Old Equipment

[Ringoe]

My Mother was a national caliber fencer in her day (late 70's-early 80's) and she always had the best equipment available. When I decided to start fencing, I was able to use her blades and my Father's uniform. Now, with 30 year old equipment, namely the mask, blades, wires, and lamee, I am questioning the saftey of my setup. As you all know, equipment can get very expensive and for a college student, this is even more of a problem. My club has approved my equipment for use but does anyone have any advice on the topic? Should I buy new equipment? or keep what I have?

[oiuyt]

Standards for masks have changed greatly in that time. All of the rest it really depends on how the equipment was stored. A blade isn't going to get microfractures (the leading cause of breakage) if stored properly, regardless of how long it sits in storage. Wires and lame might corrode and become illegal, but again, if properly stored it's clearly possible that even this isn't an issue.

Get a local armorer who knows what they're doing to check it all over. Be especially careful with the mask (the only piece of safety equipment that you list). If it's all good then the fact that it's 20-25 years old shouldn't be a problem. My suggestion without being able to see the equipment is to replace the mask and use the rest if it seems to be in good condition.

-B :)

[neevel]

A mask that old will very likely not pass muster for competition today. The strength requirement for the mesh was increased in the early '80s, and if it has a snap-out bib then that's no longer permitted. Get it looked at and punch tested by an armorer. A new, entry level mask that will be competition-legal and could be expected to hold up for at least 2-3 years (depends on frequency and kind of use) will cost $60-80.

So long at the jacket, underarm protector, knickers, and glove are in good shape they will be OK. The lame and body cords affect scoring, not safety. You might want to have the lame tested to see if it still passes on resistance- no more than 5 ohms at any spot on the lame. A lame can have more than 5 ohms and still work just fine, but will not pass inspection at any tournament where lames are being tested. If the wires for the body cords are broken or corroded, you can just replace the wire with ordinary speaker or lamp-cord wire-- 22 gauge for Leon Paul cords, 18 gauge for most others. 1 ohm per line is the legal limit for body cords, and just like lames they will function just fine with more than that but not pass if tournament organizers are testing cords.

As long as the blades weren't subject to a lot of rust (light surface rust isn't serious), they should be OK. Of course, there's the matter of how worn-out they were at the time they went into storage-- fatigue and microfractures don't get caused by sitting in storage, but they also don't get cured by sitting in storage.

-Dave

[firebrand]

Guys, do you think new Hungarian or Russian made gear will do? I heard of a British fencing master refer to it.

It is inexpensive and may be worth buying for us with low incomes!! Any advice?

Firebrand.