| Re: Jacket safety question
Tournaments beyond strictly local events usually require FIE
approved equipment (for example, "FIE 800NW"). If the plastron
has an FIE label, it may be acceptable under an unapproved
jacket; this would depend on whoever at the event is checking
things. Normally announcements for tournaments specify the
required protective equipment.
The issue is not "regs" but safety (and perhaps liability and
insurance). Sooner or later all blades break. You want the best
possible protection between you and the resulting
potentially-lethal point. I personally strongly recommend
acquiring a modern, FIE 800NW jacket. They come in various
grades and prices. The top of line ones are the most
comfortable, but all with the FIE label offer at least the
minimum protection specified on the label. There's no such
guarantee for anything not so labeled, or anything used.
You can get things by mail order from several places like
Triplette. I wouldn't recommend going to a tournament without a
jacket, but you often do find a good selection at reasonable
prices at tournaments; vendors tend to be where the fencers are.
:-) Also, the vendor likely will have samples of several lines
and sizes for trying on, which you can't do by web or mail order.
Different manufacturers have different ideas of the "ideal
fencer", and their clothing fits differently. The most
reasonable prices are at the last few tournaments of the
competition year, as no vendor wants to hold onto expensive
inventory for several months of off-season. Sometimes you can
find used clothing through a club, especially a University-area club.
(If you have lots of time, you can get the best fit by paying
extra to have the factory make one to your own measurements.
Most vendors can make such arrangements. If you happen to be in
Europe for some reason, fencing clothing usually is much less
expensive there than in North America and you can order direct
from places like Uhlmann in Germany. Check with customs for
duties first, you don't want nasty surprises on your return!)
Amy & Joseph Kormann wrote:
> I have a 10-year old Santelli 3-weapon jacket. No teflon, spandex or
> other newer materiels - double thick duck twill cotton. With the
> plastron, I believe it's safe. Neither have holes where there aren't
> supposed to. What's the current regs got to say? I'm thinking of
> entering into local and possibly regional compeitions and would rather
> shell out the money now than at the events.
>
> Thanks.
>
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