Weight Testing-How low can you go?

[Greg Z.]

I received my first competition yellow card last weekend for bringing out my foil that didn't pass the weight testing. I have never been in a big tournament before and did not know there would be weight testing. I replaced the spring after the pools no big deal.
But a buddy at my club then asked me to lighten his Epee tip some as it seemed to take a lot to depress it, well over 750 grams. I managed to push the spring together some, cleaned the barrel etc and it is significantly lighter but I am not sure how close to the limit should you try to get your tips.
I assume that the higher level fencers are more sensitive to tip pressure and would be able to benefit from making the tips as light as possible. What do you see in real life?
Greg Z.

[DHCJr]

Legally an Epee weight can be up to 753 grams, but how many have checked what their weights are. I have found a weight use at a competition at 780 grams. When I have gone with the U.S. Team, I use a 778 grams weight and before each bout it is checked with that weight and the spring is replaced or stretched if it does not.

A test was made a few years ago and it was found most hits were around 1500 to 2000 grams. I would ask the question how accurate are the weights used at the competition and do you know how heavy your weight is. Also how important is it for the fencer to use their favorite weapon. If it would throw off their game, you must make very sure it does not pass. They are not going to notice 20, 30 or even 50 grams over unless you tell them.

If you haven't calibrated your wight do so. To give you an idea of how heavy the weights may be on the strips. If it is a old steel Uhlmann weight, it is probably within 1 gram. A new Blue Uhlmann is usually 2 to 3 grams over. A Russian or Japanese weights are from 20 to 30 grams over. Prieur and Leon Paul weights can vary + or - 5 grams. This is only a rule of thumb from checking weights over the years. The weights may have been weighed and adjusted or someone may have added tape to identify.

For me, I would never let mine go below 770 and that is with weights on the strips I knew were accurate. 20 grams is not going to kill me.

[sallearmourer]

The weights at a Usfa Nac for epee runs from 749.9 grams to 753 grams well with in the +or - - # grams allowed by the rules


Tim

[neevel]

Keeping the point clean (so that it will move smoothly) is much more important than getting the pressure spring down to the lowest barely-passing weight. To put the information Don gave in another way: the number of touches you receive over the course of your fencing career because you painstakingly adjusted your weapons to 753.5 grams rather than 780 will probably be more than canceled out by the number of red cards you get (directly or indirectly) as a result of encountering 754+ gram weights at the strip. The same goes for playing the margins with the tip travel.

And remember that while Tim's been diligent about ensuring the weights for NACs are in-spec, that's not going to be the case at most division-level tournaments.

-Dave

[Puppet Master]

How do you adjust a weight?

Put a file to it? add some solder?

[DHCJr]

That depends on how off it is. If it is slightly light (within 5 grams) I would use tape. If it is over 5 grams light, I would not use solder. First the main ingredient is tin which does not have much weight. Second if you put it in the shaft it is not likely to be flat making the weight tip when used. I would use washers, the punch outs from electrical boxes, fishing weight (but I would flatten them) and tape them to the top. It will not take much.

If it is heavy and it is not used for competitions (a personal weight) I would leave it alone. A personal weight should be heavy, so you don't get the yellow/red cards.

If this is for competition and it is slightly heavy, I would use a file. If it is more I would use a drill, smaller than the shaft and drill up through the shaft.

WARNING: Be careful, clamp the weight down, use protective gogles, preferably use a drill press or have a steady hand. If you can take out the plastic insert do. Do very little at a time and weigh after each time you drill out a little. Remember this a dime is slightly over 2 grams, so it will not take much to take it down, so go slowly.

NOTE: Again, as clinics I tell fencers with their personal weight put on 1 or 2 dollars in quarters on top of their weight. They won't have to worry about yellow/red cards and they will have money in case of an emergency.