Competition Armory Etiquette?

[Bugaboo]

I'm still a little unclear about the purpose and responsibilities of an armory at competitions. Can someone clear this up for me?

Will the on-site armorer actually help a fencer fix his gear between bouts? Or can a fencer borrow or rent tools he doesn't have himself for repairs?

Let's say you're only mildly skilled so far in equipment repair. You've got some tools of your own on hand but probably not enough. If you're at an event by yourself (without helpful friends or coach), and something important like your last foil breaks between bouts, what's your best course of action?

That's one of my biggest tension-causing worries: A wire breaks here, a spring fails there, and suddenly you're on the strip without a weapon to continue. Arrgh!

(Hasn't happened YET.)

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[neevel]

The main job of the armorers at tournaments is to do check-in control of fencers' gear (masks, lames, body cords, etc.), fix problems with strip equipment (reels, floor cords, scoring machines, metal pistes), and to be available for checking out any on-strip problems that crop up. Any repair of fencers' weapons is of last-place priority. Unless there is a formal weapons repair station established, fencers' weapons will be taken at the discretion of the armory staff. So no, there's usually no obligation to fix individual fencers' gear-- most will usually be glad to help someone if there isn't anything else requiring attention, though.

The basic knowledge and tools to do weapons maintenance are quite simple [do you understand how a light and light-switch work? Then you can understand how a foil or epee works]. Walk in to WalMart with $30 in your pocket and you'll be able to pick up everything you really need (small screwdrivers, pocket knife, pliers/vise-grip, ohmeter, allen wrench/nut driver/large screw driver for tightening pommels), maybe with money left over for a muffin and coffee. All the other stuff you see in an armorer's tool case is mainly just labor- and time- saving devices. When you buy your first weapon, _always_ get some spare springs and screws (and tips if you went with a Prieur point). If you can change a light bulb, you can change out a weak spring in at most a couple of minutes. If you've got a broken wire in a weapon, that's not something that can generally be repaired between rounds, anyway.

A few ettiquite points:

-- "Can I borrow a screw/spring?"=="Will you give me a screw/spring for free?" Either have your own spare parts, buy them from a vendor, or (if the armorer is willing) pay him/her for the parts.

-- Since individual weapons repairs are _bottom_ priority, don't expect that everything will be dropped to fix your weapon immediately. If they're kind enough to take it, be satisfied with that and let them get to it as time allows.

-- Any tools that are on the table are not yours. Armorers will often be amenable to fencers using tools at the table to do their own repairs (as long as you don't get in the way), but do not expect to be allowed to take them away from the table.

Here's how things have been established at national competitons: there are two armory booths run by the USFA, the check-in booth, and the weapons repair booth. The check in booth is dedicated to the 'first priority' items I listed above. Once the check-in rush is over, a couple of techs will be sent over to the repair booth, where repairs will be made to fencer's weapons for a price, with all parts supplied by the customer, and on a first come-first serve basis. Ideally, there is a self test station set up with a test box, weights, and shims for folks to check their own weapons.

-Dave Neevel

[Chris Nauroth]

Hi Neevel,

Thank you for all of this advice. Though I must disagree when you say that basic weapon repairs are a simple thing! :-) To those of us who are not mechanically inclined, dealing with those tiny screws and springs can be the most frustrating aspect of fencing, especially in the middle of heated competition.

[edew]

Which is why you should have ample number of weapons available and fix all the problems PRIOR to a competition. I can fix things pretty well, and am mechanically inclined. But still, I'd hate to spend any effort at a tournament putting in screws or stretching springs. Get the chores done at home with plenty of free time and no stress

[Chris Nauroth]

Agreed, Edew. When I have the available cash, I think I'm going to lean towards buying more and more backup weapons.

[Papa Blue]

Well,

Maybe if you were ripping off your friends for a couple quick G's over something you ripped off of cable, then you too could have oodles of back up weapons like knob-bobber up there :-)

Papa Cake

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Shut up and do footwork!

[Stryder]

Dave,
Isn't it the policy of the USFA and the armorers to refuse to repair personal equipments because of all the conflicts it was causing? (Meaning certain armorers were working on their friends personal equipments to the detrement of the reels and such that needed attention)

Isn't that why the USFA started bringing in/allowing repair-for-money booths?

Just wanted to point that out because novices should be instructed to go to vendors or the repair booth, rather than impose on the generosity of the armorers and slow down the tournament with their bad foils.

That said, I will help anyone fix anything when I have time.

[veeco]

At Greenville, I went to the repair-for-money booth to have a blade rewired. They did an awful job. I usually rewire blades myself, but since there was this guy there, I decided to give it a try, it might be better than what I do (not terribly difficult to accomplish, trust me).

First of all, the wire was basically glued in a weaving pattern all across the blade. Very tasteful, but not very efficient. Then I gave him all the equipment he needed, but he somehow managed to screw the tip in such a fashion that one of the screws was loose, and the tip was probably able to lift about 10 kgrms of weight.

All in all, I'll never use this guy again (not mentionning his name 'cause I don't like to point my finger at people).

[introspective]

Why not allow several people to set up repair booths that people can select from to have their personal equipment repaired for a small fee, while OFFICIAL armorers will repair reels and the like in order for competitions to commence. It might be a time/money saver for everyone. By the way has anyone ever tried to get sponsors for the Nationals (I only went once in 1983, I don't remember much of it) Are there lots of banners that say stuff like: Coca~Cola, Pepsi, Estee Lauder, Penquin Books, etc? Who does fund raising for the USFA?

[Bugaboo]

Wow. Very efficient and helpful response. Thanks much.

Until a body asks, you just never know. Assumptions are horrible things.

[neevel]

Stryder--

There was a period when armorers were instructed to not work on individual fencers' gear for the basic reasons you mentioned. As there continued to be a demand for some such services it was then decided to go to the current system of bringing in one or two extra tech staff people and running the for-fee repair booth (with the booth income going to defray the cost of bringing in the extra people).

Of course, there are also other repair booths in operation-- vendors or individuals can set up their own, but you do need to pay a fee (don't know what it is off-hand, but it's not insubstantial) to run an equipment/services booth at national tournaments.

-Dave

[Cutter]

Neevel, I for one want to say thank you to the armourers out there. I had a very difficult situation recently when I had purchased 2 new body cords from Allstar and had no others with me. When I went to have them checked I discovered, like so many others, that they did not meeet code as they were not properly sodered. The wonderful armourer saw my distress (the repair guys weren't there yet and my competition was to start in less than 1 hour) and he sodered them himself. Truly a wonderful thing to do and outside what I would have expected. You are a great bunch of guys (would say women too but I haven't seen a woman armourer yet.)

MASKS OFF TO ALL OF YOU.



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Cutter
Reach out and "touch" someone.