What equipment is needed for fencing Epee? At the very least a fencing mask and a sword are all the equipment needed. Although, to be perfectly honest, you could make due with safety glasses and a willow wand... The most important things to have are an active mind and a healthy dose of creativity. The gear you will want (as it makes life easier) are: A fencing mask, a jacket (full or half), gloves, and a dry epee. If you are planning on competing, you will want to get your hands on a foil mask, a full jacket, underarm protector, chest protector (for women), knickers, long socks, some light shoes, gloves, body cord, and an electric epee. We will have a look at all of these in some detail presently.

The Mask is for protecting your eyes from the point of your opponents epee, and it protects your face on the off chance their blade breaks, a broken epee can be quite sharp! So be very careful when you choose your mask. The mask should fit snuggly around your face for maximum protection and comfort. The chin should just fit into the front, on a ledge or pad directly over the bib. If your mask does not fit snuggly, or is two small either try a different size or try bending the mask (there are only a couple of sizes, so your head may be an in between size) press firmly (or squeeze) on the sides of the mask to make it longer. Do the same on the top and bottom to shorten it. When it finally fits your head, take the large tab on the back and bend it on to your head. Now it should be secure. Note: Make sure your bib (the cloth on the bottom of your mask) stays down, if necessary, iron it with a crease down the middle. This piece of heavy duty fabric protects your neck from accidental breakage!

Jackets are heavy and hot. However they are also life savers. An instructor of mine once told me a story: One day when his instructor was teaching him (He does classical fencing), the tip broke off one of the swords, and my instructor hit his instructor with the broken blade. It scared the heck out of both of them! The moral of the story is: Good jacket save lives. My instructors blade was stopped by his instructor's jacket. Without it, the man might have been killed. Good jackets are not cheap, but they are durable and puncture resistant. A good company will test their jackets and masks with a punch to insure your safety. A jacket should fit snuggly everywhere. No folds or loose parts that can snag a point, because a touch (even a snag) on the jacket counts as a point for your opponent! Be sure that it is not so tight as to bind on you during a match. These pieces of equipment come either as full jackets (two sleeves and a back), Half jackets (one sleeve and front only), in cotton (more protection) and in stretch (cooler).

Underarm Protectors are like light weight half-jackets worn under full jackets for competition as the extra protection helps keep liability down in case of a really bad accident (read "rank-beginner vs wild, uncontrolled opponent with a cheap Chinese blades). They are lighter and a good halfway measure between heavy protection and t-shit cool. They are required for competitive fencing.

Chest Protectors. They can come either as a separate, armor like vest or as inserts for a jacket. Most jackets have the necessary pockets. These are required for women involved in competition, but not for men. It really would be a better idea for men to invest in a cup (the protective cup, not for drinking!) than one of these. However, male versions are available for guys who just got out of heart surgery, Just FYI.

Knickers, the funny overalls of fencing. These offer protection to the thigh and groin, they are not needed outside competition play. Basically knickers are tight overalls (they need to fit like a jacket, tight as possible without hindering movement), complete with shoulder straps. These fancy pants only go down to the knee, so be sure to get long socks so your legs are not showing. getting rapped with a sword on bare skin hurts like you wouldn't believe...

Light, high traction shoes are necessary for the high speed action on the strip. Some companies make special fencing shoes, but any shoe that covers the whole foot should do. Choose something light with high traction. "A pound on the foot is like five on the back" as the backpackers say, so please don't slow yourself down with heavy footwear; be sure that the shoe grips well, there are few things as humiliating as falling during a bout.

Gloves protect the hand like socks protect the shin. Except better. Leather gloves used in fencing are often padded for added protection. A good glove will fit like, well, a ...glove... Snug but not too tight. that way you can feel your weapon as though through a second skin. A tight glove will impede movement, and a loose glove will either slip or prove to be a barrier to good finger control.

The Body Cord is very simply an electric cord running from the socket on your electric weapon to the cord that comes out of the scoring machine. It goes through the mysterious "D" ring on your off hand side, up your back, down your weapon hand sleeve, though your glove, and out that little hole everybody thinks is a manufacturing defect; then plugs into the handy socket on your electric foil. Yeah! now you can score!!

Electric Epees, ahh, more jokes have been made about "electric" fencing than there are stars in the sky. But in all seriousness, electric swords make the Ref's job easier. So we like that, but I suspect we will all continue to make jokes. The electric epee is pretty much a regular old epee with a button switch on the tip. The switch makes a circuit when contact has been made. Once contact has been made the switch opens (is depressed) and connects the circuit. Then the buzzer on the scoring machine goes off and a light indicates who scored a point.

Practice (also known as "Dry") epees are like electric epees without any socket or button switch. They are just good old fashioned foils. Practice swords tend to be less expensive than electrics, and are more than adequate for most beginners. When choosing any epee be sure to get one that is made by a reputable company or blade smith. Do not get a Chinese or Russian blade, since they are of an inferior quality and prone to breakage. Make sure that you get one marked #5 or 35 as these mean the blade is 35in long, which is regulation. You can get a shorter blade, but this will put you at a serious disadvantage. Be sure to get a bag of plastic or rubber tips for your practice foil (boil or microwave tips before installing), they only cost $0.99 and help keep jackets intact.

What are some reputable companies? Try Triplette or Blue Gauntlet for begging gear. The Fencing Post makes good stuff, and they carry some Ningrini and Leon Paul (both high end gear manufacturers). Santeli made good stuff before they closed shop, so if you run across some of their stuff, especially blades: Buy it! Its high quality stuff. AMFence carries good stuff, too. Physical Chess is supposed to carry good stuff, so feel free to check with them. And Zen Warrior Armory. They carry high quality gear, although mostly geared toward the SCA and Classical crowds, the equipment is good.

Erik Schlagel, December 7, 2009
  

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