Complete List of US selling fencing vendors (?)

[Ordway]

Originally Posted by neevel

When I stopped by to visit Amanda at Absolute a few months ago on a Friday when I was in the area on business, they had a pretty steady stream of parents & kids buying gear in preparation for an upcoming Junior Varsity tournament.

So Amanda is with Absolute now instead of BG? (I hadn't heard of Absolute splitting off from BG until this thread).

She is an absolute wizard at sizing - it seems like she can just take one look at somebody and tell exactly what size AND cut of clothing would fit *just right*. I swear, she can practically tell your correct size from the sound of your voice over the telephone...!

[Moses]

Originally Posted by mackillian

Rick, I think it has something to do with the cut of the jacket. The shoulders on the Duellist jacket slope downward and the sleeves are set into the jacket. Okay, that probably doesn't make much sense.

My LP jacket. The shoulders are fairly straight across the top. Once the shoulders end, the sleeves are on. Minimal sloping if any.

On the Duellist jacket, the shoulders slope downward from the collar. Instead of the sleeves starting where the shoulder ends, they're inset more, curving into the body of the jacket.

Both jackets, across the back seam to seam at the widest part of the shoulder area, measure 15.5".

Both are size 40. I have swimmer's shoulders, and they're really constricted by the Duellist jacket and not by the LP jacket.

Which is annoying because OTHER than that, I liked my Duellist jacket. I also tend to wear my Duellist knickers lately (after that horrid zipper failure on my LP knickers). And of course the Duellist knickers are off-white and my LP jacket is a nice bright white. >_<

<sigh>

I have this problem as well (I wear my Duellist jacket anyway since, well, that's all I have).

Apparently Duellist will do custom sizing for something like 20% more (which is quite a bit for a, what was it, 260 US$ jacket).

Unfortunately, I won't have the budget for another jacket for quite some time.



-Da Mose

[neevel]

Originally Posted by Ordway

So Amanda is with Absolute now instead of BG? (I hadn't heard of Absolute splitting off from BG until this thread).

She is an absolute wizard at sizing - it seems like she can just take one look at somebody and tell exactly what size AND cut of clothing would fit *just right*. I swear, she can practically tell your correct size from the sound of your voice over the telephone...!

Amanda owns Absolute Fencing. She left BG to start it.

-Dave

[canthidefromme]

Has anyone tried the Absolute house brand foils? I'd imagine they don't last very long, but how're their stiffness, weight, etc?

[mackillian]

Moses, it makes me sad, too.

[pacer]

Just took a look at the eurofencing sitel. Some of the uniforms are by Champion USA - huh?

[fencinman89]

Originally Posted by canthidefromme

Has anyone tried the Absolute house brand foils? I'd imagine they don't last very long, but how're their stiffness, weight, etc?

Ive never personally used their blades but have picked them up and played with them a bit. Theyre not too heavy and the ones i picked up were fairly stiff. Good deal i hear for the price, i jsut dont think you should order any of their stuff wired, not the best wiring jobs in my opinion, 2 of my friends blades fromthem faield when he pulled em out of the tube.

-Tre'

[great bowyer]

Originally Posted by pacer

Just took a look at the eurofencing sitel. Some of the uniforms are by Champion USA - huh?

that might be the uniform eluded to in an earlier thread http://www.fencing101.com/vb/showthr...8&page=1&pp=30

[Duellist USA]

Moses and Mackillian,

Are the jackets you are refering to Evolutions or the Classics? The Evolutions are the ones with the pin striping. Also how old are the jackets?

I know Duellist International (UK) has made quite a few changes recently and is making quite a bit more especially due to requests from us based on the US Market including such things as new style of handles, more club masks, a lower cost line of non 350N uniforms for practice, backzip lames and my personal favorite custom color body cords in 10 colors (currently only available from Duellist USA), large foil bellguards

We are also re-orging the way some products are put togather...such as electric blades non-wired in our practice sets to allow fencers who move from beginners to electric with only the cost of wiring a blade and a socket. Our club masks in the practice set for foil and epee are certified 350N.

Moses,
Also they are increasing the range of uniforms they carry as well as adding longs to the mix as well The price for a custom made unifrom has dropped to 15% instead of 20% as well as some adjustment on the pricing on the jackets and knickers themselves.

To answer the other post about NYC area fencing suppliers yes it can be sort of incestious ...lol...whats worse is we all know each other...Constatine (Physical Chess) brings his daughters to my wife at her salle(Valhalla Fencing) for lessons, and Zivkovic she has called Uncle Ben since she was 9 and started fencing. Stan over at Blade uses my father-in-laws floor cords and body cords and Blue Gaunlet is about 15 minutes from us. ITs actually a great thing for fencers as a whole because we are constantly pushing each other to be better.

