Cotton vs Poly

[spardacus]

Greetings ...

I would like to pose a question regarding Poly vs Cotton uniforms. I have always hated poly shirts, and wear nothing but cotton shirts because they are cooler.

I can see that the stretch factor would be great for the athleticism in fencing, but how warm is the poly jacket going to be?

How durable is the poly with respect to rips, runs and pulls in the fabric. With the plastron and lame, does the poly jacket offer adequate impact protection?

Finally, I am a male fencer at 5'11" and 175 pounds. What manufacturer would be best for a medium build such as mine?

Many thanks ...
I am spardacus

[Prometheus]

Originally posted by spardacus


I can see that the stretch factor would be great for the athleticism in fencing, but how warm is the poly jacket going to be?

How durable is the poly with respect to rips, runs and pulls in the fabric. With the plastron and lame, does the poly jacket offer adequate impact protection?

I am spardacus

Hopefully not warm at all. Staying warm during a bout shouldn’t really be an issue. Fencing is an indoor sport and you are wearing at least three layers on top and two on bottom if you wear anything under your uniform (recommended). It is extremely common to see fencers peel off at least their jacket between bouts to prevent getting overheated. It is not uncommon to see fencers wearing special athletic shirts under their uniforms that wick moisture and intentionally permit maximum airflow. Between bouts, if you are cold, especially if there is a long time in between bouts, you can put on a warm-up suit to retain heat. (Notice that even most winter athletes, ski/skate/sled don’t wear much at all in the way of insulation.)

The main problem with cotton is bulk. Wearing a cotton uniform is roughly equivalent to putting on 3 or 4 pairs of jeans over one another 5 or 6 when you count the plastron. This can noticeably impede you range of motion and is rather uncomfortable in the long run. If you intend on washing you uniform (appreciated, it also takes an extremely long time to dry.

If you are concerned about impact protection., which may indeed be an issue if you fence with allot of beginners, especially untrained epée or saber fencers, you can wear something padded or rigid. There are several companies that sell things like padded plastrons or rigid chest plates for men.

Durability hasn’t been a concern for anyone I have known. The synthetics do tend to get "fuzzy" a little more easily then denim, especially as a result of Velcro hooks attaching to anywhere they can, But I have never heard of this becoming a structural issue.

I started with all denim gear. My advice is that if you want so save money, buy "stretch" and save the cost of replacing the cotton stuff after a couple of months of fencing.

[canthidefromme]

Originally posted by Prometheus
Hopefully not warm at all. Staying warm during a bout shouldn’t really be an issue. Fencing is an indoor sport and you are wearing at least three layers on top and two on bottom if you wear anything under your uniform (recommended). It is extremely common to see fencers peel off at least their jacket between bouts to prevent getting overheated. It is not uncommon to see fencers wearing special athletic shirts under their uniforms that wick moisture and intentionally permit maximum airflow. Between bouts, if you are cold, especially if there is a long time in between bouts, you can put on a warm-up suit to retain heat. (Notice that even most winter athletes, ski/skate/sled don’t wear much at all in the way of insulation.)

I think he's more concerned with it being too warm, instead of not warm enough.

[Prometheus]

Originally posted by canthidefromme
I think he's more concerned with it being too warm, instead of not warm enough.

Yeah, I can see that now that I have re-read the post.

oops!

In my experience you bake in cotton.
Some synthetics are just as bad.

[WoodsideDr]

Synthetic fabrics definitely dry faster, so that might also be a consideration--if you are fencing regularly, or if you, like me, forget to wash your jacket until the night before you need it again.

[Black Jeebus]

Ive not had a problem drying my cotton jacket. I just tumble dry it for thirty minutes then turn it inside out and tumble dry for another thirty minutes.

[adidas33k]

I really love my strech nylon jacket. It's light, cool, and overheating has never been a problem. Even in the summer when I'm fencing in a gyn with no AC, in Tennessee, I'm fine.

[Foilboy]

Just oout of curiousity, what brand nylon jacket are u speaking of ADidas33k?

