New Vniti Products

[rsy]

I stopped by Absolute today to pick up some odds & ends and saw 2 Vniti products I had never seen before. One was a 120mm one piece foil guard. Real big, but light. And for the 12 year old who has to have everything, Vniti now makes a No. 4 non-FIE blade. It looks just like its big brother, but shrunk a little and missing the FIE stamp. The catch? The No. 4 costs more than than the No. 5!

-r

[hpfencing]

Cool I love vinti blades.... Now our kids (that are rich) can have them too!

[CvilleFencer]

I have been using the 120mm Vniti foil bells for a few months now. Basically they are just as awesome, if not more so than the Vniti epee bells. Even more durable than the German version in my experiance, plus I think they look better. I think that the couple that I have will most likely be the only foil bell guards I have to buy for the rest of the decade unless I get more foils of course, and likely the same for the epee bells.

One of the things I like best is that they are lighter than a normal size steel guard and about the same as a regular aluminium guard. The large size is friendly to those of us with big hands and they seem, short of beliberate abuse, almost impossible to crush or deform under normal fencing situations. I also like the subdued finish much better than the normal shiny guards. I guess I probably should have put this in the reviews section... Anyway, completely awesome and best bell guards I have ever used. Well worth the money.

[KD5MDK]

Any disadvantage to them? I really don't expect to be picking up foil anytime soon, but it's always nice to know the state of affairs.

[rsy]

Originally Posted by KD5MDK

Any disadvantage to them? I really don't expect to be picking up foil anytime soon, but it's always nice to know the state of affairs.

$$....but they last forever without dings, dents or deforming. In the long run I guess that makes them a better deal, or at least a more reasonbaly priced one.

-r

[WhipLash]

does lightweight guards affect the balance of the weapon? hmm don't u think they look rather weird? as in shiny blade but matt guard?

don't mean to treadjack but anyone used the glove adhesive spray sold by allstar?

[CvilleFencer]

Originally Posted by WhipLash

does lightweight guards affect the balance of the weapon? hmm don't u think they look rather weird? as in shiny blade but matt guard?

Actually I like the way they look with my weapons. I never liked my matte, subdued blades with the shiny guards that get all scratched up after the fist use. I tend to use LP or Vniti foil blades and those are either flat black or a grayish color so it works very well, but I also have one on a blue StM and it sets off the color of the blade quite well. Accents the color of the StM blade without over powering or competing with it. And the flat silver matches my shoes. I think I just lost manliness points for that post...

[Fencergrl]

Originally Posted by CvilleFencer

And the flat silver matches my shoes. I think I just lost manliness points for that post...

LOL.... I owe you rep points Cvl.... (still laughing)

[KD5MDK]

You would lose manliness points if you picked your shoes to match your guard. Double points if you changed shoes because you replacement weapon in the bout is a different color. (And a card for delay of bout )

[great bowyer]

i see these one piece and titanium guards are becoming more popular. does anyone know exactly what they weigh? i use the uhlmann ultra light epee guard and it is about 71 g according to the allstar-uk website. they don't have a weight listed for the titanium ones though.

[WhipLash]

ok...but what abt the balance issues?

[CvilleFencer]

Originally Posted by WhipLash

ok...but what abt the balance issues?

Are you sure you are not an epeeist... Balance is a very personal thing of course, and since I don't know how you set up your weapons, I can't say for sure. However, since the low weight is offset by the extra mass to give about the same weight and feel of a rolled edge aluminum or one of the lighter stainless steel guards it should not be much of an issue. I have not noticed any real differance in the way my balance of feel. What I used before were BG/AF rolled edge aluminum guards, just for referance. I would say definetly try it out. The balance diferance should be minimal and for me at least the durability and hand protection more than make up for it, even if it did change the balance of my weapon a bit. Since these guards last for so very long, if you keep the same mix on everything else (cant, scoket, blade, pommel nut, etc) you should adapt in a week or so tops, even if you are heavy into flicks and such.

[WhipLash]

no...i'm a foilist. the balance for my foil shifted a little forward which made my handwork feel...s...l...o...w...e...r. so i corrected with tuning tape. my titanium guard from allstar is scratched badly. think the scratches are not as visible in the inox steel guard.

[pigeonmeister]

Originally Posted by great bowyer

i see these one piece and titanium guards are becoming more popular. does anyone know exactly what they weigh? i use the uhlmann ultra light epee guard and it is about 71 g according to the allstar-uk website. they don't have a weight listed for the titanium ones though.

I'd gues between 75-80g but i could be horribly wrong.

I have the Vniti titanium foil guard which is superb and weighs 50 grams I think. The Ulmann lighweight guard is 45g.

[great bowyer]

Originally Posted by pigeonmeister

I'd gues between 75-80g but i could be horribly wrong.

I have the Vniti titanium foil guard which is superb and weighs 50 grams I think. The Ulmann lighweight guard is 45g.

thank you. i guess i will be sticking to the uhlmann ultra-light guards. i have had one for almost 4 years that i still use. i have not had any problems with them breaking or denting (they do have dents, but just minor ones)