Lame Recommendations?

[The Red Feather]

Well, my first foil lame (an Uhlmann) has developed a dead spot on the front. It turns out crumpling up your lame and throwing it into your bag is a bad idea -- doh! In any case, I'm going to buy a new one (and use it only for tournaments), but I don't know which kind to buy.

What's the best kind of lame? I've read some good things about the durability of Infinity and Triplette Ultralight lames, and durability is on my mind because of the dead spot on the old one. What are the advantages and disadvantages of the various brands and varieties? Should I stick with good old-fashioned stainless steel mesh (another Uhlmann, perhaps)? Any advice is welcome.

[neevel]

Durability with any of them is going to be about the same (assuming proper care, as you've found out). With stainless lames, the limiting factor will be when enough metal strands have broken to create a dead spot. With the Infinity lames, the open mesh fabric will eventually get snagged and torn. The fabric on the Triplette ultralights is brittle, and will at some point start fraying at the seams or develop a hole. Just how long a life you get out of a lame will also depend on how heavily it gets used, as well as the care it's given.

For stainless lames, Uhlmann is one of the top choices. Uhlmann, Allstar, and Santelli lames all use the same stainless lame fabric and have similar quality of construction. Allstars are cut the most slender in the body, Santelli the widest, with Uhlmann in between. PBT stainless lames are also worth a look.

Infinity lames will hold up the best if you chose not to abandon your habit of keeping it wadded up wet in your bag. Lots of people love the light weight, and conductivity shouldn't be a problem. The bugaboo is, when that snag will occur-- if it happens only a little while after you bought it, you probably won't feel so great (they're easily patched, however).

You'll get the best lifespan out of a lame by keeping it on a hangar and washing it regularly.
For packing it in baggage, either lay it out flat in a suitcase, or roll it up in a towel to avoid creasing it. Hand wash lames using a mild soap like Ivory Snow or Woolite and a bit of ammonia. I've heard mentioned that the Triplette Ultralights don't like ammonia, so you might want to skip that when washing one.

-Dave

[Purple Fencer]

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Helvetica, Arial">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Helvetica, Arial">Originally posted by neevel:
<strong>Durability with any of them is going to be about the same (assuming proper care, as you've found out). With stainless lames, the limiting factor will be when enough metal strands have broken to create a dead spot. With the Infinity lames, the open mesh fabric will eventually get snagged and torn. The fabric on the Triplette ultralights is brittle, and will at some point start fraying at the seams or develop a hole. Just how long a life you get out of a lame will also depend on how heavily it gets used, as well as the care it's given.

For stainless lames, Uhlmann is one of the top choices. Uhlmann, Allstar, and Santelli lames all use the same stainless lame fabric and have similar quality of construction. Allstars are cut the most slender in the body, Santelli the widest, with Uhlmann in between. PBT stainless lames are also worth a look.

Infinity lames will hold up the best if you chose not to abandon your habit of keeping it wadded up wet in your bag. Lots of people love the light weight, and conductivity shouldn't be a problem. The bugaboo is, when that snag will occur-- if it happens only a little while after you bought it, you probably won't feel so great (they're easily patched, however).

You'll get the best lifespan out of a lame by keeping it on a hangar and washing it regularly.
For packing it in baggage, either lay it out flat in a suitcase, or roll it up in a towel to avoid creasing it. Hand wash lames using a mild soap like Ivory Snow or Woolite and a bit of ammonia. I've heard mentioned that the Triplette Ultralights don't like ammonia, so you might want to skip that when washing one.

-Dave</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Helvetica, Arial">Go to my website (homfencing.com) for washing instructions for the lame (it's doen the front page)

[DHCJr]

The other problem with those space-age frabrics is when they go, they're gone. With the Uhlmann you have it can be repaired. You just need to sew a patch on. Make sure the patch is at least 1/2" bigger on all sides of the dead spot. NOTE: there are two sides to the fabric (one with the metal showing more should be on the outside). Fold a 1/4" on each edge and sew down tightly using waxed dental floss. You now have a legal lame you can use at competitions.

The other suggestions about maintaining the lame are good also.

[Mr_Foilist]

Actually, Infinity lames are quite easy to patch. You just need to fold over the edges of the patch once before sewing it on to avoid fraying and make sure that the patch is about .5 inches larger than the dead spot (If you ever develop one...took ~5 years of heavy abuse to get one on my first one) or snag, hole, etc.

[DHCJr]

Yes, but what if the dead spot is a whole panel. If it is a small area, you can patch it the same way. What I was talking about, in my experience when the Infinity goes bad, it goes bad over a whole panel. I was not talking about a hole, which they do get and can be repaired. From my experience in testing, the majority of the Infinity lames, that fail, have an area to large to patch. Because of the material not being built by solid wire interwoven, the material seems to loose it’s conductivity throughout the whole material.

I’m sorry I did not make myself clear.

[neevel]

The way the fabric used by the Infinity works (made by Marktek, a company that produces a variety of materials for em-shielding) is that the mesh fabric is coated with very fine metal particles. Eventually, enough of that coating can get worn away through wear and tear that conductivity will be affected.

I've also found instances with Infinity and Triplette ultralight lames where the material simply became so coated with a layer of sweat salts and grime (or a spilled soda in one case) that it acted as an insulator over the metallized fabric below. Washings may bring it back in such situations, though it's better to wash it regularly enough that stuff never builds up to that degree in the first place.

-Dave

[Puppet Master]

Dave,
could you explain how the ultralights work? I've heard they use a chemical way or some such method.

[Mr_Foilist]

The Infinity ultralights are made from threads of woven nylon. Prior to weaving the individual threads together to form the material, each thread is run through the conductive chemical consisting of a nickle/silver compound. So, each and every thread in an Infinity lame is conductive over it's entire surface. The smaller nylon threads that make up the larger threads are also coated (not too sure if this is because they do this before they make the larger threads or if it's just a part of the coating process). Anyway, this is why, if a fray does develop, conductivity is maintained even in the area of the fray.

Triplette ultralight lames use the same type of metal/chemical coating but do not coat the threads before they are woven together. Instead, the fabric is manufatured and then coated, making for a conductive surface only. So, if a tear, fray, or pull does develop, the conductivity can be severely affected.

As for the issue of whole patches failing, that sounds like a maintenance problem, more than anything else. You're probably looking at a severe build up salts and other insulating chemicals along the seems where two pieces are joined. That,or, someone spilled something on just that one patch. Also, if the product gets "woolly" (numerous tiny frays over an entire panel typical of physical wear) the frays may oxidize and conductivity will be lost.

To avoid this, simply put your lame on a hanger and run water over it in the shower for a few minutes. Then, lay it on a towel, roll it up and gently squeeze the excess water out of it. That's all you have to do to clean it. Or, you could wash and dry it in the laundry.