How To Repair Fencing Glove

Fencing Repair Kit If y'all think that weapons issues happen just to novice fencers, retrieve again. Issues with weapons happen all the time to every fencer, fifty-fifty to globe form fencing athletes.

Weapon Problems can be Major for Fencers

One such incident happened in October 2015 in the Men'southward Foil World Cup team upshot correct hither, in San Jose, California. Information technology was only at the end of the quarterfinal match between Russian federation and Japan, before the last ninth tour. The two anchors from each team were the almost recent world champions, Alexey Cheremisinov, Individual Men's Foil 2014 Earth Champion from Russia, and Yuki Ota, Individual Men'due south Foil 2015 Globe Champion from Nihon. The Russian team was leading 40:39 with the match going until the first team reaches a score of 45.

The referee checked Cheremisinov'south foil and it did not pass weight – an immediate yellow menu. Then the referee checked Alexey'due south second weapon and it had the aforementioned trouble. This resulted in a ruby card that brought the score to a tie at 40:40 before they even started to fence! This weapon's non-conformity cost the Russian team the lucifer as they lost 45:44. A uncomplicated weapons upshot price them the take a chance for a medal.

Nearly every fencer has likely experienced a similar and of course incredibly abrasive moment during the referee's inspection of their weapon before a tour – something doesn't work. So they get a yellow card, and sometimes even a red bill of fare for a second penalty which will be given to a fencer with a non-conforming or broken piece of equipment.

Fortunately, preventing most of the potential equipment bug is possible and fixing them by the fencer or their parent can be relatively piece of cake fifty-fifty in the heat of contest.

This post explains what should be in your fencing repair kit and which quick fixes you could practice during the competition to go along most of the problems away.

Just starting time let's see what might go wrong.

A Expert Routine Before Each Tour

You never know when something might break. A "perfect" weapon or body cord in a previous bout tin can easily become imperfect without warning. Do non try to appeal to the referee that "she but saw this weapon tested in a previous pool bout and everything was ok!" This happens all the time – a good weapon in a previous bout becomes a not-conforming weapon in this bout.

Why? The answer is very elementary – every piece of equipment has the potential to go wrong. A screw can loosen up during the tour and autumn out without you noticing it. A spring (force per unit area springs in foil and either pressure or contact springs in epee) can give in to the strength of a impact and become deformed, a wire can tear off without you noticing it, a body cord can break near the socket. And since some of these things tin exist impossible to discover during the bout and even do not touch performance (a screw will not bear on your touches), in one case you are back on the strip for the next bout, the referee will examination and see that there's non-compliance and thus penalize y'all without any mercy.

Bluntly I take rarely seen anyone (and I must admit – this includes myself with my own kids) who checks their weapon before every bout. If y'all can develop a skilful habit, for instance, rigorously checking before start of the pools and start of DE's or DE bouts, and doing quick visual inspections before each pool bout, and then information technology's a skillful step forward!

Fencing Repair Kits

Every bit is the case with every piece of equipment, things will inevitably interruption at some point in time, you better accept a repair kit in your fencing pocketbook to make small fixes before the adjacent bout. My recommendation to every fencer and their parents is this: always carry a repair kit in your fencing bag. Information technology will save you embarrassment, nerves and even money in the long run.

The content of the fencing toolkit differs for foil and epee, so I will explain separately what I recommend for y'all to have for each weapon. If you are only a foil or merely an epee fencer, you can skip on downward to the relevant for you section. If, still, y'all are a parent of two different weapons fencers like I am (my oldest daughter is an epee fencer while my iii other kids are foilists), so a combination of both toolkits is a proficient idea.

Content of Epee Repair Kit

Epee Weight – 750 gram
Pack of tip screws
Pack of contact springs
Pack of force per unit area springs
Pack of epee tips
Shim (modest and big)
If you argue with pistol a grip – inside/outside allen key (depending what type of hex nut you have)
Tester box
Screw driver for tiny screws
Screw driver for body cord, socket and prongs
Small white towel/cloth to spread out and do all the repairs on it
Pocket-sized utility knife
Pocket-size nil lock purse for used/broken parts
Pocket-size compartment handbag that fits all these and which you tin put inside your fencing pocketbook

Very important note: the spare parts (tips, screws, springs) must be the same type as your weapons. That means, if the weapon is assembled with High german point parts, for example, the respective spare parts must be all German language: screws, tips, contact and force per unit area springs.

What Can Go Wrong with Epee

In a competition epee is inspected for 4 major things by the referee:

All tip screws are in place
The epee holds required weight
The epee passes big shim test
The epee passes small shim examination

Also, prior to starting the bout, fencers should test that the weapon is properly grounded past touching each other's guards.

Simply said, if whatsoever of these v things (iv inspection points past the referee and bell guard testing by the fencer), isn't there, the fencer receives a yellowish card – even before the bout starts. Non a nice thing.

Also, a wire can be torn in few typical places: anywhere on the blade, near the bell guard and nearly the socket.

