How to Buy Fencing Equipment

Basic fencing equipment includes a mask, jacket, knickers, knee socks, shoes, a glove, a foil, and a few spare blades, and may be purchased for less than the cost of a high-end tennis racket. Fencing supply stores should have all that you need.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Fencing Gear

1. Choose a mask that has sufficient interior padding, does not press on the top of the head or chin, and fits comfortably.

2. Put the mask under your arm and squeeze the sides closer together if the fit seems a bit too loose.

3. Pull the sides of the mask slightly apart with your hands if the mask seems a bit too tight.

4. Select a fencing jacket that is well-padded and stitched, with a quilted pattern for maximum protection.

5. Try on knickers to be sure they fit, but still allow stretching in the crotch so as not to impair lunging.

6. Be sure knee socks are long enough to pass over the knee and up under the cuffs of your knickers, so as to cover the entire leg.

7. Choose your fencing shoes as you would any others, making sure there is ample room in the toes.

8. Get a glove specifically for foil fencing, making sure that the one you choose is not too tight and that the sleeve of your fencing jacket will fit into the glove's cuff.

9. Purchase a standard Italian foil if the store has one. Otherwise, ask it to order one, or buy a standard French foil.

10. Reject suggestions to buy a foil with an orthopedic grip.

11. Get a wrist strap if you buy an Italian foil.

Tips & Warnings

• Until you are sure that fencing is for you, avoid spending money on top-of-the-line items and other equipment you don't need.
• Women will need to purchase a pair of breast protectors, which are inserted into pockets inside the jacket.
• Men should wear an athletic supporter with a protective shield.
• Some fencing supply stores offer thrifty "starter kits," which include a mask for foil only, a jacket, a glove, and a French foil.
• Fencing shoes are frequently expensive. You may want to wear a well-made pair of court shoes or other athletic shoes with low heels and soles instead.
• A listing of fencing supply stores can be found on the United States Fencing Association's Web site, at www.usfencing.org/contacts/corporate.asp.
• Under no circumstances should you use your beginner's foil mask to fence with the other weapons, the saber or spada.

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on 8/26/2006 I suggest you look around and see what other fencers in your club are using and ask what they like about it. Don't forget to ask your coach. If they have pistol grips, ask to try it. Hold it in your hands. See how it feels. Since there are different variations of pistol grips (Italian Visconti, Germans, Zikovic brands, etc) and sizes, you should ask a fellow club member or coach to try one before you start purchasing your grip (runs from 7 to 15 dollars). This holds true for French grips as well. If you use one of these, ask who made it and what type of material it is made of. This will decide which grip is for you, and may save you a couple of bucks down the road.

on 2/2/2006 The sure sign of a weak fencer is one who has progressed to a pistol grip quickly. It is all too easy to hide rudimentary flaws with a pistol grip. Learn the French grip and use it until you can defeat most everyone that crosses your path, then continue on the French grip for 2 or 3 times longer than it took to master. Then you can move on to pistol grip. Remember that it is a modern advancement, a whim if you will, and many put their very lives into a French grip and did just fine.

on 11/22/2005 Quilting is not necessarily a sign that your jacket will provide adequate protection. In a beginner's jacket, look first for a strong, durable fabric. Heavy white canvas is a popular choice. Older FIE jackets are made of kevlar, which is bulletproof but which deteriorates under uv-light; modern FIE jackets are generally made of ballistic nylon. Everyone has a different opinion on what a good beginner jacket is made of, but in my experience, a layer or two of heavy canvas offers greater protection than two layers of finer cotton, even with batting between them. Canvas also tends to make a cooler jacket than quilted fabric does.

on 5/22/2007 The pistol grip has displaced form and control as the primary function of fencing. Because something is easier, does not make it better, or more functional. It is simply a by-product of laziness and unwillingness to learn a tool the right way, the way it was done for hundreds of years. I find it very hard to believe that over the 400 or so years, fencing has come to the touch for touch sport we know, no-one had ever come up with a pistol grip or something like it in all those years. It makes you realize that finesse, finger control, and the mental aspect of fencing overrides any force that is amplified by the pistol grip.

on 11/22/2005 With foil blades, they break really easily if you get the most inexpensive kind. Be sure that they're FIE approved. FIE blades are almost three times as expensive, but it's worth it, because in the time it'd take to break an FIE blade, you'd break five less expensive blades.