LP points

[hpfencing]

We are discussing a changeover to all LP points/tips at our club.

What are everyone's thoughts of the products?

[twisterfencing]

Originally Posted by hpfencing

We are discussing a changeover to all LP points/tips at our club.

What are everyone's thoughts of the products?

Matt,

Its a good tip in both foil and epee.
Heck, I almost wish everyone would switch over to they're tips. I get tired of that certain German company that switches vendor manufactures every year and the quality goes up and down by the month. LP's are high quality stuff.

Barry and Alex would be proud to hear your decision.

Just a note: (Sorry Alex)
All the vendors in the US carry German parts. Not all of them carry LP, or say they carry them and don't.
Wires, springs, screws, tips and so on. Make sure you get with a good supplier like LP in the US or UK to keep you well supplied with parts for that just in case moment.

Gary Spruill

[pigeonmeister]

LP points are better unless you are rich, sponsored by Allstar or a very good armourer who doesn't mind treating German points as disposable. As a piece of durable engineering GT LP points are far better in my opinion.

[Tomas N]

I switched over about a year ago, so I don't have a large sample size. In my experience, the points are very smooth and well engineered. I have yet to lose a screw, get a dent in the barrel, or really have any problems at all. The action is incredibly smooth.

Tomas

[JayhawkPawn]

So far, my experience with the PTFE coated Epee tip has been that it is damn near bulletproof, taking some incredibly hard hits, as I am from the 'Mack Truck' school of fencing. My fiancee is using the LP GT and PTFE tips on her foils, and she says they're about as durable as they come, my only problem is that once you switch over to LP tips, you can't wire them with -anything- but LP wires, because Alex is smart, and engineers his stuff so that only his stuff works with it.

Other than the whole 'to use these, you must also ue these' the tips all use the same screws, so I no longer have three bags of foil screws, three bags of epee screws, and random screws for german, frnech, and other assorted crap. Nice design, smooth tips, and hard to bash, even if you're a gorilla.

[Craig]

Originally Posted by hpfencing

We are discussing a changeover to all LP points/tips at our club.

What are everyone's thoughts of the products?

Matt,

I'm a bit biased since I make a market in Leon Paul equipment, BUT

I switched my foils over to LP points way back when Leon Paul was buying advertising on fencing.net (so, before I started stocking their gear) and I am very happy with them.

In fact, the Leon Paul points are what we are standardizing on here. We carry the FWF point parts for those that want the standard German parts, but I always make a point of showing the differences in the two to people that come over to the Fencing.Net booth.

What I like about the LP (foil) points are:

• Thicker barrel - no dings
• Screws that are flush with the barrel - no "frankenscrews"
• nice travel
• less expensive wires (~$2 vs. $4.50 for german)

I prefer the GT points (all stainless) to the standard with the plastic collar in the top, but both styles have the great engineering behind the barrel.

On epees people really like the LP points as well. It seems that they are manufactured to tighter tolerances so the travel is very nice on them.

If you do a few more searches in the armory section on Leon Paul points (or tips) I'm sure you'll find some more of the threads.

[Joe biebel]

I have been using the Leon Paul Foil Points now for 4 months. No mashed screws. Weight/spring stays accurate for a very long time. No short circuits. No dented barrels. No rewires at all. So far, no tips replaced. The only weakness I've noted is that the wire contact inside the cup corrodes rather quickly and can create too high of a resistance. This takes several steps to properly overcome. I actually superglue the contact into the plastic cup, then superglue the cup to the bottom (not easy) of the barrel. I can then use a dremel with a tube or a Q-tip and a spring to abraid the contact when necessary. Although I do not like to use oil in my tips, I have started to oil both ends of the spring to slow the corrosion. This much attention to detail is probably unnecessary for most usage, as it takes a fair amount of resistance to cause an off-target. I only go to the trouble to do this extra step for blades that will be tested for FIE use. I believe the maximum resistance in the foil is 1 ohm.

I really think they've got it right for general use, but I wish they would make a better cup and contact.