Foil point complete super PTFE coated barrel (incl wire)

The first time I saw the new Leon Paul foil points I bought one. I thought nothing was more frustrating than having to rewire a blade because of a stripped screw or denting a brand new barrel beyond repair. I was wrong, the most frustrating problem is springs that won’t pass weight.



I bought the Leon Paul point from their booth at the Summer Nationals along with some extra springs and screws. I mounted the new point on one of my son’s Vnitis and it passed weight. He fenced with it in practice for a few weeks, but when I retested it the night before a tournament in late July, it no longer passed weight. Rather than stretch the spring, I replaced it with a new one.



The point was fine for the first few pool bouts, but then it didn’t pass weight on the 4th or 5th bout. I replaced the spring again and this time I stretched the new one to be sure. It passed weight on the first DE, but when I tested it before the second DE it didn’t pass weight again.



Clearly there is a problem with the springs that needs to be addressed by Leon Paul. Until it is, the tip is unusable in tournaments.



UPDATE - Since this post was first put up, I have communicated with Leon Paul. They advise that they believe the springs are OK, but that something is interfering with the travel of the tip. Their suggestion is to first back out each screw 1/2 turn. If that has no effect then they say to remove the tip and clean the barrel.



I tried backing out the screws but this had no effect. I disassembled the point & removed the tip. Several tiny black/grey flecks of material did come out, (chips off the coating?). I then cleaned the barrel with electronic part spray cleaner and reassembled. The weapon passed weight again.



I now want to see how long it will continue to pass weight and, if it fails again, whether the same fix will work.



SECOND UPDATE - After a few more practices I retested the weapon and it once more failed to pass weight. Backing out the screws had no effect, neither did cleaning out the barrel and tip.



Except for the problem with the springs, this point is a great idea. Despite my son's penchant for mangling barrels and shearing off screw heads, the barrel is dent-free and the screw heads are still like new. The unreliability of the springs means that the trade off for using this point is constant vigilence, the distraction that comes with concern over an unreliable weapon, and maybe a red card.

I love to try new tips as I have a love/hate relationship with the German tips. I love the ease of use until they finally break months later, and then the hate sets in. Even for a simple cleaning I usually have to remove the entire Germn tip as the screws become unusable after a month or two of hard fencing.



I was therefore eager to try this new style of tip. After all it sounds about perfect on paper!



I put the new tip through its paces installed on a Fleche Elite loaner blade for about a month before it self-destructed. The button face of the tip is held on by a free-floating washer that the tip screws attach to. This is in turn held on by a very flimsy grommet that broke during fencing and sent the tip and spring sailing off.



After recovering the pieces I realized that the only way to fix it would be to completely replace the button tip. The barrel and the screws held up well though!



So to sum up, I found this tip unit to be a great idea that needs further development. The screws and the barrel seem to be very durable, but the internal electronics are flimsy at best and once it breaks, it is difficult to repair. You would be better served by a French or German tip in my opinion.

By reading the marketing hype, one would think this point the solution to the common problems with plague the standard Uhlmann tips.



It's a case of one step forward, two steps back:



It is true that the screws do not protrude from the point, and are thus less susceptible to damage, and in 3 weeks fencing with the weapon, I didn't sustain a single dent to the barrel which interfered with operation.



However, they only lasted 3 weeks. In that time, fencing with two brand-new Flickmaster blades with these Leon Paul points, both springs had degraded to the point where it was clear that they would not pass a weight test. Stretching the springs saved them for another practice, but they failed at the end of practice.



In the 3+ years I have been fencing with German points, I've had a weapon fail weight exactly twice, both due to a dented barrel. The assumption that the spring will nearly always hold up the foil weight is a dear one, and not being able to rely on that is a large jump backwards.



Also, the barrels contain no flat places to put pliers on. With the Uhlmann barrels, a loose barrel is a minor issue, easily cleared up with two pairs of needlenose pliers. The Leon Paul points do not have that, which not only affects tightening the barrel, but also removing it, which is the first thing I'm apt to do if I ever acquire a weapon with this tip on it.