Agreed. In fact, the foil barrels have gone back to that period of flakiness. They're getting dented way to easily. The screws are not as good as they used to be: one or two bangs and the screws crack when attempting to unscrew them.
And the body cords. My god, are they bad. Their masks, uniforms, and lames are pretty good, though.
Because if you have an Uhlmann or Allstar FIE patch on your jacket, pants and mask, that means you are good no matter what. <img src="graemlins/jawa.gif" border="0" alt="[Jawa]" />
I think their prices are reasonable for the quality if you get them in Europe or buy from a European exporter. If you have to pay the additional dealer markup through our domestic suppliers, it becomes a tough call, though...
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I disagree with Tim on the question of FIE blades-- my experience and the experience of every club member and every fencer I can think of who's gone to maraging blades is that, if you can afford the initial price, the increase in durability over carbon steel blades more than pays for the extra up-front cost. While beginners or folks who aren't fencing more than once a week probably couldn't justify the price, if you're practicing twice a week or more and competing with any regularity, maraging blades will save you in the long run.
As for whether you go with Uhlmann/Allstar maraging blades is another question-- if you order them from one of the European vendors you'll get a good deal, but in the U.S. you can get the same BF blades from Triplette for a lower price. Russian maraging blades are cheaper still and if anything even more durable, so if you like the feel they're probably a better value for the money.
As for foil points, compared with the way Prieur tips start coming unpeened and causing problems I think the Uhlmanns are the lesser evil, even if you do have to deal with the occasional mashed screw. The Sport 7 points (they're the 'french' points with the steel-lined tips that you get from BG or Blade) may be a better compromise of price/quality-- the tips don't come unpeened nearly as readily as Prieurs, and the screws don't stick out to get mashed. The Sport 7 barrels may be a bit brittle, however-- from what I've seen the seem to get broken in two during fencing more than others. So far as body cords are concerned, unless you really love the supple wire that Leon Paul uses you've almost always been better off just getting the plugs and assembling them yourself using good quality speaker wire or the like.
I do find that the uniforms, lames, and masks are of superior quality-- you can clearly see why they cost more than some other vendor's house brands, and they should hold up longer than the budget stuff for a given amount/type of use. Whether or not it's worth it to you to pay up for that is your own choice-- less expensive gear will get the job done just fine. It's the same way that I can clearly see where the extra money for my Audi A4 Avant went to over, say, a Ford Focus. On a level of functionality, the Focus will get you to work and tournaments perfectly well-- it's just a question of whether the less immediately tangible assets of the Audi (the precise steering and road feel, the quality of the interior fittings, the solid 'thunk' when you close the door, the fun of hustling down a lightly traveled back-road, the fact that you can actually get a manual transmission with something better than a bog-standard econo four banger for an engine, etc.) and the probably longer service life make the cost worth it to you in comparison to other things you could be putting your money towards.
-Dave
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We even at National level don't require the wear of FIE uniform or Mask or Plaston. We do however require that the mask pass the 12k Punch inculding the FIE Mask. The use of FIE blades are not required even at National level. The sabre blades have to meet the 2000 requirements how ever. Alot of fencers do wear FIE Uniforms but not all do.
Tim Loomis
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The cost of FIE gear from vendors in the US is as much as 70-100% greater than in Europe (e.g., an Uhlmann mask that sells for US$95 in Europe goes for US$175 here, and an Uhlmann FIE jacket can list for US$117 in Europe vs. US$226 in the States). In order to keep competitions affordable (and remember, in the U.S. the distances involved mean a majority of people attending any national tournament are also going to need a plane ticket), the consensus has been to not mandate FIE equipment. Among the better fencers (anyone good enough to get on the national points list), almost everyone uses FIE gear anyway. I don't know if there has ever been any data collected comparing the frequency of broken-blade related injuries between the U.S. and Europe, but to my knowledge there've not been any serious incidents at U.S. national tournaments since FIE homologation standards were introduced after the Smirnov accident.
-Dave
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I agree with Dave, however, if you know exactly what it is you want and have the time to wait, the best bet is to order from Uhlman/Allstar directly or through one of the European houses, like Fechtsport-Langenkamp. Even with the E26 (don't know what the symbol is for the Euro or if my keyboard has it) shipping charge, what you save in product cost MORE than outweighs that cost. Just my $.02
When I was in Godolo during the World Veteran's Championships in 2000, I was STUNNED at the prices PBT were charging for their stuff over the counter. Am still kicking my self over not spending the $$$ for FIE gear. Such is the burden of age, 20-20+ hindsight.
[ 01-07-2002: Message edited by: Mergs ]</p>
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[quote]Originally posted by neevel:
<strong>It's the same way that I can clearly see where the extra money for my Audi A4 Avant went to over, say, a Ford Focus. On a level of functionality, the Focus will get you to work and tournaments perfectly well-- it's just a question of whether the less immediately tangible assets of the Audi (the precise steering and road feel, the quality of the interior fittings, the solid 'thunk' when you close the door, the fun of hustling down a lightly traveled back-road, the fact that you can actually get a manual transmission with something better than a bog-standard econo four banger for an engine, etc.) and the probably longer service life make the cost worth it to you in comparison to other things you could be putting your money towards.
-Dave</strong><hr></blockquote>
Hey, Dave, wait a minute!!! I have a Ford Focus.
A station wagon with a manual transmission, no less, and I have to say that it is a wonderful handling car (maybe better than our 99 VW PassAudi). It also "thunks" with a beautiful "thunk" when closing the car door.
This praise is coming from a lifelong Audi/VW fanatic.
Whether this will be true in 70K miles is a different story.
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the cost of the pants/jackets are really high and the masks are getting weird too, but then, everything is getting pricey, a good lipstick used to cost 5.00 now it's 25.00, i'm going back to revlon, they're about 8.00 now, i just realized it, [keep writing]
Didn't say the Focus wasn't a dandy little car for the price, just that I like my A4 better !
The Passat's suspension (at least the one I test drove) is tuned for a bit softer ride than the A4's or (presumably) the sportier variants of the Focus and, of course, it's a rather heftier car, so I can see how the Focus could feel a bit more nimble.
[quote]Originally posted by damianip:
<strong>
Hey, Dave, wait a minute!!! I have a Ford Focus.
A station wagon with a manual transmission, no less, and I have to say that it is a wonderful handling car (maybe better than our 99 VW PassAudi). It also "thunks" with a beautiful "thunk" when closing the car door.
This praise is coming from a lifelong Audi/VW fanatic.
Whether this will be true in 70K miles is a different story.
[quote]Originally posted by neevel:
<strong>Didn't say the Focus wasn't a dandy little car for the price, just that I like my A4 better...</strong><hr></blockquote>
Wow, I drive a 1982 Chevrolet Monte Carlo with two doors on the driver's side from an Oldsmobile of a different color and side trim. All steel wheels without hubcaps. The hood and front end are damaged. A chain and lock keep the hood down. The right side headlight is the OEM rectangular headlight and the left side headlight assembly is non-existant. The left side headlight is a non-matching round 7" headlight held on with a custom made metal bracket and below it is an exposed orange bulb turnsignal. The rear bumper is rusted off and a 2 x 6 wood board is bolted in its place. All the shocks are blown out and the car undulates twice after going over a bump kind of like a sailboat. The rear muffler has a hole in it and is hanging on by a wire.
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