inox vs stainless/traditional material

[Amie]

more on equipment, sorry -

looking into lames and saw PBT advertising jackets made from Inox - washable nickel alloy. a lot more expensive - is it worth the money? i can't find much about durability or construction.

thanks
amie


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If you can't be a good example, you'll just have to serve as a terrible warning.
-Catherine Aird

[Moniteur]

As its name says, it doesn't oxidize at all, and is washable. I have the Inox lame from PBT, and its worth the money to me. It seems to me that its a bit stronger than the Stainless stuff I've seen. The lames are very well constructed, certainly its at an Uhlmann level of quality.

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Chris Holzman
Moniteur D' Escrime

[neevel]

Inox (=inoxidizable) is just a generic term for stainless steels, more commonly used in Continental Europe than in America. There are a variety of 'stainless' steels, but by definition they all contain at least 10% chromium, and often a good percentage of nickel.

From what I've seen of the PBT lames, they use metal strands that are flat and ribbon-like, giving a greater surface area of metal than the round strands in the material for Uhlmann or Allstar lames. However, the round strands strike me as being less likely to break than the thinner, ribbon-style strands.

When they say 'washable', I assume that they mean 'doesn't corrode in water' (as opposed to copper). I've seen the Uhlmann lames advertised as 'washable' too. Strikes me as advertising-ese. None of them are _machine_ washable, and you can hand wash copper lames like the Blue Gauntlets and cheaper PBTs just fine, too (in fact, it's more important to wash those frequently to get rid of corrosion-enhancing sweat salts). You don't leave them in the water long enough for corrosion to set in.

-Dave

[Moniteur]

Dave... the PBT inox I have doesn't have the hand wash only symbol on its care tag.. but from what I recall, aren't most washing machines over in Europe of the front loader variety that can have the rack to hold things flat?? I know I wouldn't hesitate to machine wash in those circumstances.. However, I'd never do it in a top loader with an agitator.

best,
chris

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Chris Holzman
Moniteur D' Escrime

[space_cadet]

I know someone who machine washes their lame in the gentle cycle. I don't know why but he doesn't run into any problems and does it often.
I have an Uhlmann lame and I hand wash it gently in cold water and then hang dry it.

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Cadet à Space

[big poppa]

I hand wash my lame in cold water after use ( I sweat like a Pig). I use windex and /or dishwashing liquid. My lame has lasted ten years would it pass at a meet , no but there are no real dead spots and it works welll in pratice( I used in in competition for about 6 years)