neccesarry nickers?

[deadly lefty]

HeY
I usually fence in smaller tournements that never required nickers so I never worried about them but I see more and more fencers with them. do they really improve flexability.etc? and if they are a big help would you point me in the direction of a good pair?(something online)
thanks to all

[Craig]

Check out the equipment vendors listed at:
http://www.fencing101.com/search/Equipment/

You'll find that a lot of fencers prefer the "name" brands over the "house/bargain" brands due to better fit, etc. The overall impression of Triplette is that it's a good value, but designed for people shaped like boxes.

Name brands:
Leon Paul
Uhlmann/AllStar
Prieur
Estoc

House Brands
Triplette
Physical Chess
Blue Gauntlet
Blade

You can check to see if there are any reviews at the Product Reviews section on the left.

HTH,
Craig
I'm sure

[deadly lefty]

wow I remembered why I love this site and this technology age so much. at noon I thought "do I really need knickers?" then I asked and 20 minutes later my knickers are in the mail. thanks craig

[retardedspleen]

Good knickers = Good stuff


Chris Triplett

[Boo Boo]

How I love how things translate from "American" to British "English"...

To us, "knickers" = under pants/briefs etc...

Suppose wearing no knickers is one way to avoid VPL...

Boo

[shmagoogin77]

are knickers really that needed

[acidiccherry]

in singapore we always need to wear it, even if the competition is a small one or something else. you know, singapore[[safety!]].awww...
i mean, we really need it.

[Craig]

Originally posted by shmagoogin77
are knickers really that needed

Yes, it's part of the uniform. Read the rules.

[CarlKnoch]

I'm curious. Where in the US do they NOT require knickers to be worn at a USFA sanctioned event? Are the events you're fencing in just local tourneys that are not USFA sanctioned?

[DanInMI]

Originally posted by Craig
Yes, it's part of the uniform. Read the rules.

Actually, the rules do not specify knickers. They specify pants that are made of sufficiently durable material, that fasten below the knee.

[DanInMI]

Originally posted by Boo Boo
How I love how things translate from "American" to British "English"...

To us, "knickers" = under pants/briefs etc...

Suppose wearing no knickers is one way to avoid VPL...

Boo

I have noticed that a few of the fencings supplies catalogs refer to them as "pants" rather than "knickers." I think that is a good idea.

In the US, to a non-fencer, "knickers" are the dorky pants worn by Eddie Munster, Buster Brown, and Payne Stewart. Calling fencing pants knickers does nothing to help the image of fencing in the US.

Similar pants are worn in other sports, like American football, but they don't call them "knickers." They are "football pants."
Dan

Ps. An Australian girl in my High School once asked me if I had a "rubber." I was feeling pretty lucky until I discovered that all she really wanted was an eraser.

[edew]

I call them pants. Knickers do mean undies for the folks across the pond, and britches is just too obtuse for the American mind.

Anyway, you're required to wear something that robustly cover the legs (and not in a way a dress would). Of course the rules will not specify a word, because the rules writers don't want someone to get picky and say, "Johnny isn't wearing knickers, he's wearing long pants" or something like that.

Instead, like any other good rulebook, it specifies the physical dimensions of the leg lower body covering:

Must go below the knee.
Must overlap the jacket by 10cm
Must be made of robust material
Must not have seams or pockets that can catch a point
...

Of course you are required to wear one in competition.

[D'Artagnan1673]

Originally posted by DanInMI

Ps. An Australian girl in my High School once asked me if I had a "rubber." I was feeling pretty lucky until I discovered that all she really wanted was an eraser.

LOL!!! I cannot help but laugh at that. Language is amazing sometimes isn't it?

[Boo Boo]

Yes, "pants" also means underpants/underwear to us too

We call fencing knickers/pants breeches, but that is a rather old fashioned term...

I took part in an American fencing competition a couple of years back (Duel in the Desert) and found the use of different terminology quite interesting:
- what we call piste, you call strip
- had never heard the phrase "on the deck" before (had to work that one out...)
am sure there are others too...

Am sure your Australian friend soon worked out that useing the term "eraser" was far less embarrassing... (we use rubber, to mean eraser, in the UK too).

Boo

[npkeith]

On the whole English/American thing -

Never talk to a Brit about a fanny pack - to them its a "bum bag" (at least it was when I lived there) - in Britain, "fanny " refers to a different portion of the anatomy (feminine, same general area, but shall we say anterior, rather than posterior.)

Likewise, to a Brit, "fags" are cigarettes, not homosexuals.

go figure.
-Keith

[Capt. Slo-mo]

At a number of USFA sanctioned meets I've been to, knickers and "long pants of a sufficently robust material" seem interchangeable. Most of the fencers who compete here at the NAC level seem to like to wear fencing pants when competing at the local level. More comfy or something.

For instance, we had to enforce the "knickers only" rule for our JO qualifier. There was little rejoicing.

[Delmont]

They haven't been required at any of the local, USFA sanctioned tournaments I've been to. Good thing because I don't have a pair as of yet and probubly won't be able to get a pair until next september. Everyone probubly already knows that I don't like them, but if you can afford them it would be a good idea to get them. There are those out there that think you shouldn't be able to fence in anything else, ever, and if they are holding or are in charge of an event you might not get to fence.

[Almightynoitall]

Originally posted by D'Artagnan1673
LOL!!! I cannot help but laugh at that. Language is amazing sometimes isn't it?

Have any of you ever heard Eddie Izzard's skit on the english language? It's absolutely hilarious!

[D'Artagnan1673]

no I haven't. Where should I look for it?

[JC Fedorczyk]

Eddie Izzard has a DVD available that is really quite a riot. You can get it online. www.izzard.com If you're in the states Best buy carries it online. Very funny "intellectual" comedy.