you must purchase a new lame every 6 to 12 months to guarantee their paid vacations to Bali!

For epeeists, they have a special metal treating process that causes the contact spring to self destruct.



edit - some idiot came in here and started ranting. we really don't know who he is...checking server logs...oh, that's just lack of sleep...nothing to see here, move along...

Someone getting a little sassy? Perhaps, the newborn is keep you up?

I personally think it's a conspiracy plot to making me spend all my money on fencing equipment. What will 'they' think of next? Changing the machines?

[Moses]

Speaking of cleaning, the Pbt website says their colored lames (besides the Ice Blue one) are non-washable. Is this because they are copper lames? I've been told that you can still wash copper lames, but only occasionally. What other reasons might the Pbt lame' have for being "non-washable"? Anyone have experience with this?

[DHCJr]

I am only guessing. When they mean washable and unwashable, do they mean with a machine? Could their dyes, not be good? There are some who erronisly think a copper lame can not be washed, maybe they believe that. You have posted a good question. If there is anyone out there that knows, I for one would like the answer.

[Robert Smith]

From personal experience, even Infinity lames die. Mine lasted less than two years, fencing mostly three times weekly and washing almost never. Big mistake, as it's the sweat that killed it. I've since acquired fabric from the manufacturer (too much hassle getting it from Infinity) and replaced the front panel. Rinsing after use seems to have helped enormously.

But if you have a lame with dead spots, you could do worse than buy some conductive thread to revive those patches. I came upon it some time ago, looking for a way to resuscitate mostly-dead club lames, and it worked a treat. So now I sell it at http://members.shaw.ca/ubik/thread/. About a tenth of a spool will reconstruct an entire front panel from a point where everything was off-target to being "good as new" for club fencing. I'm pretty sure there are a number of people using the thread for competition gear, too, but I don't personally. If anyone does and would like to comment...?