Leon Paul light epee vs. Leon Paul FIE

[catwood1]

Hey guys, sorry if this is discussed in an earlier thread, if so, I could not find it.

How big of a difference is there in quality between the Leon Paul light epee, and the FIE model.

I am considering purchasing some decent quality epees. (better than the basic absolute ones I've been using...) I've used a few Leon Paul epees and I love the feel of them, but how big of a difference in life span is there between the non-fie and the FIE version?

Thanks!

[DangerMouse]

There isn't much of a difference in the life span. The LP epee blades last forever and are the best bang for the buck out there.

Having said that, I don't like how they feel and I don't use them anymore, but I still recomend them for my beginning to intermediate students.

[CvilleFencer]

Very little difference in lifespan. The LP FIE tend to be a bit more stiff, but not a hard and fast rule. I would go with the standard gutter blades if I were you. A lot of my foilists that sometimes fence epee who I think you know (Alex, Ben, Dorothy, Evan) all use them, and others that are not my club but that you know (Cyndi, Kashi, etc.) use them as well. Good transition blade for foil fencers and they last forever. Just no need to spend the money for the FIE blades for what you are going to be doing with them, at least for the near future. For the money the only thing that comes close or outlasts them are the vniti blades, but the feel is very different.

[finnfence]

Very little difference in lifespan. The LP FIE tend to be a bit more stiff, but not a hard and fast rule. I would go with the standard gutter blades if I were you. A lot of my foilists that sometimes fence epee who I think you know (Alex, Ben, Dorothy, Evan) all use them, and others that are not my club but that you know (Cyndi, Kashi, etc.) use them as well. Good transition blade for foil fencers and they last forever. Just no need to spend the money for the FIE blades for what you are going to be doing with them, at least for the near future. For the money the only thing that comes close or outlasts them are the vniti blades, but the feel is very different.

Does this apply for us foilists who just can't seem to get the hang of staying waaay far back to make epee hits? I find I keep overbending my epees by getting too close, and then they mysteriously don't spring back unless they are maraging (and sometimes not even then...epees sure are weird if you're used to foils....)

[DangerMouse]

As long as the LP blades bend in the right direction, they have a really long life, even if you hit hard. If you bend them backwards, they get weird kinks that don't really straighten out again. As they get old, they do tend to take a large bend, but that's after most other blades would have broken.

[CvilleFencer]

Does this apply for us foilists who just can't seem to get the hang of staying waaay far back to make epee hits? I find I keep overbending my epees by getting too close, and then they mysteriously don't spring back unless they are maraging (and sometimes not even then...epees sure are weird if you're used to foils....)

Well, it sort of does if you pick the right blade. LP blades are very long lived in addition to being very light weight. Where as other blades in their price range will likely snap on a shot in bad distance, LP's do a very good job of returning to true. The catch is that the "gutter" style design has a property where a very bad bend that would snap most other blades, will deform the gutter even after being put back into place, so that it will be a semipermanent kink that even skilled armorers can have trouble getting out.

Still, for your situation I would say that the LP or the Vniti is the way to go. The Vniti blades will be a fair bit heavier than you are used to and they cost more, but will be just a hair more durable to being beaten up in my experiance. Of course they are also FIE so if that is a consideration, that might be the way to go...

[Nolano]

I got an LP Epee a few weeks ago, Non FIE, all uber-light components and all that, and I love it so far. It's a full four ounces lighter than my old one, more flexible, and basically more wonderful in almost every way. One problem I have, is that I lost a lot of opposition power. However, I made up for it by improving my technique, and working on the flicks that this blade allows.