StM foil blades?

Who makes the StM foil blades? How are they compared to Vniti Blades?

My understanding is that StM is a russian produced inexpensive
brand carried by American Fencing and the Fencing Post.
WARNING!!
I have no experience with the StM foil blades but the
the quality of the StM epee blades of recent has been
absolutely horrible. I have had two from the most recent
batch which broke on their first use and my salle mates
report similar experiences. All told I can probably identify
6-12 blades that have just broken on first use. In the past
the StM epee blades of which I have owned about 8 have been reasonable.
They would serve for about 2-6 months before breaking in the normal
fashion, i.e. they would get softer. take a bend and need
restraightening after each attack, before finaly breaking at one
of the bend points.

While my experience is limited to the StM epee blades I would
be suspicious of the foil blades as well as they most likely come
from the same factory. That said, both American Fencing and the Fencing
Post have stated that they are willing to replace blades which
break so quickly as being defective. But if the quality control is
that lacking what about a blade that breaks after a month or just a
week? It's one thing to be able to point to the fact that the blade
is nearly new with almost no nicks but one that has been used for
a while is a very different matter.

Despite my complaint about the current lack of quality control
and breaking too quickly, in my opion in the past StM epee blades
have been a good bargain. They felt good and worked well for me.

Jonathan

Martin Pisz wrote:
> Who makes the StM foil blades? How are they compared to Vniti Blades?
>
>

My understanding is that StM is a russian produced inexpensive
brand carried by American Fencing and the Fencing Post.
WARNING!!
I have no experience with the StM foil blades but the
the quality of the StM epee blades of recent has been
absolutely horrible. I have had two from the most recent
batch which broke on their first use and my salle mates
report similar experiences. All told I can probably identify
6-12 blades that have just broken on first use. In the past
the StM epee blades of which I have owned about 8 have been reasonable.
They would serve for about 2-6 months before breaking in the normal
fashion, i.e. they would get softer. take a bend and need
restraightening after each attack, before finaly breaking at one
of the bend points.

While my experience is limited to the StM epee blades I would
be suspicious of the foil blades as well as they most likely come
from the same factory. That said, both American Fencing and the Fencing
Post have stated that they are willing to replace blades which
break so quickly as being defective. But if the quality control is
that lacking what about a blade that breaks after a month or just a
week? It's one thing to be able to point to the fact that the blade
is nearly new with almost no nicks but one that has been used for
a while is a very different matter.

Despite my complaint about the current lack of quality control
and breaking too quickly, in my opion in the past StM epee blades
have been a good bargain. They felt good and worked well for me.

Jonathan

Martin Pisz wrote:
> Who makes the StM foil blades? How are they compared to Vniti Blades?
>
>

Martin Pisz <pisz@primus.ca> wrote in
news:_LR1a.96920$cx4.264610997@news.primus.ca:

> Who makes the StM foil blades? How are they compared to Vniti Blades?
>
>

I have no idea who makes them, however I have friends at the club who use
them and are very happy with them. The STMs I handled from my friend
(didn't do that much with them tho as he's a lefty and I'm not) seemed
slightly more flexible than the Vnitis i have fenced with on loan from
other friends. I'm sure that yu can get grades of flexibility from both
though, but FWIW the Vniti seems to have more authority in the parry/beat.
I use BF Blue at the moment.

Martin Pisz <pisz@primus.ca> wrote in
news:_LR1a.96920$cx4.264610997@news.primus.ca:

> Who makes the StM foil blades? How are they compared to Vniti Blades?
>
>

I have no idea who makes them, however I have friends at the club who use
them and are very happy with them. The STMs I handled from my friend
(didn't do that much with them tho as he's a lefty and I'm not) seemed
slightly more flexible than the Vnitis i have fenced with on loan from
other friends. I'm sure that yu can get grades of flexibility from both
though, but FWIW the Vniti seems to have more authority in the parry/beat.
I use BF Blue at the moment.