Update 2: Competition Equipment and the Conversion From Bayonet to 2-Prong

As we begin tournament season again and we have more athletes participating in sanctioned competitions, here are some reminders and updates about tournament equipment.

Remember, required uniform pieces for competition are:

-Appropriate mask:  Most of our fencers are foil fencers, so they will need a foil mask.
-Jacket
-Plastron
-Chest guard with FIE padding (Women only)
-Glove (no holes must be in the glove)
-Knickers
-Knee high socks (long enough to cover up to your knickers)
-Appropriate shoes:  It doesn’t have to be fencing shoes, but believe it or not, we’ve had people come to competition in Crocs and sandals.
-Lamé

A word about masks and lamés.  About half of the local sanctioned tournament we attend do not do an equipment check.  That will happen on strip when you test fair.  So we always check our own weapons before the tournament to make sure they pass weight, and are actually working.  The same with your lamé, do not bring a lamé with dead spots.  Tournaments at Apex and Durham typically have an armorer to test equipment, and they do so with ohm meters, so they are checking for conductivity of your lamé and body cords.  Although your lamé may work find during practice, there may be high resistance areas.

Tip:  If you are using your own lamé during weekly practice, always keep your lamé separate from anything sweaty, don’t crumble it up or fold it, always have it straight or hang it.  You don’t have to wash it every time, but you don’t want to let it remain damp and sweaty.  Pat it down with a towel to dry it and hang it.  But you will want to occasionally  clean it.  Instructions to cleaning your lame can be found here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1e6m0Mu1106DH_53dq2ld_l-3n1na-afm/view

Regardless, the lamé material will eventually get high resistance or lose conductivity all together.  And you will have to replace them.  But with good care, they’ll last a while.

Equipment, this is what is required to be on strip:
-2 weapons
-2 body cords
-2 mask cords

That’s the requirement, but what happens when one doesn’t pass armory check or breaks on strip?  They you only have 1 remaining.  If you are an active sanctioned tournament competitor and possibly plan on doing regional and national events, you may want to consider always having 3 working pieces of equipment. (To give you an idea, Isabelle has 4 working weapons, and about 5 body cords and 5 mask cords.  Coach Gerhard has 6 working weapons, and who knows how many body cords and mask cords he’s accumulated.)

You may have heard Coach Gerhard before on the Thursday before we travel for a weekend event, if you are competing check your equipment tonight!  And if you need extra equipment, let me know so we can pack extra.  Body cords and mask cords are relatively cheap, whenever I order equipment for myself, I would add a body cord and mask cord to my order.  I usually like to have 5-6 cords in my personal bag.

CONVERSION FROM BAYONET TO 2-PRONG

First let me give you a bit of history.  For the longest time, fencers/clubs either used 2-prong or bayonet plugs and body cords.  But a few years ago, the FIE (International Fencing) banned bayonet body cords, why?  In international events, the armorer at the event provides the body cords so they knew they all work and they got tired of having 2 sets of body cords to manage.  So FIE tournaments just said no more bayonet body cords and plugs.  Leon Paul stopped selling all their bayonet pieces.

In the USA, bayonets were not banned because fencers provided their own body cords during competition.  But the equipment suppliers are now no longer restocking their bayonet supplies and only selling off the remainder of their stock, eventually, you will not be able to purchase bayonet parts.  So bayonet, will just eventually become obsolete.

Weapons and body cords at the club…

We will eventually transition our club weapons and body cords to two prong sockets and plugs.  But to convert them all would cost roughly $700.  So that’s not going to happen immediately.  But I may start with the adult weapons first then convert the kids weapons.  But we have plenty of parts so we’ll still be good for a good long time.

You have your own electric weapon and body cords, and they are bayonet…

Eventually you’ll want to consider converting them to 2-prong.  But you don’t need to yet.  As long as you plan ahead and get extra equipment from the club for a competition if you need it, you’ll have plenty of equipment for a tournament.  The challenge over the weekend was we had some fencers that were competing that did not bring extra equipment, and I didn’t know to bring extra equipment.  Definitely when the club transitions to 2 prong, you should change yours over too.  But the change over won’t happen for probably another 1-2 years, unless I manage to find a grant or $700 windfall that can convert all our weapons in one big go.

You already have 2-prong electric weapons, body cords, or plan on purchasing new complete weapons and body cords…

If you already have 2-prong weapons, great, keep them that way.  If you plan on purchasing complete electric weapons and body cords, I would consider getting 2 prong instead of bayonet parts.  Just know in the meantime while I still haven’t converted, I may not have extra parts to fix 2-prong parts.

Let me know if you have any questions!