What do we want in a good uniform?

[Purple Fencer]

Reading the TCA uni thread got me to thinking...so what DO we want in a good uniform? Materials, fit, little small features that are not that much by themselves, but which mean a lot to you, etc...


Lemme have 'em!

[D+F+P=Hadouken!]

not too loose, not too tight. Easy to maintain. Good looking.

[Zilverzmurfen]

Originally Posted by Purple Fencer

...so what DO we want in a good uniform?

...I could do with someone who's about 185 cm's, nice body and a beautiful mind...

Lemme have 'em!

Hey, await your turn!

[Katman]

Excellent protection, reasonable price, great durability, good looking, and bright neon Inq-offending colors if I want.

I would also like a reel hook that doesn't jerk the entire jacket along with it when hooked up.

[grotto]

Good quality materials limited or no velcro and material around the velcro which will not get totally destroyed by the velcro. Robust weapon arm sleeve for those inevitable arm parries. For the ladies integrated breast protection pockets which were designed by a woman for a womans anatomy. Most girls breasts are not located just under the collarbones. Good blade trap at the collar, comfortable collar which does not choke.
Reasonable cost. Honestly I will never buy a $200 jacket to fence in.

[CvilleFencer]

Hmmm, a question I have thought about a fair amount before. What would be the ultimate (non-FIE in this case since the LP Sydney and the Duelist Evolution meet a lot of these requirements) uni would have the following:

Material: Slick, thin and fast drying. A nice dense weave nylon with a bit of stretch would be good. However I do like my stretchable uniforms to actually stretch. Being an epeeist I do like the outer material of the TCA/Duelist uniforms a lot because it is so slick.

Jacket:
Elastic at the sleeves, maybe about 2-3 inches worth to keep the jacket from pulling out of my glove on lunges and arm hits.

A good quality sport style zipper. I see way to many cheap zippers on jackets that belong on dress pants or something but that are not made to hold up to sports use. A nice thick plastic YKK sport sipper with a double hinged metal or nylon pull would be sweet.

Tapered fit, as in no TCA box cut style uniforms.

Good quality Velcro at the bottom and top closings. I usually add a snap at the throat closure in the middle of the Velcro so if the maker did that for me so much the better.

Reel Clip. A good quality steel ring that is attached to a nice and thick piece of elastic material so that it has some stretch. Also if it was two or three inches long it would make it easier for some of us to hook in. I stick carabiners (the round ones when I can find them) on all my D rings to make it easier to hook and unhook.

Pants:
Again, a good quality zipper that will stay up! Alternating the zipper opening for right or left-handed fencers is a nice touch as well.

Tight fit without being embarrassing.

Specific men’s and women’s cuts.

Quick Release buckles for the suspenders are easier to adjust and more comfy to get in and out of.

Double layered or lightly padded on the lead thigh.

Very sticky Velcro that is nice and durable, such as 3M.

Double stitching on all the seems, layered for Right or Left handed fencers and X box stitching on things like the Velcro and the suspenders.


Oh, and it should all come in cool colors should the fencer wish!

[great bowyer]

Originally Posted by CvilleFencer

Pants:
Very sticky Velcro that is nice and durable, such as 3M.

i have the problem that every pair of pants i buy the velcro will pull apart every time i moved. it is very anoying. i am not sure if it is legal, but i took a peice of elastic and put it across the velcro part and had little metal hooks to hold it. ever since i did this (about a year ago), i have not had a single problem with the velcro

[D+F+P=Hadouken!]

does anyone know the newton resistance of underarmour? A jacket made out of that stuff would be sweet.

[Peach]

I'll echo what has been said: I hate Velcro. Snaps or hooks or quick-release buckles would be better. I hate cheesy zippers. An FIE uniform is hard to sew, and I hate having to take one to a dry-cleaner/tailor to replace a zipper because I know how tough it is.

I wish someone would make a uniform in which it was easier for a lady to hit the bathroom in between pools and DEs.

Likewise, if someone would make a fencing uniform that, when sweaty, was almost impossible to take off, it would be lovely.

[Nusy]

Originally Posted by D+F+P=Hadouken!

does anyone know the newton resistance of underarmour? A jacket made out of that stuff would be sweet.

Depends which... PBT has both 350N and 800N FIE

[Purple Fencer]

Originally Posted by Nusy

Depends which... PBT has both 350N and 800N FIE

I think he's referring to a brand of sportswear called Underarmor. You see it all over the place in the States.

[Schiavona]

Originally Posted by CvilleFencer

Tapered fit, as in no TCA box cut style uniforms.

Hey! Some of us buy TCA because of our boxy bodies!

Originally Posted by CvilleFencer

Oh, and it should all come in cool colors should the fencer wish!

Second the color wish!

[Schiavona]

Oh! Some of us with larger-than-average chest sizes (54-56 US) would like the Europeans to make some jackets in our sizes. Really! Are there no large guys fencing in Europe?

