Lightweight piste (Leon Paul) at Atlanta NAC

[El Chucko]

For those of you who were in Atlanta last weekend, what did you think of the lightweight conductive piste (Leon Paul) that they had set up on one of the strips?

[qatet]

I can't remember if I fenced on that or used one of the other light strips at a different event. If they're going to use those things, they really need to start putting them down on some kind of padding. I remember being significantly more tired after fencing on that type of strip than after fencing of the metal strips, which have some give.

[BySword]

well, I didnt really fence on it, but i did some warm up on it. Overall, it felt like a thin sheet of rubber and had good traction.

[clonardo]

I fenced a DE on it, and by then, it wasn't held down too well. Of course, nobody was willing to fix the tape during my bout, so I just had to.. well, not retreat at all to avoid killing myself as it slid.

As for the lack of padding, it didn't really bother me- it's easier to pad your shoes than to pad the rest of the world

[Inigo_Montoya]

I did not like the lack of padding/give to the strip. It was like fencing on concrete, because that was what was underneath the strips at the NAC. If you use the strips on a floor that gives some, like a gym floor, then these stips may be alright.

[rcmatthews]

I fenced on it and hated it. It slid all over the place, even when it was taped down

[pacer]

I helped set up that strip at JO's in Denver. While is was easy to "unroll", I wondered about the slippage and lack of cushioning. I didn't hear any comments/feedback at JO's however.

[erooMynohtnA]

How can a rubber strip have less give than a copper mesh? I don't understand, never having fenced on the lightweight strips before.

Also, could that anti-slip under-rug stuff keep it from slipping around?

[HDG]

How can a rubber strip have less give than a copper mesh? I don't understand, never having fenced on the lightweight strips before.

I don't think they're comparing copper mesh; NAC = aluminum sectional strips.

[erooMynohtnA]

Ok, I can understand that. I didn't know if they were comparing to all metal strips as generalities or specifically the ones present.

[achilles_heal]

that strip was a bit of a pain. it required a lot of maintenance. a different sort of underlayment might have helped, or not. i really can't say. what i can say is that untaping/retaping that thing takes a while. it was done twice that i know of.

it was, in fairness, not the strip's fault. but some sort of tensioning system other than duct tape on a dirty floor would be a welcome design revamp.

[El Chucko]

Are they available for sale yet? What's the pricetag look like? I can't find them on LP UK or LP USA.

Is there any way to know how durable they will be? They don't look very robust. For all intents and purposes, it looks like lame material.

[KD5MDK]

The rolling non-copper strips I've seen before were running $3-4000, depending on the price of the Euro, I believe.

[dberke]

Are they available for sale yet? What's the pricetag look like? I can't find them on LP UK or LP USA.

Is there any way to know how durable they will be? They don't look very robust. For all intents and purposes, it looks like lame material.

I spoke with the LP guys in Atlanta and they said they sold for about $1800 each.

I too am curious how durable they are. They look like a nice alternative to the copper strips, but if they fall apart after a few months, I don't think they'd be worth it.

Dan

[bigdawg2121]

They had one in Atlanta for nationals and while I didn't fence anything that counted on it I did get to warm up on it and liked it just fine. Sounds like they didn't really have it set up that well. In my opinion they seem like a pretty nice alternative to multi-section strips or metal mesh as they're lighter and easy to manage. I believe the ones made by Artos were used for world championships either last year or the year before and can be customized with logos and the like for clubs or teams.

[eac]

I'm getting a pretty hazy picture of what these strips look like. So far, I know that they contain rubber somehow, they don't give very much, they for some reason do not stick to the floor, and (I think) they're roll-uppable. How thick are they? If they're rubber, how is it that they're conductive? Why don't they stick to the floor when taped down? What color are they? How do they compare to the old really crappy fine lame-like constantly-soldered strips (the ones they had in 05 and earlier)? Are there pictures of them?

[bigdawg2121]

Go to the Artos website and they pictures of theirs in action. Also pics/vids from 05 or 06 world champs should have them. Basically they might be 1/4 in thick. Rubber with a lame-like top layer (i.e. material with conductive thread, I think sometimes they have a covering sandwiched on top and sometimes the thread is impregnated into the rubber). Probably didn't stick due more to the floor conditions and how they were taped . Can be pretty much any color you want from chartreuse to blue to pink (usually seen in navy blue though I think).

[Goldgar]

There are several different versions of these strips, by different manufacturers, and they aren't all the same. Is the one from the Atlanta NAC the same as the one that was at Nationals? Our salle had a lightweight strip for trial use for a couple of weeks, and once we got it stuck down properly -- a process involving hair spray on the floor underneath! -- it worked fine on our wood floor. It felt a teeny bit spongy underfoot, but didn't move at all.

[brtech]

I believe the LP rubber strip, like the Absolute strip which was at Summer Nationals come from Artos. They are a rubber base with a conductive cloth bonded to it. The rubber is black, the conductive cloth is gray. At Summer Nationals and JOs, we taped down an end, unrolled it, and taped down the other end. It did not appear to slide on the concrete floor. I was not in Atlanta, did they end up taping down one or both sides?

It's hard to believe that fencing on 3/8" rubber is worse than aluminum extrusion, but the rubber is not very thick. I am worried that they won't last a USFA season. We have calculated that if they do, we save more money in shipping than it costs to replace them every year. It's also much easier to put down and pick up than aluminum and copper.

In the one week of summer nationals, I counted 12 holes after one week, with none of them large enough to cause a problem with an epee tip. I only saw one hole on the one in JOs. There is supposed to be a way to fix a hole. Ted Li told me it was aluminum tape.

[fllc]

I spoke with the LP guys in Atlanta and they said they sold for about $1800 each.

I too am curious how durable they are. They look like a nice alternative to the copper strips, but if they fall apart after a few months, I don't think they'd be worth it.

Dan

This strip was being sent back to Leon Paul because it was delaminating (under cushion was separating from the conductive surface). The USFA armorers have only used this two or three times, so I don't think they were impressed with the durability.