questions about my sabre

[sabrefencer93]

Pretty much for any matience for my equipment im sure i will go LP

[Morale Officer]

All of my weapons (since I started fencing, actually) have been bayonet (don't think i'll ever go 2-prong). I did mix and match for a good portion of the season (sockets vs body cords) until the armourer sat me down and "had a little chat" with me. lol. I had never had a problem with the LP sockets on 2 of my foils and the one sabre, but I had horrible trouble with the BG/AF/misc brand sockets and my AF body cords were only lasting me about a month...6 weeks at a stretch (with maintenence), so now I have LP sockets and LP body cords on everything and haven't had a problem.

[sabrefencer93]

are LP body chords reliable?

[Craig]

are LP body chords reliable?

Never heard any of the LP people play guitar or piano, so I couldn't tell you about their chords.

If you mean the body CORDS, then there are quite a few threads on the subject already.

Craig

[SJCFU#2]

are LP body chords reliable?

Depends on what you consider "reliable".

Properly maintained LP cords will last for many years (even decades), and even if you don't maintain a LP cord it will probably be a long time before it gives you any problems out on the strip (resistance will be slow to build up and the scoring machine won't react until the cummulative resistance of all components is almost an order of magnitude greater than the rules allow). However without proper maintenance they will probably fail to pass inspection the first time you go to a tournament where they actually check resistance on body cords.

Fortunately most of the necessary maintenance is so simple even an non-fencing parent can do it - just pull back the soft plastic covers back from each plug, back off and then retighten each set screw, and pull the cover back into place.

LP uses wires made up of extremely fine individual strands so their cords tend to be among the most flexible available, and the transparant insulation sometimes allows you to see the gap when a wire does fail. In addition, the soft plastic covers on their plugs provide excellent strain relief (unlike German-style plugs, where wires often fail right where the wires often fail right where the flexible cable enters the rigid plastic shell of the plug).

The socket may be one of the biggest weaknesses of the LP bayonet system, especially older socket where the detents in the plastic block don't always keep the plug locked in as well as they should. However with newer LP sockets the metal strap that wraps around the plastic block is arched and the plug locks into the underside this arch - not quite so secure as pins locking into a "J" shaped slot (the system used by Italian bayonet or a BNC socket) but it does help to eliminate the problem with the plastic detents wearing down over time.

A final word of advise - if you do choose to go with LP bayonet then most armorers recommend sticking with genuine LP parts. Most of the knockoffs simply aren't that good. The wires generally aren't as flexible and because they aren't using LP wire they end up having to strip the insulation from the ends of the wires before fitting into the pins (thereby loosing the advantages of the LP's pointed set screws, which are actually designed to pierce the insulation). Some off-brand sockets also have plastic detents so soft that they wear down in a matter of months (assuming they have any detents at all) and I've seen brand new sockets with so much internal resistance that they could cause the scoring machine to register a fault all by themselves.

[Inquartata]

Pretty much for any matience for my equipment im sure i will go LP

What, you're going to send it to England for repair?

[sabrefencer93]

I am far to busy to do my own maitenece right now. So i believe I will be sticking with two pronged, and i believe my capitalization is perfect in this post.

[Fencergrl]

I am far to busy to do my own maitenece right now. So i believe I will be sticking with two pronged, and i believe my capitalization is perfect in this post.

As pointed out you need to work on your capitalization... and your spelling.

[larkascending]

Sabrefencer93... You're supposed to capitalize the word "I" too. I'm not old enough for this, but what are they teaching kids in school these days?!

[Fencergrl]

It's funny because it seems rather random... some are upper & some are lower case. He seems rather confused.

[sabrefencer93]

Ouch that hurts, cause i am a girl. and i type rather fast and dont pay to much attention to capitalization.

[Inquartata]

In fencing, as in life, as in typing, attention to detail is important.

You're young, don't be in such a rush to hurry through life. In the words of the song"Circle Game", which compares life to a merry-go-round, "it won't be long now/'Til you drag your feet just to slow the circles down."

[sabrefencer93]

m not rushing through life anymore, i have just decided its about time that I start growing up.