[great bowyer]

Originally Posted by Peach

I'll echo what has been said: I hate Velcro. Snaps or hooks or quick-release buckles would be better. I hate cheesy zippers. An FIE uniform is hard to sew, and I hate having to take one to a dry-cleaner/tailor to replace a zipper because I know how tough it is.

i had my mom put new velcro on my pair of uhlmann olympia pants, she was using an old singer machine that was used for sewing corsets with the heavey "stays". the machine was not able to go throughthe fabric. it was a pain in the *** to get on. also we tryed doing it by hand and we bent and broke several needles.

i had a uhlmann olympia jacket that i used for about 2 years. at a tourney i was at the metal piece that goes into the slider came off...had to borrow someones extra jacket. took it to the drycleaners to get the zipper replaced. the jacket came back a little smaller than it was when it went in, and about a week after i got it back the seam on the zipper came undone. i am still pissed off at the seamstress.

it would be very nice indeed if the manufacturer could get the uniform put together right the first time so that we (the fencers) don't have to go through the pain of modifiying it to make it work right.

[ReverseLunge]

Originally Posted by great bowyer

i had my mom put new velcro on my pair of uhlmann olympia pants, she was using an old singer machine that was used for sewing corsets with the heavey "stays". the machine was not able to go throughthe fabric. it was a pain in the *** to get on. also we tryed doing it by hand and we bent and broke several needles.

Not a problem. I usually take mine down to the chinks on the corner. They have stong industrial strength sewing machines that will do the job. It only costs like 5 bux and 5 minutes.

[CvilleFencer]

Originally Posted by Schiavona

Oh! Some of us with larger-than-average chest sizes (54-56 US) would like the Europeans to make some jackets in our sizes. Really! Are there no large guys fencing in Europe?

Amen and hallaluya or however that is spelled!

[darius]

Breathable.

I'll take the hits, but I'm prone to overheating. I've got an old Uhlmann Olympia and a newer World Cup jacket. The Olympia is pretty good, but the World Cup is too freakin' hot, especially with a lame on top.

What's the lightest FIE jacket? I've heard good things about LP and Cartel, but never tried one on.

darius

[Inquartata]

Both sleeves that are long enough AND a relatively good fit in the torso. Usually I can only get one or the other unless I order custom tailoring. Otherwise it's either a good fit with sleeves that ride around mid-forearm, or satisfactory sleeve length and room for a second person in the jacket.
( Which depending on the person could be fun, but not while fencing. )

A collar high enough so that lame collars do not overlap it. I'd rather have my jacket soaking up sweat directly than my lame. A blade trap is nice, though I've never seen one justify its existence.

A reel-cable ring that is attached to the lower edge of the jacket, not affixed 6" or 8" up the back of the jacket, where only a contortionist can reach it!. Uhlmann, take heed!

Material that is NOT slick, NOT thin and NOT stretchy. I fence sabre: a personal anti-tip force deflector shield is of no use to me...but impact absorption IS. Oh, and a material completely impervious to colored dyes. White is right, blue is poo, pink doth stink, green should not be seen, etc.

A liner that does not consist of incipient lint, destined to clog the Velcro of my various joint braces underneath and make my t-shirt look as though I had been embracing albino cats.


Emits a pheromone irresistible to unmarried women over the age of 20.

A snap or Velcro tab and the bottom end of the ( front ) zipper. This is where mine alway begin to fail and start to pull apart, leaving me sealed into the garment pending an hour of struggling and cursing. Or perhaps this means that the manufacturers are already beta-testing that certain feature which Peach wants....

[skermulo]

Originally Posted by Peach

I wish someone would make a uniform in which it was easier for a lady to hit the bathroom in between pools and DEs.

Second that! Pants that actually stay up and conform to the 10 cm rule without suspenders would work, I guess, provided one could unfasten the crotch strap(s) easily.

Much of my uniform has become custom, since I a) sew and b) wear it often. (Someday I'll work up the courage to tailor my FIE jacket to actually fit my somewhat disproportionate body.)

I've replaced velcro with large (several cm in diameter) metal snaps, and removed those annoying plastic buckles in favor of metal D-rings. Elastic seems to be overused by some manufacturers, in places where stretching really isn't needed. Cheap plastic zippers with large teeth are also annoying, and prone to breaking if hit.

Also, the lamés with lamé fabric completely to the top of the neck, as opposed to those with a small strip of fabric sewn over at the very top, seem to tear up either one's neck or mask lining, neither of which is appreciated.

[Schiavona]

Originally Posted by Inquartata

Oh, and a material completely impervious to colored dyes. White is right, blue is poo, pink doth stink, green should not be seen, etc.

Kelty makes a pack out of a super strong and light nylon(?) material and the packs are white, like a polar bear is white, because the material won't take a dye. Ever.