[MyraTrue]

Black Jeebus- and then you find out that your cotton jacket went from its original size to that of a child! No, seriously, you haven't had problems with the jacket shrinking because of the drying? My old canvas duct jacket (cotton) was awful for that. The sleeves got shorter and shorter, even though I wasn't drying it.

My input on this is that synthetics are generally cooler for my experience with jackets. However, as you go up in rating, I've noticed thats not quite the same any longer. My FIE mask and my FIE jacket are MUCH warmer than my old stuff was. My old cotton jacket was warmer than the poly I borrowed from time to time, but my FIE jacket was warmer than anything else.

But the protection and the good fit were worth it to me.

I bruised more in the poly jacket (low end BG or some such- as my friend calls it "wrapping yourself in a bed sheet") than in my old cotton one. I don't bruise much at all in my FIE one (*gives sad puppy dog eyes and exhibits last fading bruise* I feel cheated!)

Oh my... I need sleep. Er, hope there's SOMETHING useful in there!

[Black Jeebus]

I haven't had any toruble with it, but note that I'm using the tumble dry with no heat setting.

[MyraTrue]

ah- that'd make all the difference. Mine ended up in the dryer on the regular heat setting on accident once, and its never really fit again.

[spardacus]

I believe I have narrowed my search for a jacket to vendors ...

Does anyone have experience or knowledge of any of the products at the following links?

Such as double stitched seems, full direction stretch fabric, cuff design, liner at the collar, etc, etc??

Thank you

http://www.leonpaul.com/acatalog/Foil_Lame.html

http://www.sword-masters.com/catalog...&products_id=5

http://www.leonpaul.com/acatalog/Onl...e_350N_67.html

http://www.leonpaul.com/acatalog/Onl...e_350N_75.html

Many, Many Thanks!

[Foilboy]

f

[MyraTrue]

I haven't fenced with any of jackets, but I DO have the knickers that go with your last link- LP's 350N stretch competition grade. I've been very happy with their knickers for both fit and wear. I actually liked them enough to buy ANOTHER pair, despite there being cheaper places to buy (reads: in the US, less shipping).

My old duct knickers didn't do much about bruises and didn't give much freedom of motion. The LP pair I've got has. And they've survived the biweekly washing most of my kit gets when I'm fencing 5 days a week plus tournamenting weekends.

*shrugs* sorry I can't help you more, but I DO recomment the LP uniforms.

[Black Jeebus]

Wow you fence five days a week? I wish I could do that.

[Tireur]

I'm fencing 5 days a week plus tournamenting weekends.

Talk about the good old days. I did that for my first 5 years, then life took over................

[MyraTrue]

*whispers* shhh...

truth told, I HAVE no life. I'm a grad student, so I teach and take classes in the morning and afternoon, and every evening, its off to fence for me. University makes it a lot easier to do. I don't know that I'll be able to do it once "real life" reasserts itself.

But agh... you know how much stuff you go through when you fence that often? I mean, its crazy how often I've got to do laundry (yeah, I know, poooor Myra, she's just suffering something AWFUL )?

Even when I wasn't a student for 8 months, I still managed to find somewhere to fence 3 days a week. Its an addiction.

So it buying equipment! I have to stop myself from browsing vendors sites, cause I'll think "wow, I could use that!"

You can ALWAYS use more stuff.

[Tireur]

You can ALWAYS use more stuff

That's my policy.....

For a while I bent "real life" around fencing, but you can only do that for so long. Burn out is a bad thing.

[Black Jeebus]

Right now I'm in a phase of life where I'm almost always thinking of fencing. There's three parts to my life. I'm either fencing, wishing I was fencing, or talking to others about fencing (and consequently wishing I was fencing). It'll mellow eventually but right now I'm in fencing mode.

[MyraTrue]

*Laughing at this*

My life is usually similar. I'm either avoiding work for fencing, fencing just because, wishing I could be fencing because I wouldn't need to be working, or talking about fencing while neither working or fencing.

Or just feeling guilty that I'm not working on my grad work.

And thinking, "gee, I'd really love to have a spare pair of fencing shoes when these die. And my socks have big holes in them... and if I just..."

Stuff... its evil. Its wonderful too.