08-20-2007, 12:19 AM
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#1 | | Just Joined
Join Date: Aug 2007
Posts: 5
| Expensive FIE gear
Why is FIE fencing gear so expensive? I've been looking at new foils and have noticed that FIE gear is two, to three times the cost of normal gear. I've been a fencer for several years now and have always been curious as to why this is. I also read in the athletes handbook that FIE gear is required for all international events, can someone please answer these questions? | 
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08-20-2007, 12:23 AM
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#2 | | Moderator
Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 10,774
| Higher quality materials cost more than lesser ones. | |
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08-20-2007, 12:43 AM
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#3 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Charlottesville VA
Posts: 3,297
| What KD5MDK said. To expand a bit, cheap gear is usually little more than normal cloth stitched together. FIE gear is tested, high quality materials that are safer, last longer and coincidently cost a lot more. There is also the fact that to have gear certified as FIE is an expensive process.
As for blades, most FIE blades contain higher grade mixes of metals (most FIE blades are also very rust resistant) and/or more expensive and superior forging techniques and offer longer life. Most importantly, they are tested to ensure that on average they last a minimum number of hits before breaking, thereby making them more safe from the very fact that they will not snap and injure someone. Non-fie blades have few rules governing how they are forged, what they are forged out of, or how many hits they should take before breaking on average.
Generally speaking, in my experience cheap gear is an illusion/false economy. You will pay less but replace it much more often. Also there is the very real fact that it is often much less safe both for you and your fencers. FIE gear is required for FIE level events and is required to plain fence competitively by many countries. The US is one of the few holdouts that I know of that does not require FIE for domestic competition. Hell, we don't even require 350N. Sad really...
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08-20-2007, 02:28 AM
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#4 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: TX
Posts: 659
| FIE epuipment has a set of standards that must be meet to be able to be called FIE. These standards are: safer, higher quality and more expensise to make. These standards are expensise to reproduce for safety reasons. Meaning: longer lasting, to you by defualt.
Pay for your success in advance. Buy the good stuff.
Gary Spruill Quote:
Originally Posted by Chevalier15  Why is FIE fencing gear so expensive? I've been looking at new foils and have noticed that FIE gear is two, to three times the cost of normal gear. I've been a fencer for several years now and have always been curious as to why this is. I also read in the athletes handbook that FIE gear is required for all international events, can someone please answer these questions? |
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Ancora Imparo | |
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08-20-2007, 02:35 AM
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#5 | | Moderator
Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 10,774
| The UK, France and many other countries do not require FIE gear domestically. In fact, if you look at Uhlmann 350N gear, it is marked FFE (French Federation d'Escrime or such).
To cite a contrary example, FIE-N blades are made of non-maraging steel. Theier price is higher than regular non-maraging blades partly because of the higher quality control and testing fees required, and partly because as long as they're cheaper than maraging blades, they don't need to compete on price with regular ones. | |
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08-20-2007, 09:41 AM
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#6 | | Admin
Join Date: Dec 1999 Location: Atlanta, GA
Posts: 5,319
| Quote:
Originally Posted by Chevalier15 Why is FIE fencing gear so expensive? I've been looking at new foils and have noticed that FIE gear is two, to three times the cost of normal gear. I've been a fencer for several years now and have always been curious as to why this is. I also read in the athletes handbook that FIE gear is required for all international events, can someone please answer these questions? | FIE fencing gear is nothing compared to top of the line golf gear. In every sport, the higher quality (more durable, more features, more sponsored athletes on the pro circuit, etc) equipment carries a premium.
In most cases, you get what you pay for in terms of quality.
Craig | |
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08-20-2007, 10:18 AM
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#7 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Panorama City, ca USA
Posts: 7,738
| And let's not forget to factor in a) the cost to the maker to have the cloth homolugated (NOT cheap.....thousands of dollars) that has to be passed on to the consumer.
AND
2) The import duties on textiles and completed clothing items into the US...ALSO very high, and must be passed on (the first time I bought my gloves in quantity, the import fees pretty much killed any profit) | |
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08-20-2007, 01:41 PM
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#8 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2006
Posts: 474
| Ever buy a cheap body cord and have it fail after 2-3 times? For gear, price does equate to quality. Your only debate should be, what gear should you buy FIE and what gear can you get away with the cheaper stuff. | |
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08-21-2007, 04:35 AM
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#9 | | Curmudgeon Emeritus
Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Somewhere in your nightmares!
Posts: 26,683
| Yeah, and I've had expensive Allstar cords do the same thing...
Sometimes price just equates to profits.
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08-24-2007, 03:52 PM
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#10 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: calgary,ab,canada
Posts: 2,429
| Quote:
Originally Posted by Inquartata Yeah, and I've had expensive Allstar cords do the same thing...
Sometimes price just equates to profits. | they sent you a defective one once they found out it was the great inqy despite giving them your real name on the order..  | |
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