StM non-FIE epee blade.

i've been through 4 of these blades now and they seem to have a good feel. these blades are fairly well balanced and have good point control for a non FIE blade. these blades seem to start out very stiff and over time they get more flexable. these blades need to be bent back in to shape a lot and after hits tend to bend up a bit. overall a good cheap blade these tended to last me about 4 months with three nights of fencing per week.

I've had one of these blades for about 4 months now, of once to twice a week fencing for 1 to 3 hours at a time. It's the purplish greenish color, and I like it, but its started to rust a bit. It's been my first epee blade, and its worked out well so far. When I first got it, it was unlordly stiff. After a week or so of trying to put a bit of a bend in it, I got a nice healthy bend in, and at that point the flexibility improved extensively. As of now, its more flexible than that, but not as flexible as I'd like. Flicks to the arm and wrist are achievable, but not too easy. Something I do appreciate is that its very solid. People will try to beat my blade out of the way, and its like trying to beat a brick wall.

My instructor got some of the same blade, and they are much more flexible than this one was. Maybe inconsistent quality. Overall, if you're a beginner who needs a cheap epee, this one is worth a look. I'm about ready to buy a new one, though.

Update:

A few weeks after writing the original review, the tang completely stripped, and would be pretty much dead for most people. I ended up ordering a new epee, and I welded a new tang onto this one so I could use it as a spare.

This was my very first Epee blade, and it is a very good blade. It DOES get whippy after extended use and is hard to get a good downward bend, (the whippiness doesn\'t bother me, I do fence with a Vnity), and can get some really funky bends. I got fleched into, and counter attacked, and it obtained a 45 degree bend. With some careful \"surgical\" re-bending, it was fine until it eventually broke 6 months after purchase with regular use and tournaments.

I had a StM gold colored blade which lasted for about four months. At first, it refused to take any bend going down. When it finally broke in, it had good balance and better than average tip control. In two months, it became too whipy and lost all point control. The blade took a hard kink and snapped 5 inches from the tip when I tried to bend it straight.

Overall, this is a good chice for beginners and for practice weapons. Don\'t expect a very long life span.

Bought two of these at Mid-Atlantic Sections in 2005 and had both develop nasty lateral bends that could not be removed within the first three months.