To sum up I will be speaking with Duellist International to see if we can resolve this issue in some way...its no good for the community or Duellist USA for yall folks to have jackets you either dont like wearing or cant. Contact me off forum either phone or email and we will see what Duellist USA can do for you.

Rick Shellhouse

[mackillian]

Wow, you're awesome. I'll be emailing.

I have a 350N Classic jacket, btw.

[CvilleFencer]

I have a question for Duelist/Rick. I have wondered for a while about the blades that Duelist carries. Can you explain a bit about the makers/forgers (are they Vniti, Dynamo or some other forge under a private label for example) of the NS, VX ect blades and talk a bit about their characteristics. Of course I am only concerned about epee but some other wayward souls my be interested in foil or saber as well.

Thanks!

[rsy]

Originally Posted by canthidefromme

Has anyone tried the Absolute house brand foils? I'd imagine they don't last very long, but how're their stiffness, weight, etc?

They are a bit stiffer than the BG house brand (the reg. not the medium stiff), but about the same weight.

-r

[mfp]

While you have Leon Paul USA on your list, I would also include Leon Paul UK

Depending on exactly what LP gear a US customer is buying, it sometimes can be cheaper to purchase it off the UK site instead from the US site.

The Leon Paul USA site states "Don't forget all orders placed on this site ship for FREE and you pay the same for Leon Paul kit as their European customers!" Well also don't forget that European customers pay a 17.5% "value added tax" on their purchases and the VAT inclusive prices are what LP USA site is (close to) matching. If Leon Paul UK ships gear to the US, the prices of the items are actually less than what Europeans pay because the VAT can be avoided. Yes, you'll have to pay for shipping to the US, but if the cost of shipping is less than the equivalent of the VAT, you'll still do better using the UK site.

An example ...

Ordering a set of FIE "Sydney" line jacket and knickers (breeches) from LP USA comes to an all-up price of $559.05

Ordering the same kit from the Leon Paul UK website for shipment to the US comes to an all-up price of 276.27 GBP or around $502.67

If you order from the UK site, your credit card will charged in GBP, so depending on what card you use, you might pay another 0-3% on the conversion. However, in the case above you'd still save over using the US site.

Interested in ordering just an LP F.I.E electric Sabre mask with transparent visor? It costs $383.44 all-up on the US site but 196.14 GBP or around $357 all-up including shipping to the US off the UK site.

Summary: if it's heavy and or cheap, the shipping costs are probably greater than the potential VAT equivalent savings, so go LP USA. If what you're after is light and/or expensive, then skip the "free" shipping and order from the UK site.

[CvilleFencer]

Of course you are also supposed to pay customs charges depending on what/how much you order if you order from the UK. If your order is shipped Airborne, FedEx or UPS you will have a friendly delivery driver waiting for some scratch before he gives you the package. Also if you have to return anything to LP UK guess what, anything you could would have saved just went away and it will take longer then if you went with LP USA.

Besides to me it is worth a bit of a premium to have a US vendor of quality gear. The fact that it is Craig, who has ran this forum for FREE for so many years is just gravey. Alex, Barry and Co. are great but it is very nice to have a US vendor for quick/cheaper returns and for general customer service.

[mfp]

Originally Posted by CvilleFencer

Of course you are also supposed to pay customs charges depending on what/how much you order if you order from the UK. If your order is shipped Airborne, FedEx or UPS you will have a friendly delivery driver waiting for some scratch before he gives you the package.

My LP "USA" order was shipped from London complete with CN23 Customs declaration. Other LP USA orders I know about have been shipped from the UK as well. There have been no customs charges. You're deluded if you think LP "USA" means your merchandise was required to have been sitting around in Georgia for awhile.

Originally Posted by CvilleFencer

Besides to me it is worth a bit of a premium to have a US vendor of quality gear. The fact that it is Craig, who has ran this forum for FREE for so many years is just gravey.

If you wish to spend more than you have to, for whatever reason, you certainly are free to do so. Other folks might be interested in the savings possible.

For my order I compared the all-up costs on the LP USA and the LP UK sites. Since it was pretty close to a wash for what I was ordering, I ordered off the LP USA site. The merchandise was shipped to me from London using a combination of ParcelForce/ USPS Express mail complete with tracking number. The time it took the shipment to arrive from London was on par with how long I'd expect a package to get here from Georgia.

Right now I'd imagine servicing LP USA orders from the UK is faster overall, considering LP UK is where many items are manufactured, they're more likely to have inventory in the UK and the UK has full time fencing shop employees.