Equipment Vendor Quality

[CvilleFencer]

I know that I may be starting a bloodbath of my favorite_____ is better than ______’s, and if that is the case I humbly apologize as it is not my intention! Now that that is out of the way, onto the question.

In the experience of members of this group, how would you rank the "House Brand" gear and items from Triplette (TCA) compared to Physical Chess or Blue Gauntlet's house brand offerings? I am specifically interested in blades, jackets, scoring equipment and masks. If anyone has any experience or insight they would like to share I would appreciate it!

We are trying to prepare for a club order and are comparing the apples to the oranges and trying to come to a decision!

Thanks again!

[Capt. Slo-mo]

Cville:

Our last two clubs have used Blue Gauntlet...talk with Amanda there and see about getting set up for a "club' discount.

Before that, our first club used Santelli and Triplette, but I think that was more from tradition than having done a bunch of research.

[Peach]

I order from Blue Gauntlet for my club because they're inexpensive and they deliver fast. They have a club discount which is good.

I use Blue Gauntlet's house brand stuff personally because BG is friendly and helpful and if their stuff doesn't work they replace it immediately. I also like their sabre blades because they're cheap and light and I break expensive blades just as often as I break cheap ones, so what the heck. The only experiences I had with Triplette were poor.

[Catal]

If it's got to do with clothes, I get PBT. If it's got to do with metal, I get Triplette, except their bell guards 'cause they are heavy and don't last. Allstar for bell guards.

[latenight]

I'm also a PBT fan.

The best customer service you can get.

[swordsen]

As far as house brand stuff it is TCA all the way. their cost/quality is much better than nayone elses house stuff that I have seen and I have bought from pretty much everyone out there at least once.

[neevel]

So far as scoring equipment is concerned, your best choices for an affordable club scoring machine would probably be the Eigertek (available from American) or the new SG-11 (available from BG). I'd choose either over the Russian Amicos or the Triplette boxes.

For reels, the safest choice is to look for the best price on Uhlmann reels. The new Allstar mercotac reels could be an even better choice (the metal case is more durable than the Uhlmann's plastic case), but I don't know if any U.S. vendors are carrying them yet. Even with the dollar down against the euro, by far the least expensive way to get Uhlmann or Allstar reels would be to order from Fechtsport Langenkamp in Germany. Leon Paul reels trade frequency-of-maintenance for ease-of-maintenance-- they need to have the contact brushes and commutator cleaned with some regularity, but the fairly simple design makes that a quick task. I've not had any experience with PBT's reels, but they're a brush-and-commutator design like the Leon Pauls. I'd avoid Russian reels, no matter how attractive the price might seem.

-Dave

[MikeHarm]

The PBT reels I ordered tended to break down a lot after the first few months of fencing with them. They seemed to be badly put together at the factory, some contacts on the inside were at an angle that would cause them wear down when they spinned against the disk in a way that part of it would creep over the edge until it would slice the wires inside it.

I was also disappointed in PBT's epee guards when I had them get crushed from tossing my fencing bag in my car trunk after the first tourney I went to with them.

I liked PBT's shoes though.

[sallearmourer]

The allstar reels if you have to go in them to fix them is not fun and take a expert to do it because of the springs. By the way David there the same design of reels from the ones I fixed in the 70's when they came into the US they never caught on as the Leon Paul and Uhlmann are easier to work on. The PBT reels has Mike point out as a soft Brass spring loaded contacts that wears unevenal and does cut the wires leading to the commutator. I have fixed a couple of them now. Avoid the Russians reels at all cost you never know which verison you are getting. With one spring two spring or three or four springs.


I am getting a SG 11 at the JO that have a 12 hour battery pack rechagreable.

The SG 11 at 356. 00 is a great machine with outstanding led lights over the Eigertek small lights

BG does offer a very good club discount.


Tim

[DHCJr]

The newest Allstar reels have the same insides as Dave Neeval says. But vendors have to sell what they have before they sell the newer stuff. So if you get an Allstar make sure that it is the new style and not the older version. The older version is a pain to work with.

