Epee Advice

[Moonracer]

Guys im planning to buy an Epee (non-FIE) from absolute.....

is it a good vendor?

im planning to buy either an stm blade or a standard absolute one

which one should i buy? are there any other better dealers out there? not blue gauntlet and i dont want to use fencing.net because it has 20 dollar + body cords

[UnorthodoxEpeeist]

Absolute, Allstar&Uhlmann, Leon Paul, Zivkovic, are just among the few vendors I buy my gear from.

[erooMynohtnA]

Absolute is a good vendor, but if you buy a cheap bodycord, you get what you pay for.

The Absolute epee blades I've seen have a nasty tendency to take an extreme upward bend on the first hard hit. Get the StM epee for the extra ten dollars. It's the best ten dollars you'll ever spend.

[Moonracer]

whats the difference between an stm blade and an absolute standard one?

[MyrddinsPrecint]

Generally, you pay for what you get. Blades can be a matter of preference (although FIE blades will last longer).... so you might legitimatly prefer a $40 blade over a $55 blade...

But body cords? the $10 body cord will need more fixing than the $25 body cord.

Of course, epee body cords aren't that hard to fix, and don't break that often, so it's not the worst place to cut costs..... but for the begining "I'm getting the cheap gear" kind of set, y'know, wherever.

[CvilleFencer]

Absolute blades are about the second worst "branded" blades on the market. The quality of the steel is poor and the QC is shoddy. They are the bottom of the barrel in Chinese made fencing blades and priced accordingly. The "gold" series seems a little better, but not by much.

StM is a much better blade. StM blades are private labeled by Uhlmann/Allstar, Duelist, Leon Paul, PBT, and TCA among others and are sold under their own name. They are a solid middle of the road blade but without any real stand out qualities. They sort of do everything okay and are therefore a decent blade. Absolute is a fine vendor, but Craig right here at Fencing.net sells StM blades for a bit less and you can get them wired with LP points for no additional charge I believe. The stock StM blades come wired with a copy of a French point unless you pay $7 extra. I am not a huge fan of the StM blades but they are great as a first blade until you learn what you really want/need in an epee.

[JayhawkPawn]

For your first epee blade, the sTm is a good way to go. They're not that expensive, the blades generally feel the same, and almost -everyone- sells them. As for Absolute as a vendor, they're pretty good, but I don't understand the BG-hate.

Listen to Civille there, he knows his blades, and I've used the non-FIE sTm and the FIE-N blades eclusively for a number of years now. The non-fie blade is sort of like buying a honda, it's not expensive, it's not flashy, but it does the job and asks for more. I have a five year old sTm blade that has been nicknamed "Ol' bendy" for its ability to take extreme bends from novices who lunge into it, and then straighten back out.

Points are another issue. If you're competing regularly, then by all means, buy the effing LP points. I've tried to destroy them, with Alex's express consent to do so. And the only time I've seen one broken is during a temper tantrum. My french tips needs fixing betwen bounts, my german tips need fixing every third bout, and my LP tips need fixing every fifth to 10th bout, depending on how crappy I fence, and how hard I abuse the point. If you're doing nothing but in class stuff for now, a french point is fine, but when you start buying competition weapons (you need FIVE, trust me) you will want the same points, and they should be LP.

Hopefully you have a grip style you like, and a bellguard you like. You can search on f.net for properties of all the bells, but grips are entirely your own bag.

[mackillian]

The absolute standard epee blade also has the flexibility of a lead pipe. I had one (wasn't willing to commit to getting the good blades for lefty stuff because I had higher hopes that I wouldn't be fencing lefty for as long as I'm apparently going to be) and was canting it Sunday and snapped the tang clean off. It was actually the first time I'd snapped a tang off. Normally, I can barely get the thing to move, but my other blades are maraging FIE.

Anyway, the Absolute Elite Gold isn't bad. My husband is starting out in epee and hasn't managed to do too much damage to his.

So yeah. Like others have said, if your choice is between the absolute standard blade and the STM, get the STM. Also, again, as others have said, getting a better bodycord is a good way to go unless you know how to repair body cords. And even then, it's still a better way to go.

[JayhawkPawn]

Almost forgot. As for bodycords, good lord. There are good and bad to every single one.

Leon Paul - I love the wire, hate the little plastic pieces that hold the pins slightly askew for better connections. Also, the rubber that surrounds it is open, and if you're sweaty/fencing/doing anything but looking at it, welcome to oxidation. Solid Pins = Win.

Uhlmann - Expensive, good wire, not as flexible, connectors can suck badly after time. There are little U's on the block that holds the pins in place.

Duellist - If you didn't buy the colored wire, you're good. The colored wire splits like no one's business. The other stuff is comparable to uhlmann wire, and they have the same french box-type bins that I abhor. Good if you can find them, as there is no US distributor of this stuff anymore, AFAIK.

