SG Electric Foil Blade
5 out of 10 people found this review helpful
Summary: Great for flicking!July 19th, 2003
The SG blades come in two varieties, soft or medium. The medium blades I have had have not held up very well, but the soft blades have outlasted my expectations. I still have two from the original four that I bought about 8 months ago. One is out of service until I get around to replacing the tip, but the other is a backup/loaner weapon that I actually break out at tourneys for certain situations.
The overall blade itself is the standard square foil shape need the tang, and flattens out as it approaches the tip. The whole thing is finished in a dark bronze/brown finish that both serves to protect the blade from rust and corrosion and helps it not look like an incredibly cheap blade.]
The finish is very durable, and has lasted longer than the finish on any of my SM weapons. The blade does have fairly soft sharp edges, so if you fence against a strong-armed person it will quickly develop nicks and chips. These are easily taken down with a medium grade file.
As I mentioned earlier these blades are great for flicking, and have a very good blade dynamic. They tend to flex about midway up the blade. The weapons are light and buoyant with good point feel.
Having said that the soft ones tend to take a little getting used to as they are so flexible that just a hard parry will send them wobbling, and forget about a beat attack against an experienced fencer. His blade will be back in position before your tip straightens out, and if you are not careful the tip of your weapon might just get you an off target on the floor!
The medium blades are a bit more reasonable as far as their whippy-ness. It is much less extreme and easy to control. That coupled with their lightweight gives them an excellent feel. The trade off is that these blades seem very fragile. Both of mine have broken within about 4 months.
All things being equal, I would not say that these are good blades for beginners or for serious competition. They are too whippy for new fencers to control well, and a heavy competitor will snap them very quickly. Where this blade shines is either with the person just learning the flick, the young person who cannot flick or use for long periods a heavier blade, or the local competitor that needs a good flicking blade but does not fence more than a couple of times a week.
The overall blade itself is the standard square foil shape need the tang, and flattens out as it approaches the tip. The whole thing is finished in a dark bronze/brown finish that both serves to protect the blade from rust and corrosion and helps it not look like an incredibly cheap blade.]
The finish is very durable, and has lasted longer than the finish on any of my SM weapons. The blade does have fairly soft sharp edges, so if you fence against a strong-armed person it will quickly develop nicks and chips. These are easily taken down with a medium grade file.
As I mentioned earlier these blades are great for flicking, and have a very good blade dynamic. They tend to flex about midway up the blade. The weapons are light and buoyant with good point feel.
Having said that the soft ones tend to take a little getting used to as they are so flexible that just a hard parry will send them wobbling, and forget about a beat attack against an experienced fencer. His blade will be back in position before your tip straightens out, and if you are not careful the tip of your weapon might just get you an off target on the floor!
The medium blades are a bit more reasonable as far as their whippy-ness. It is much less extreme and easy to control. That coupled with their lightweight gives them an excellent feel. The trade off is that these blades seem very fragile. Both of mine have broken within about 4 months.
All things being equal, I would not say that these are good blades for beginners or for serious competition. They are too whippy for new fencers to control well, and a heavy competitor will snap them very quickly. Where this blade shines is either with the person just learning the flick, the young person who cannot flick or use for long periods a heavier blade, or the local competitor that needs a good flicking blade but does not fence more than a couple of times a week.
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