Equipment Management/ cleaning

Good equipment management, like in all sports, is also important in fencing. Unlike other sports,however, taking care of your equipment is even more vital. Proper equipment maintainance can drastically increase the expected lifespan of any piece of equipment. Moreover, it prevents specific equipment from having deadspots which can prevent it from being permitted in competition.

general tips:

After use it is important to hang all equipment to dry, otherwise the sweat will stick to the fabric

Equipment with metal meshs should not be hung in direct sunlight this puts your gear at risk of having deadspots, instead leave the to dry away from the sun

electrical components such as the bodywire and the head wire should be tested regularly

When not in use make sure to keep your sabre in a safe container to prevent it from rusting. Either buy a bag to keep you sabre in or build your own case with a pvc pipe.

Cleaning

Mask:The mask is made of an metal mesh an inner lining. Each component needs to be cleaned individually. For the metal mesh simply wipe down all the accumilated sweat with a rag or towel in order to dry it off. Make sure not to use the a rough towel to preserve the metal lining. The inner lining is attached with velcro; simply detatch and wash it as normal.

Breaches and Jacket: There is no special cleaning needed for these two simply wash them in the washing machine

Glove: Simply handwash then leave to dry.

Lame: The Lame is an important piece of equipment that needs to be clean delicately. soak the lame in a basin of soapy water. Afterwards towel it off then leave it to dry.

An alternative ways of cleaning the lame, while not adviced, is to hang it in the shower while taking a bath.

The sabre: When trying to clean a rusty sabre it is advice to sand off the rust with sand paper then apply metal polish. Or to use a chemical solution to loosen the rust then to sand off.

Order of equipment

There is alot of different pieces of equipment one needs to wear when bouting properly. Early on you need to learn what is appropriate to wear and in what order any piece of gear can be worn

Shadow fencing: This type of bout has no special requirement. Similar to Shadow boxing, you dont need any equipment.

Non-electric bouts: This type of bout does not need the use of any of the electrical equipment such as the head and body wire as well as the lame. The first thing you need to wear is the breaches. These usually come with suspenders simply put over the shoulder or tuck inside the breaches if ou arent going to use it. Afterwards is the jacket. the Jacket goes after the breaches because the strap beneath the jacket will help hold up the breaches. Lastly, the mask and glove can be worn in either order but its advice that while you arent bouting you should not be wearing your mask.

Electric fencing: Normally done during competitions, requires you to wear the most. First, gear up like you would for non-electric fencing. Then, either slide the part of the body wire that attaches to blade throught the right sleeve of your lame. attach the metal clip of the bodywire to the lame as well. Afterwards put on the lame. Remember the body wire goes between the jacket and lame.

For the headwire, attach the clip to both your mask and the metal tag at the back of the lame. It is vital that you attach these wires properly otherwise there may be technical issues for the scoring.