Weapons check at Summer Nationals

[alewive]

Any armorers/others on the site know how late weapons check will be held each day at Summer Nationals? Materials sent from the USFA state 1:00-6:00 on 6/28, but no info for other days. We'd like to check weapons on the afternoon/eve we arrive, as we have an early morning check-in the next day, but don't want to rush over to the venue if we'd be too late.

[brtech]

I am on the first week team.

Armorers start at 7 am, and work until the last bout of the day. Often, we start closing up as they start fencing that bout, but we'll inspect right up to that time.

We would greatly appreciate you bringing your equipment to test the afternoon or evening before your event. We don't like the long line in the morning any more than you do. Please, please, bring your stuff to us the day before.

Be aware that if the line gets long, we restrict how many of each item we test, often the number is 2. When we are not busy, we'll test a lot more. Also, in extreme long line cases, we restrict testing to only competitors in the early events of the day.

Special pleas that bear repeating (from this thread)

1. In annoys the heck out of us to have the person at the head of the line yacking on a cell phone or to their friends while we are trying to get their attention and serve them. You are almost guaranteed to get a harder look at your equipment if you hold up the line.

2. Sending your mom to the back of the line to get your third (or fourth) body cord tested makes everyone else's line longer. We'll test the others, AFTER the line goes down.

3. Have everything out BEFORE you get to the head of the line. Don't bring your bag. If you march to the head of the line with your stuff in your bag, we send you away to take it out. We have considered sending you to the back of the line.

4. Testing lames takes a lot of time. It goes much faster if you present your lames zipped up right side out. At this kind of event, although it really doesn't matter, the fastest check would be lame (or lames) then glove (saber) then mask then cords. That's just because if your equipment is in good shape, we can stack them and test without removing anything from the test area.

5. If your body cords have 1' between any two ends, that's enough. If you have them tightly wrapped, we have to unwrap them before we test. They don't need to be completely undone. We'd actually prefer them to be somewhat compact. They tend to get tangled more when they are completely undone. If you think about it, hand the armorer the three prong in your right hand and the two prong+clip in your left. Nearly every test box has the 3 prong socket on the left, and the two prong on the right facing the armorer.

6. If something fails, you don't have a replacement and have to buy another, and the line is long ASK the armorer if you can skip the line to have the replacement tested. If you ask, it will probably be okay. If you don't ask, back of the line please.

7. Yes, we have failed masks because they were so stinky we couldn't get near enough to look for problems. Soak it in a baking soda and water solution to get the stink out.

8. When the line is long, PLEASE don't ask us to test a lame that failed the last time it was tested. It doesn't get better over time, really, and we're generally a bit more strict than the average tournament armorer.

[KD5MDK]

They should be there till at least 7pm, I'd say. I can't imagine getting out sooner.

[fencerbill]

to add to brtech.

Don't hand a bunch of body cords to the armorer all at one time. They will have to untangle them.

For me, the best is to hand them one body cord at a time so they can grab the two ends at the same time.

I prefer that Lames are off the hangers.

General personal suggestion.

Don't turn the sleeves of Sabre Lames inside out. Old advice before electric Sabre was to put Lames on hangers inside out. Fine. But continually turning Sabre Lame sleeves inside out and back WILL wear them out faster. If you want to turn your Sabre Lame inside out to dry, just leave the sleeves hanging inside. The sleeves don't get as wet as the body section anyway.

[Inquartata]

As has been the case all year, the entry packet insists that sabres are going to be tested for flexibility. I haven't seen it done once. If this is just apotropaic language, I will be very glad and no doubt the armourers will be, too. Is that the case, or should I actually cart my sabres to the table?

[brtech]

If your blade is stamped "S2000" or higher, then it is presumed to pass.

If it is not stamped, and you insist, we will run a flex test and mark the blade.

We have the ability to do the flex test. If a director suspects a problem, he can ask us to verify, although the test takes several minutes if the jig is not set up (which it won't be). A good armorer can do the test with a clamp, a weight and a ruler. The jig just makes it faster.

[Inquartata]

Ah. Mine are all stamped. The confirmation materials make it sound as though all weapons are going to be tested, no reference to only pre-2000 ones.

Thanks.

[fencerbill]

Originally Posted by Inquartata

Ah. Mine are all stamped. The confirmation materials make it sound as though all weapons are going to be tested, no reference to only pre-2000 ones.

Thanks.

The only place I have seen them tested is at World Championships.