A couple of questions

[Myriad]

I've got two questions that I'd like answers for that have been bugging me lately. Completely random and unrelated.

1) What blade is this? I've got an FIE blade (French, according to my coach), the logo in the FIE mark has the letters 'MC' with a circle around them. I can't seem to find any information on it anywhere so I was hoping someone could tell me what make of blade it is. The colour of the blade seems orangy-purple.

2) What kind of tips do you prefer? I've been using chinese tips supplied by my coach but I find they lose their glide and get gunked up fairly quickly. So I was wondering what tips you people would recommend. If you need to know, I use Vniti blades (except for the one mentioned above :P).

[mrbiggs]

1. Mr. Chen blade, made by blue gauntlet.

2. German tips are more expensive and last less time than French tips, but they're easier to put together and have smoother travel. There are also Leon Paul tips, and several other types, but I'm not familiar with them.

[Myriad]

Okay, thanks for that. I'd greatly appreciate it if anyone else could tell me about their experiences with different tips.

[keropie]

I personally have very few problems with German tips. The screws are the only issue I ever have, and very rarely is there a screw I can't get out. I hear good things about the LP tips, but since no one near me uses them (that I'm aware of) I'm hesitant about changing (spares that you can borrow are a good thing, you know?).

[little_old_me]

Well, everyone in my club uses German... so I use German. It makes it easier for anyone to find a spare part if they need it. I've recently tried the Estoc Screwless tip with mixed results. The verdict is still out on those.

[larkmaj]

Originally Posted by Myriad

2) What kind of tips do you prefer? I've been using chinese tips supplied by my coach but I find they lose their glide and get gunked up fairly quickly. So I was wondering what tips you people would recommend. If you need to know, I use Vniti blades (except for the one mentioned above :P).

I assume you're talking about foil as that's what you're profile says. I'm in agreement with most of what has been said. Germans are more expensive than french but are easier to work with. Don't know much on their longevity. I have switched all of my foils to the LP points. If you have ever seen one against the other tips you would be impressed by the simplicity of design (at least I was). They are much easier to work with. The screws don't even need to be removed from the barrel to take the tip out, just backed out a little bit. So it's less likely to lose them. Also, they use the same screws as the LP epee points which can work in any screwed epee point. LP points are significantly more expensive than French or German however. Also, they tend to have an issue with the metal casing outside the insulation which has a tendancy to come loose, but this is nothing that a well placed dot of super glue can't solve.

[Purple Fencer]

Originally Posted by Myriad

1) What blade is this? I've got an FIE blade (French, according to my coach), the logo in the FIE mark has the letters 'MC' with a circle around them. I can't seem to find any information on it anywhere so I was hoping someone could tell me what make of blade it is. The colour of the blade seems orangy-purple.

Got a picture? Per my reading of the FIE list, there is no blade with "MC" as the symbol that would be within the FIE shield...

[KD5MDK]

The Blue Gauntlet FIE foil blade is marked "MC" for Mr Chen.

[DHCJr]

Originally Posted by Purple Fencer

Got a picture? Per my reading of the FIE list, there is no blade with "MC" as the symbol that would be within the FIE shield...

Sam, you should check the FIE website on a regular basis.

[cmedalis]

I found it in this listing from SEMI Yes, it's a PDF... but here's what it says:


Liste des lames de fleuret homologuées par la SEMI FIE(mois . année)
List of foil blades approved by the SEMI FIE / Lista de hojas de FLORETE homologadas por la SEMI FIE
FLEURET:
<SNIP>
...
11 CHEVALIER D’AUVERGNE : (4.03) (2.04) (2.05) (1.06) (1.06 "N") sigle CA
12 BLUE GAUNTLET : (8.04) sigle MC
13 ABSOLUTE : (1.06)


Interesting, looks like Absolute is going to produce FIE foils...

[Purple Fencer]

Originally Posted by DHCJr

Sam, you should check the FIE website on a regular basis.

Thanks, Donald....for some reason, I coudn't find the PDF lnk on the FIE site, so i looked at my hard copy...which I just noted is out of date.

I stand corected...

[KD5MDK]

As I recall, they didn't update the file name when they updated the list, which bit me in a very similar way a little while ago here.

I wonder what sigle Absolute will use.

[DHCJr]

KD5MDK is right. I'm not a trusting soul. I tend to go to the FIE, British and USFA web site almost every week and open up the documentation, just to check if there are any changes.

When I saved it to my computer, I of course fixed the name.