Strips

[MSLMaverick]

I am an assistant coach for a high school fencing team. The head coach is thinking of buying a copper strip. Our athletic director claims it is high maintenance. Is that true? As a fencer, I only had to tape the strip down and roll it up, so I am not sure if my coach did anything to the strip to keep it in good shape. I have heard of strips made from other metal, but I know nothing of these. Can someone fill me in?

[KD5MDK]

Copper strips are very fragile and prone to tears and holes. They are a terrible pain to work with.

Swordmasters has some stainless steel mesh strips that have proven much more durable (I've seen them in use for 2 years and haven't seen a single hole) but really the most durable and fastest to setup option is the sectional metal strips.

[rory]

Don't go with sectional steel - heavy and awkward to move around. If you're going to be putting out & putting away regularly, go with the rollout conductive rubberised pistes, as sold by Artos.

Dead easy for one person to carry, only need 2 pieces of tape at either end, durable.

[brtech]

Don't go with sectional steel - heavy and awkward to move around. If you're going to be putting out & putting away regularly, go with the rollout conductive rubberised pistes, as sold by Artos.

Dead easy for one person to carry, only need 2 pieces of tape at either end, durable.

Not so durable, and fairly pricey. You may want to hold off on those; there is significant development going on in the fencing suppliers with rubber strips and it may be that the next year brings substantial changes in the technology.

[SJCFU#2]

A brief summary of strips:

Copper/phosphor bronze - Heavy (especially 100% copper); fairly compact when rolled up; difficult to put down properly without some means of tensioning, and the sides need to be taped down; can be hard on the underlying surface (tends to act like sandpaper on a varnished wooden floor); not particularly durable; can usually be repaired with solder but requires a sizable solder iron (the entire strip is a big heat sink).

Stainless steel - Lighter weight than copper or bronze; more durable than copper/bronze but also more difficult to repair when it does fail (soldering stainless steel requires a different flux than copper)

Aluminum plate (cheese grater) - The aluminum may be lightweight but the plates must be secured to a rigid base and that will generally be large, bulky and heavy (often worse then segmented strips); Durability is generally good if securely attached to a rigid base so once everything is in place maintenance is minimal however getting to that point can be a problem; maintaining electrical connectivity between segments can also be a problem; Best used only in a permanent installation; Often hard on shoes.

Aluminum sectional - Individual segments tend to be heavy and bulky (if each section is 1.5 x 1.0 meters then a full strip will require at least 17 segments); Setup is generally easier then copper but a lot depends on the method used to securing segments together and to maintain electrical continuity between segments, and these can vary with manufacturer. Assuming everything is set up properly then durability is excellent, but constant set up and take down tends to increase wear at the joints and eventually the rivets will start to shear off and need to be replaced; Probably best used in a permanent installation (if only because they are so difficult to transport due to the weight and bulk of individual segments).

Synthetic - Lightest weight and fairly compact when rolled up; Generally easier to put down than copper although many people still find it necessary to tape down the sides; Rubber backing is gentle on the floor; The big problem has been durability - I have seen several where the conductive layer had begun to separate from the rubber backing.

Hopefully the problems with synthetic strips will go away as manufacturers gain more experience because they do look promising. For now I would recommend caution unless you have lots of funds to throw away or you will save enough on transport to offset the cost of regular replacement.

[fencerbill]

Strong dependence on where it will be used. Most ideal if it can stay down all the time. Also depends on whether it will be used for competitions only or for practice as well.

Basically, there is no free lunch.

But I have seen copper strips that have lasted 10 plus years. It certainly does depend on initial quality and there is no alternative but inspection by someone with a lot of experience.

Another aspect. Can you put permanent anchors where it will be used? There are some used for swimming pool covers that screw down flat when not needed. Permanent anchors and draw tight straps can make it much easier to use copper strips. To protect floors under copper strips use indoor-outdoor carpet a little wider and longer than the strip.

[tkexi991]

Don't go with sectional steel - heavy and awkward to move around. If you're going to be putting out & putting away regularly, go with the rollout conductive rubberised pistes, as sold by Artos.

Dead easy for one person to carry, only need 2 pieces of tape at either end, durable.

The blue rubber strips can seperate into layers - it makes it very difficult to move up and down the strip, especially at speed. I have heard the phenomenon called quicksand.

[the ancient one]

Long ago if you knew the right information you could get the copper strips cheaply.

They were made for "dewatering" which in effect is lifting wood pulp out of flotation tanks to make paper.

The main source was The Atlanta Wire Works and once upon a time you could get them for scrap value and shipping after their paper making service life was over. We picked up >20 strips for the 81 nationals that way. You just had to know who and where to ask. Fortunately our division did have someone with the right connections.

Atlanta Wire Works was acquired by a Canadian company at some point. Possibly possible still?

[SJCFU#2]

Long ago if you knew the right information you could get the copper strips cheaply.

They were made for "dewatering" which in effect is lifting wood pulp out of flotation tanks to make paper.

It has been a while since I've seen a strip salvaged from a paper mill, but I seem to recall them having two problems:

First, the ones I saw were narrower than the minimum width for a strip (which was 1.8 meters at the time). The minimum width has since been reduced to 1.5 meters so this may no longer apply;

Second, they were relatively light, both in terms of wire gage and weave density, and therefore more susceptible to damage.

[dekko]

Metal strips can be interesting. Aluminum plate with holes, some call the cheese grader, can be ok if you find plates with small holes and actually install it with the raised part of the holes down, usually on wood is best.

Copper strips can be costly to maintain if you have epee fencers who don't care. However, don't try to buy copper strips right now. Copper has become very expensive and a strip for fencing would be very expensive. On the other hand if you have some copper strips find a salvage yard and sell them. Copper can go for as high as $4 a pound, market depending. Sell these things and use the money to buy more equipment for your club.

[DHCJr]

It has been a while since I've seen a strip salvaged from a paper mill, but I seem to recall them having two problems:

First, the ones I saw were narrower than the minimum width for a strip (which was 1.8 meters at the time). The minimum width has since been reduced to 1.5 meters so this may no longer apply;

Second, they were relatively light, both in terms of wire gage and weave density, and therefore more susceptible to damage.

Just the opposite. The ones currently selling are the thin ones. Some that the USFA bought from Blue Gauntlet for the Jr. Worlds were so thin you count the number of fingers held up behind them. They got holes the first day. Now some that came from paper mills in the early 60's are still going. The problem is paper mills now use plastic seeves. Most were 6 ft wide, which is 1.8 meters. I have seen some that were used for finals strips that were twice as wide.