weapons

[TaylorW]

how many weapons should you have if you are going to started out in competing.

[tsalyards]

At least 3 weapons and 2 body cords.

-Tad

[neevel]

Minimum in the rules is 2 weapons and 2 body cords brought to strip with you. As Tad states, you really should have more than 2 since if one weapon breaks in the first round, you won't have a spare in the subsequent rounds.

I have 5 foils in my bag (plus access to club foils in the unlikely event that all 5 of mine go down for the count). I will also sometimes keep a wired blade or two with me that I can swap in for a broken blade or blade with a broken wire.

You also should have some spare point springs and screws, and a couple of spare tips if you use Prieur electrics.

-Dave Neevel

[Moonitic]

I keep 3 electric foils, & at LEAST 3 body cords. Hubby is the armourer, so I'm not worried about needing screws, etc...I just call for him, & he's there!

Sometimes in our club, if someone can't go to competition with us, they send their equipment with us in case someone else needs it. We've been known to support entire tourneys with all of our gear.

[vegan]

Mr. taylor W, and co.
I have in one of my teamates words, and obsecene number of working weapons (6, plus 3 from my lockermate at club) and body cords (also 6, plus 2!), however I have gone through 10 in one day before (not breaking the blades, but other problems)!! Start with three, and find out how rough you are on your stuff, and how you club handles team members with downed equiptment. If you are fencing at national level events, try to develop a relationship with a retailer (or two, or three) and with at least one of the armorers. Then if you need help, at least you have someplace to go.
Good luck

[Cutter]

It may also depend on what weapon you are fencing with. In saber, with the new blades, keep at least 3 as the new ones don't seem to be as durable. I watched one of my teammates go through 2 in one 15 touch bout and had to use one of mine to finish up. Regarding body cords/mask clips, you should have at least 2 as well.

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Cutter
Reach out and "touch" someone.

[Gav]

3 weapons is a minimum (if you don't have three borrow from the club). Never had any bodycord problems - but always keep a spare handy.

If your left handed (like me) make sure you keep all your weapons clearly marked. I've had several go missing when I was a beginner.

[Moonitic]

One of our male teen fencers goes thru weapons like crazy. He's one of the reasons we all carry extra.

Of course, Taylor, don't let our paranoia (a joke, people) sway you. You're the only one who can really decide what's best in your case. 3 weapons & 2 body cords work fine for me, but I'm not a particularly aggressive fencer (ok, people who know me...STOP laughing!)

[Zelda]

Ok I have 3 weapons (2 working , one dead due to no apparent cause), 2 body cords, 2 gloves, 1 mask, a very large toolkit and uniform. I cant really borrow weapons as I'm the only left handed female foilist in Qld (that I know of.). There are 2 left handed males, one of whom is no longer fencing and the other of whom only turns up occassionaly. But my big suggestion is NAME YOUR WEAPONS! I had an FIE mask go walking at a University comp just after I started competing. It never turned up.

[sabreuse]

Zelda,

Let's see, I'll name one "Red Avenger" and the other one "Weapon of Terror". Will that help?

--Cheryl

[rjccj]

I carry 2 of my primary weapons, Viniti's, 2 backup weapons, Prieurs, and have access to the club weapons we have. I carry 2 personal body cords and then use the club's if they go down, which knock on wood, hasn't ever happen. lol

[Zelda]

sabreuse, they are actually Algernon, Arthur and Martha!

[Rapier9mm]

hehe named weapons? i got 3 weapons, all of which named. none by me though
gore child
frost bite
& sir fortesque (like my last name)
I've always had problems with body wires. i had 3 of my 5 fail testing at one stage. So make sure you have spares, if not one thing i must stress, try to learn to fix your own gear. constantly at tournaments i see peole fixing equipment. if you want to fence, learn how to look after you gear. it is essential



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Reuben
"Le singe violet laveur de vaiselle"

[Lumberg]

1. Get Uhlmann body cords. Higher quality. 2. Always just use one for practices and competitions. Save the other as a back-up for competitions. At a competition, two used body cords isn't as reliable as one new one and one used one. Just my opinion.
3. Minimum required at competitions is two weapons. It's good to have three on hand. Or, at least an extra pre-wired blade with an assembled tip you can change out between bouts if one goes kaputt.

[Spruce Branch]

Time to put my nudge in. "I'm going to start competing, how many weapons should I take?" Depends on what level you're competing at, among the other things. Are you competing at a local level, with teammates you can borrow from if things get dicey? 3 or even 2 is fine.
National Competition with teammates going, too (and they'll let you borrow)? Say, about 4 or 5.

Alone at a (National) meet? Try 8, more if they're old or you're hard on them. If you get knocked out in the early rounds, you can have just 4...since fencers are polite.

People used to remark on the number of blades I own, but I don't like being distracted by equipment when I want to concentrate on fencing. I also fence three weapons, and I use both hands to do it. Do the math. I have three bags.

[Zeke]

People used to remark on the number of blades I own, but I don't like being distracted by equipment when I want to concentrate on fencing. I also fence three weapons, and I use both hands to do it. Do the math. I have three bags.[/b]

What are the rules as far as fencing with either hand? Are you allowed to switch mid tournament? Mid bout(during the break in a DE)?

[Cutter]

Regarding switching hands, coming from one who does here is the rules. You cannot switch hands during a bout. But you can switch any time in between. You must have all your equipment pre-approved so both righty and lefty must be stamped. If you have a front zip jacket or lame, you may have a director who will not allow you to fence if the zipper is on the wrong side so you should switch jackets too. If I am going to switch up at local tourneys where I don't need to change jackets, I put both body cords on and just tuck the loose one inside so I don't have to switch cords also. This is kind of fun to do as it really throws you opponents off.

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Cutter
Reach out and "touch" someone.

[Spruce Branch]

Back-zip jackets. Two (or four) body cords.

And preregistering your weapons is pretty standard.

It's great. Once, I was doing terrible in a tournament (last week). I was completely out of endurance. My last bout, I took out my other hand (unused that day) and CREAMED the other guy. heh heh.... I don't think he's forgiven me.... heh heh....

[Rick]

I had 4 electric foils in my bag going into one tournament. Two of them broke down early in pool play... the wire just came loose from the plug under the bellguard (on both). Not a problem to fix, but I did not have the time to sit down and do it. I still had two for the rest of the afternoon... but that should give you an idea of how easily mundane breakdowns can happen and leave you in a bind if you're without spares. Oh yeah... I had three body-cords.

[eternal109]

Not only do your weapons break down, but sometimes the scoring machines just don't like your gear and you have to switch out weapons or body cords until you find on the machines actually like. Especially happens with equipment that is old/worn out/used/abused or any number of things.