Favero/French/Prieur - It's orange. Some of the old one have solid pins, some of them have the fancy box-type french connectors, avoid the latter. the wire is good, these are generally cheap.

Blue Gauntlet - CRAP. DO NOT BUY.

Mr. Chen - CLEAR CRAP.

Absolute - MORE CRAP.

Absolute 'German' - Wire is decent, pins are crap. Good to use some of the time.

Negrini/Italian - Do you hate your bank account? Do you have lots of cash? Buy these. The wire is amongst the best on the market, and their pins are pretty good too, but these are like $45 a piece.

HOM Fencing / American - I have absolutely no idea, seeing as someone won't sell me one. *hint hint.*

Hope this helps.

[erooMynohtnA]

Anyway, the Absolute Elite Gold isn't bad. My husband is starting out in epee and hasn't managed to do too much damage to his.

Do you mean the "Absolute Advanced Gold" made and sold by absolute or the "Chevalier Elite Gold" made by Prieur and sold by Absolute?

[mrbiggs]

If you can fix your own stuff, a blue gauntlet or absolute body cord really isn't the horrible experience people think it is. It's five minutes to fix every six months, and it costs half as much. I understand that it's not for some, but saying that there's no reason to buy them is just wrong.

Especially for epee. I've had two blue gauntlet bodycords from them for three years now, with fairly light use, with no problems.

[Purple Fencer]

HOM Fencing / American - I have absolutely no idea, seeing as someone won't sell me one. *hint hint.*

I have one left if you want it...$30....lemme know.

[KD5MDK]

One problem with Epee body cords is when they fail, if it's not a complete break it's a pain in the rear to troubleshoot on strip. For example, if the wires only separate in a full lunge when they're being stretched, there's no way to test that for an annullment, because you'd have to pull on the bodycord to reproduce the situation, and that could alter the results of the test.

[SJCFU#2]

When considering an épée body cord, you may want to look at how often people have problems with foil/saber body cords from the same manufacturer (particularly two-pin).

If you see a lot of intermittent white lights due to a poor fit between the pins and the socket in foil or saber then the épée body cords will probably have the same problem - only you may not notice until they cost you a touch.

[CvilleFencer]

Duellist Good if you can find them, as there is no US distributor of this stuff anymore, AFAIK.

Ah, but stay tunned. Some really great folks and fencers are about to open Duelist North America with a full line of gear located ON SITE. No drop shipping stuff from the UK but a real American based store front with a full selection. I am really happy for them and when they go live I will most likely post a big splash/blurb/review if someone does not beat me to it.

[CvilleFencer]

For me, in decending order of uber durability for epee cords are:

Negrini (even though I don't prefer them they last forever...)
Leon Paul (these are my favorite cords ever)
FWF
Uhlmann/Allstar
Duelist
Favero
PBT
Preiur

The above assumes that you take proper care of your cords, IE don't through them against the wall, play tug with them, store them away from wet kit with so type of moisture absorbing packet, etc.

Everything else is, IMHO, is pretty much wasting money. The price difference to by quality cords is just not that great. Chinese/Budget house brand cords suck. Avoid them. They suck less for epee than they do for foil/Saber, but they still suck...

[Purple Fencer]

For me, in decending order of uber durability for epee cords are:

Negrini (even though I don't prefer them they last forever...)
Leon Paul (these are my favorite cords ever)
FWF
Uhlmann/Allstar
Duelist
Favero
PBT
Preiur

The above assumes that you take proper care of your cords, IE don't through them against the wall, play tug with them, store them away from wet kit with so type of moisture absorbing packet, etc.

Everything else is, IMHO, is pretty much wasting money. The price difference to by quality cords is just not that great. Chinese/Budget house brand cords suck. Avoid them. They suck less for epee than they do for foil/Saber, but they still suck...

Hopefully my cords will make the good list and avoid the suck list....

[CvilleFencer]

Hopefully my cords will make the good list and avoid the suck list....

Note that was my Epee cord list! AFAIK you are only doing foil cords yes? Please let me know if you have an epee version out. I would love to take a look at it.

[Beowulfman6]

My limited expereince with Absolute epee (and foil) blades has more or less been the same; they are very stiff (ie. brittle) and are the poorest quality blade I have ever used (although I tried a wkc once that sucked just as bad). I use StMs myself, and can't complain (although I want some Vnitys).

[Purple Fencer]

Note that was my Epee cord list! AFAIK you are only doing foil cords yes? Please let me know if you have an epee version out. I would love to take a look at it.

I had epee cords out the same time as the foil ones. i have 2 left...one has a broken housing for the pins...I don't know if I have any left. The other one is still there....it;s the one I referenced earlier.

Hopefully by the time Mergs gets back from a trip he's on, I'll have some updated aluminum models of the parts made....he's going to try to cast them. if that works, I'll be closer to releasing another run. And those who HAVE bought the furst set will finally get the updated parts I promised them!