How to Fix Minor Things in Epee during Contest

So let's see how to repair affair that get wrong in a competition.

Beginning, check whether all tip screws are in identify. Likewise, tighten them. If one screw has fallen out, spread your pocket-sized white towel or textile on the floor or table (if you have an access to ane), put the tip of the epee on the towel and place a new spiral. The reason for the towel is because tip screws are non the easiest affair to put due to them being then tiny (and, let's admit, most probably your optics not what they used to be), so they would refuse to go in and will proceed to autumn out of their identify until you finally get them in. Yous tin can easily pick a falling screw upwards when you clearly see it on white cloth, and trust me – I lost more than i spiral when they roughshod onto the ground.

Next, connect the epee to the tester with the trunk cord. Test for the weight and both shims.

If the epee does not concord the weight – modify the pressure leap. Once more, spread the white cloth, put the epee tip on information technology, agree the tip with your finger and unscrew both screws. Accept the tip and the spring out of the butt. Supersede the pressure jump and screw everything back into the place.

If modest shim test fails, then the problem is with the contact spring. Yous can change only this leap, but I would postpone it to later on. Meanwhile I would just take a new tip that comes with the preinstalled contact spring and a new pressure leap and replace the old tip and spring with the new one. Later at home you can remove the contact spring from the tip and put a new one.

BTW, discard every bound that failed the test – springs are unrepairable (at to the lowest degree past united states mere mortal fencers).

Often the epee wire that is connected to the socket is torn. Absolutely, in the final few months it's happening less than before, given that the USFA made changes in the rules regarding how wires are allowed to be connected to the socket. Just still broken wires happen all the time.

In most cases you lot tin can easily repair it as well, even in the field weather condition of a tournament. Using a utility knife, cutting the spaghetti tube by the required length to expose the underlying wire and connect the wire to the respective prong on the socket (hither'southward where the screwdriver comes handy too!)

Very important – afterwards you complete every fix, carefully test the weapon again with weight and shim tests.

What tin go Wrong with Foil

Similar to epee, your foil can fail yous at any fourth dimension. Foil inspection by the referee is non as rigorous as it is with epee. Nevertheless, the weapon will be checked and you will be penalized if it's not good.

Virtually of the test will exist a weight test with a 500 gram weight.

But additional things might become incorrect. The most common in foil is that the tape wears out, which is not a technical fault and you will not be penalized with the bill of fare, simply you might punish yourself by not registering valid touches due to lack of the record.

How oftentimes have you seen beginners (or non so beginners) who take their foil bare without any record?

Content of Foil Repair Kit

The content of foil repair kit is very similar to the ane of epee, but of course with some pocket-sized differences.

Foil Weight – 500 gram
Pack of screws
Pack of foil pressure level springs
Pack of foil tips
If you debate with a pistol grip – an inside/outside allen fundamental (depending what blazon of hex nut you accept)
Tester box
Screw driver for tiny screws
Screw driver for socket prongs
Tape to isolate the foil terminate
Pocket-sized white towel/material to spread out and practise all the repairs on it
Small utility knife
Small zip lock bag for used/broken parts
Minor compartment bag that fits all these and which you can put inside your fencing bag

How to Repair Minor Things in Foil During the Competition

If the but trouble is the tape, and then remove the old record and put a new one. Tape wears out fast – information technology can be just few bouts and the tape might exist severely torn out. Changing the record in foil is equally mutual equally recharging the bombardment in your cellphone. Make information technology a habit to inspect the record now and then and supersede with a new one once signs of wear start showing up.

The weight problem is also easily fixable. Clear the record from the foil's end, put it on the white textile, unscrew the screws, have the tip and the spring out of the barrel, put a new pressure spring, put the tip back and fix with the screws and re-record the end.

Where to Buy a Fencing Repair Kit

The outset place to await for a fencing toolkit and its content is of form online. My favorite site for such things is Absolute Fencing Gear (*). Yous can purchase a testing kit box with an initial set of tools and complement information technology by calculation spare parts for either epee or foil. You can as well buy every item separately and put them in your own tool box.

The tools folio can be found here for Accented Fencing Gear.:

The parts pages are found here:

Epee repair kit
Foil repair kit

The other place that yous'll find fencing repair kits is at major regional and national tournaments such as RYC's, SYC's, ROC'south and NAC's, where some of the fencing vendors will set up up their berth and you tin shop there.

Now you know:

why y'all should acquit a repair kit in your fencing bag
what should exist in it
how to test your weapon for compliance and readiness to the bout
how to set things if they become wrong during the competition.

Nosotros hope you will follow this advice and never receive a yellow carte because of some preventable weapon problem. Y'all have enough worries prior to the bout – a yellow card should not be ane of them!

Good luck!

[*Full Disclosure – I do not receive any sort of bounty from Accented Fencing Gear for mentioning them here or recommending their make and none of the links are affiliated. The only reason I mention Absolute Fencing Gear here is because I personally store on their site nigh of the time and observe it good enough to employ their service and their stuff]