There is a new box out there from Blue Sky. This company was started by some engineering students at USC. They have the advantages of the Eigertech in they will upgrade for free. They also have some advantages. They can be linked together easily so you can have one in the middle and two at each end using only telephone lines. Also the light are much better. Think of the lights on the side of 18 wheelers. The price is also fairly good, 400 for 1, 700 for 2 and more discounts for more purchased.

[darius]

Eigerteks can be upgraded for free, too...all you have to do is get online and ask, and they'll send new firmware upgrades.

Where can one find more information about the SG-11 and Blue Sky boxes? I've been planning box purchases for a bit of time now, and it looks like things are finally about to go through.

darius

[DHCJr]

Originally posted by darius
Eigerteks can be upgraded for free, too...all you have to do is get online and ask, and they'll send new firmware upgrades.

Where can one find more information about the SG-11 and Blue Sky boxes? I've been planning box purchases for a bit of time now, and it looks like things are finally about to go through.

darius

Here is the e-mail address you can use for Blue Sky, darryl@blueskylabs.com

[The0ne]

My club uses triplette for the most part, cheap blades and relatively long-lasting jackets, masks etc.
also look into Bladerunners
http://www.wearefencing.com/home/index.htm
Thats Justin Meehan's company. . . ive heard good things about it.

-Isaiah

[sallearmourer]

A sg 11 is just a smaller verison of the SG12except it used LED for lights and only two lights on the machines they are easeir to see then the eigerteks. One thing that about the SG machines that as far as I know is that they allowed you to fence with a shorted epee and scored. I havn't seen any other machines with this feature.


Tim

[DHCJr]

Originally posted by sallearmourer
A sg 11 is just a smaller verison of the SG12except it used LED for lights and only two lights on the machines they are easeir to see then the eigerteks. One thing that about the SG machines that as far as I know is that they allowed you to fence with a shorted epee and scored. I havn't seen any other machines with this feature.


Tim

Both the Eigertech and the Blue Sky also has that feature. Look in the thread 'Problem with an Epee' in Armory. They were using an Eigertech to test their weapon. The grounding light was going on and the weapon was working. They both have the advantage of free software upgrades. One warning they do have the lights up to the new specs and on most Saint George you have to switch the floor cords. This can cause problems. We had people setting up Duel in the Dessert with mostly St. George and they switched lines on the Eigertechs and Blue Sky. This would have been a problem if we didn't check each set up first.

You will never see these at an international as the cost of getting a box certified is much too expensive and that certification is for one tournament only.

[pkt]

We have trouble with the PBT sabre mask.
One junior got one and it rusted around the ear in after about 8 hours of fencing.
So he has to dole out more major bucks for another mask OUCH.

All the other juniors' PBT bibs are badly stained too cf my AllStar which is about 5-6 years old.

Won't recommend PBT electric sabre masks.
Stay with AllStar or Uhlmann.

If the PBT reps want to contact me...

PK

[Mulligan]

Has anyone ordered from these guys?
http://www.fencing-equipment.bizhosting.com/CATALOG.htm
FENCING EQUIPMENT USA

They seem to have some very low prices, especially on lames.

[pkt]

Mulligan,

I don't know: I took a cursory look at their catalogue and saw that they're selling sabre practise blades ad electric sabre blades???



PK

[CvilleFencer]

I ordered a saber mask from them a while back and I got exactly what I paid for. It is crap. It rusted up so bad that the resulting stains made the bib no longer conductive in spots. That was after about 4 hours in a tourney.

The mask is plushly padded, but it is made in such a way that it covers your ears and you are effectivley deaf once you put it on. I would say buyer beware about these guys. Also be careful with the shipping and handling charges. Some of the stuff they sell on Ebay has a 25 dollar US handling fee!

[Mulligan]

Yeah, I noticed the high shipping fees on ebay. And I am a little wary of anyplace that won't allow you to call and actually TALK to anyone.
I am sure that thier lames lose thier conductivity faster than Bill Clinton loses his pants...but at 50 bucks you can replace your Lame more often too.

Anyone else ordered there?