FIE Leon Paul mask mesh

[penguin_2000]

I just got a LP FIE mask at the Pittsburgh NAC in December, and it already has a bunch of little dents and one significant-ish dent. In addition, the paint comes off easily when hit. Do any other foil fencers out notice this with your LP masks? Is this normal, or did I get a lemon? I've gotten dents in other masks (that weren't FIE), but not so many in such a short period of time Also, when you get dents, do you push them out or leave them?

[KD5MDK]

Dents should always be pushed out (unless you're sending it back for a refund) because they draw hits near them in and put additional stress on the weakened part of the mask.

[Craig]

Originally Posted by penguin_2000

I just got a LP FIE mask at the Pittsburgh NAC in December, and it already has a bunch of little dents and one significant-ish dent. In addition, the paint comes off easily when hit. Do any other foil fencers out notice this with your LP masks? Is this normal, or did I get a lemon? I've gotten dents in other masks (that weren't FIE), but not so many in such a short period of time Also, when you get dents, do you push them out or leave them?

The paint shouldn't be coming off easily. I'll ask Alex if they've seen this crop up with some of their other masks recently.

The dents really may depend on the fencing style you're using - I don't know what that is so I can't comment on if the pings are uncommon or not. (But with the strength of the mesh of the FIE mask this should be uncommon unless you are doing a lot of crashing the distance.)

Shoot me an email (craig at fencing.net) so we can see if you need an exchange.


Craig

[CvilleFencer]

I have been using one of their masks for about a year now and I love it. It is the strongest, most durable and comfortable mask I have ever used. I fence epee and some foil in comps as well as training one or twice a week and teach classes in it 3 times a week. It only has gotten a couple of dents in it that were pushed back out easily, and always from epee hits. Usually when I decide to shoot for a foot touche the same time they decide to fleche.

Mine has gotten a bit chewed up in the mesh coating, but the fact that the coating is more rubbery than paint like and does not fleck/chip off into my eyes has kept if from being any kind of an issue for me. If it starts to look to ratty I just go over the chewed up spots with a sharpie to keep the judges/armourers from paying to much attention to it! I also lost a push rivet on it about 4 months into use but Barry sent me out a pack of replacements and I have not had any other similiar problems. There are several other fencers at the club that use them and they all love them as much as I do. It sounds like you may have just gotten a lemon, or you fence with some very odd foilists...

[Dev]

I picked up an LP FIE mask at the Miami NAC. I haven't had any dents, but I have noticed the paint/coating chipping--as a matter of fact, it started happening immediately in Miami (I took it through two foil and two epee competitions). Not a big deal, doesn't rust or anything... I'll have to remember the Sharpie trick.

Otherwise, it's comfortable and durable and I'm happy with it.

[epeeisky]

I have had mine for two months being used 2 times a week for epee training. So far there are no dents, but I am missing two or three chips of paint.

[rocky]

I've also noticed increased paint chipping with my LP mask in comparison to the Uhlmann FIE masks that I used to use. Neverthless, I still like it a lot more.

[penguin_2000]

Originally Posted by CvilleFencer

Mine has gotten a bit chewed up in the mesh coating, but the fact that the coating is more rubbery than paint like and does not fleck/chip off into my eyes has kept if from being any kind of an issue for me. If it starts to look to ratty I just go over the chewed up spots with a sharpie to keep the judges/armourers from paying to much attention to it!
...
It sounds like you may have just gotten a lemon, or you fence with some very odd foilists...

I love the fit, don't get me wrong, but the mesh seems to dent more easily than my old 12k masks. I don't feel unsafe in it, yet, but if continues to dent this easily, I have to wonder about the long-term safety of it.

The paint chipping is the reason my last Negrini mask (which I had for >8 years) finally kicked the bucket. People were scoring on my mask because too much bare wire was exposed... sucked... The paint on these masks is an oddity, actually. It is sort of rubbery, as you mentioned, as opposed to hard and slippery like Prieur/Uhlmann/Allstar masks... The enemel-like paint of those brands tends to promote tips sliding off rather than gripping the mask.

[El Chucko]

I have had my LP FIE mask for a year now, and it has no meaningful dents at all. I fence epee, primarily, too, about 10-15 hours per week. The paint has started to chip somewhat, but not as much as might be expected. You may have gotten a lemon.

The Leon Paul folks frequent this forum. I wouldn't be surprised if you got a response from the big guy himself.

BTW, my previous mask was a Negrini, and it wasn't a FRACTION as durable. With the same amount of use or less, it started to get turned away at tournaments in less than a year. To be fair, it was not FIE, but it should still hold-up better than that.

[KD5MDK]

Negrini had a problem with some bad mesh on non-FIE masks. I beleive they switched to using their FIE mesh on both models (different bib, of course). It made the frontpage of AmFence, which is where I saw it.

[Craig]

Originally Posted by El Chucko

The Leon Paul folks frequent this forum. I wouldn't be surprised if you got a response from the big guy himself.

LP is in the middle of a factory move so I don't know how much time they have for forum surfing right now. I've contacted them to see if there are any similar reports from this batch of masks.

penguin and I are also on this via email.

Craig

[Alex_Paul]

We are very busy but somehow I still have time to keep my finger on the pulse!

Some companies use an epoxy type coating which is fine until it does start to chip but then tends to come off quite quickly. We dip the masks in nylon which fills the gaps between the wires of the mesh helping to hold them together. Epoxy coating is hard but relatively brittle so even though it gets in between the wires it tends to crack and does not give this extra strength to such a degree.

The steel we use is generally considered the strongest of all fencing masks and we also use the same stainless steel mesh to make ALL of our masks.

I have just gone over to the factory and taken a screwdriver to a bunch of mask shells just to be sure and I was unable to dent them without hitting them very VERY hard with them wedged securely on the floor. Obviously our masks can be dented if they are hit hard enough wether they are one month or 10 years old but I am suprised you have dented it as a foilist. We have had no reports of problems with our masks denting and we sell more than 50 a day so I am a little perplexed...Craig e mailed me RE your mask this afternoon and he will keep me posted.

[D+F+P=Hadouken!]

50 a day? WOAH.

[Dax]

I got a LP non-FIE Mask from a fencing.net vendor at a local tournament(in georgia) late last year(Dec 4). I've been fencing with it about 4 times a week and I LOVE this mask. I fence some strong people who really like to plant their touches and I havn't noticed a dent yet. The paint does scratch and come off but that doesn't really matter to me much. My only real complaint with this mask is that it gets really hot inside it, but I keep it because its amazingly comfortable.