Leon Paul foils?

[jkdjeff]

So, I went to my salle tonight and inventoried my gear. It was all as I left it, aside from some corrosion on the mask (which definitely needs replacing) and the lame (which should last for another couple of months, especially since I won't be competing again anytime soon).

I'm going to order a Leon Paul X-Change mask to replace my old BG one; I'm thinking about ordering a foil from them too, since I am down to one Vniti foil at this point.

What do people think of their foils? I'm specifically looking at the "recommended FIE Foil" from this page:

http://leonpaulusa.com/acatalog/Reco...ric_Foils.html

How do they compare to Vnitis from a durability (I suspect lower) and feel (I suspect lighter and bendier) standpoint?

They have Vnitis too but I have been wanting to try a different type of blade for a while, anyway.

Appreciate any help you can give in advance!

[jkdjeff]

Sorry, meant to put this in the Armory section; if a mod can move it there I'd appreciate it, or I can repost there. Thanks!

[erooMynohtnA]

Don't repost.

You've guessed right. It's lighter and whippier. It is certainly different from a Vniti.

If you want an FIE version of the etoile, the Paul Maraging is what you want. Of course, since that's not a very popular blade, I'm guessing that you don't. If you're going to go LP, I would strongly recommend the G-Pro.

[jkdjeff]

Alright, thanks for the info. I might try a G-Pro to see if I like it, since it's only a little more expensive than a Vniti.

[CvilleFencer]

The G-pro is a nice blade and has a feel not radically different than a BF. I find it to feel a bit lighter in the hand due to balance and have a little more flex across the entire blade than the BF's. I consider the G-pro and the BF to be the two top shelf blade options for most of my fencers.

The flickmaster, I absolutely love, but it is a specialty tool. In feel and balance, think very light and fast Vniti. This makes it really popular with women and youth fencers in my club, even the ones that don't do a lot of flicking. You can order the exact deflection that you would like for a super consistent feel. Downsides are that they loosen up a bit with use and that they will become more kink and odd bend prone with time, like all LP blades. Still they are long lived in my experience.

The flickmasters, you just have to fence with a certain style to get the most use out of them, or to want a really light FIE blade. I would not recommend them for a counter attacker, heavy hitter or someone who rarely finishes with an angulated tip.

[SJCFU#2]

One thing you may want to bear in mind - if you order a complete FIE foil from LP USA then you will most likely get a LP GT point. This may not be a problem if you're already using LP points on your other foils (or if you plan on rewiring them) however if your preference runs toward German or French points then you will either have to rewire a perfectly good blade (which would be a pity, given LP's reputation for doing an excellent job on their factory wired blades) or you will have to keep two sets of spare springs and tip screws on hand.

[Gav]

Sorry, meant to put this in the Armory section; if a mod can move it there I'd appreciate it, or I can repost there. Thanks!

Not a problem. Didn't read your thread till now.

[fencerchica]

I've had LP G-pro blades and my personal experience is that they're nice while they last, but the life-span is fairly short, certainly nothing in the range of a Vniti.

I love LP GT points. In my experience, they did tend to crud up a bit faster than German points, but they were so much more rugged and so very much easier to work on that it more than made up for needing to do routine cleaning a little more often.

Edited to add: By "crud up", I only mean, to attract dirt and need a once-over with an alcohol-soaked q-tip, after which they were good as new. As far as maintaining smooth tip travel in the barrel, over a long duration of usage -- much better in my experience than German.

[TodG]

I've had very good luck with the Paul G-pro. No kinks or bends and they're on their second season.

[jkdjeff]

Not a problem. Didn't read your thread till now.

Thank you! Fatfingered when picking the forum for this thread.

Lots of good info here, thanks everyone!

[twohands]

I would recommend G-pro. They are light and flexible, but stiff enough to keep a good control of them. They are really high quality blades. I don´t like flickmaster because they are like a fishing line. They only would fit a very specific type of fencer.

[jkdjeff]

Yeah, I ordered a G-Pro to try it out. *patiently watches tracking*

[jkdjeff]

Package just arrived, hehehehehehehe.

Mask is a HUGE improvement over my old BG comfort-wise, and I think the G-Pro is going to be fun to fence with too. It feels a ton lighter than my Vniti.

[ShadyLane]

The G-pro is a nice blade and has a feel not radically different than a BF. I find it to feel a bit lighter in the hand due to balance and have a little more flex across the entire blade than the BF's. I consider the G-pro and the BF to be the two top shelf blade options for most of my fencers.

The flickmaster, I absolutely love, but it is a specialty tool. In feel and balance, think very light and fast Vniti. This makes it really popular with women and youth fencers in my club, even the ones that don't do a lot of flicking. You can order the exact deflection that you would like for a super consistent feel. Downsides are that they loosen up a bit with use and that they will become more kink and odd bend prone with time, like all LP blades. Still they are long lived in my experience.

The flickmasters, you just have to fence with a certain style to get the most use out of them, or to want a really light FIE blade. I would not recommend them for a counter attacker, heavy hitter or someone who rarely finishes with an angulated tip.

I have two Paul France non-FIE foil blades from LP and was looking into getting more soft/light blades. I really hate heavy/stiff blades. From your experience, is the Paul France blades similar to the G-Pro and/or Flickmaster in terms of softness/bendiness? I'm looking into getting new soft and light blades. Only downside to my two Paul France blades is that, although it is soft and nice to fence with, I hate it when some fencer purposely runs into your blade at full speed...can't get that stupid bend out no matter what! Argh! Other than that, I'm not sure what to get but was interested in getting a FIE foil blade. I hear Vniti is a bit stiff, not sure about the BF.

Any suggestions on companies that make soft and/or light blades is greatly appreciated! Thanks!

[CvilleFencer]

I have two Paul France non-FIE foil blades from LP and was looking into getting more soft/light blades. I really hate heavy/stiff blades.
/snip/
Any suggestions on companies that make soft and/or light blades is greatly appreciated! Thanks!

Well, you probably want to stay away from Vniti. They last forever but are not particularly light especially compared to the LP blades. The G-pro is not very similar to the Paul France. It is thicker and has a different flex point. it is more akin to the BF FIE blades. It is also not super light, but not a heavy blade either. Before I would spend the extra on the G-pro if you are coming from non-FIE LP blades I would just get the standard Maraging.

For a feel close to the Paul France I would go with either the budget maraging (an odd duck in the fencing world, but light and flexible) or the Flickmaster if money is not an issue. I would go with a medium stiffness in the Flickmaster, somewhere around 65-75 if you like a stiffer Paul France or a 75-85 if you like a looser one.

Hope that helps.

[erooMynohtnA]

I second the budget maraging. Not something I would typically recommend, but if you like the Paul France you should like it.