Basic Gear Care

The Care and Feeding of Fencing Gear

Follow mfg instructions over my own.
Put your name on your gear with indelible marker.
Put your name on your gear with indelible marker.
Put your name on your gear with indelible marker.

 

Uniforms: Jackets, Knickers, Plastron (Underarm protector), gloves.

  • Follow mfg instructions over my own.
  • Wash in cold. Hang to dry. Do not bleach.
  • Sweaty uniforms stuffed into a fencing bag with weapons will get rust stains on them.
  • You can put the uniform in a gym bag, and then put the gym bag in the fencing bag.
  • Or, you can keep your uniform on a hanger.

Masks:

  • Hand wash in a sudsy bucket or sink.
  • Or wash alone on top shelf of dishwasher. Turn off auto dish-dry washer setting.
  • I like to keep my mask in a small, breathable nylon bag I had lying around. It protects the insulated mesh from incidental wear.

Lame: (“lah-may” or sometimes pronounced “Lame”, as in Lame-o)

The youth lame is an inexpensive lame designed to last about a year. More expensive lames that last multiple years are not desired for youth as the kids outgrow them before they stop working.
 
It is possible to destroy a lame very quickly through misuse.

Lames quit working for 2 main reasons:

  1. The metal threads are fragile and can break.
  2. The metal threads will rust (oxidize).
  • Do not wad up your lame and stuff it in fencing bag. The threads will break, it will rust, and you will have turned a good lame into a bad washcloth.
  • After fencing turn the lame inside out and put it on a hanger.
  • Once every few months or so, gingerly hand wash in bathtub by patting it in shallow water (or let the shower kinda rinse through it).
  • Use no detergent. (If that thought galls you, you might try Woolite).
  • Do not wring.
  • Drip dry.

Note: Water doesn’t cause rust/ oxidation. Salt in your sweat causes the rust/ oxidation.

What I do: Every month or two I rinse my lame in the shower thoroughly. Then I hang it and let it drip-dry in the shower. Then My wife moves it someplace else. Then I forget to bring it with me to fencing. Although the method is imperfect, my lame’s do seem to last a very long time…

Foils:

  • No special care is typically required.
  • Eventually they will need repair of some kind. They always do.
  • If they get rusty, knock the rust off with fine sandpaper, synthetic or metal steel wool, or a scotch-bright pad. A bit of oil or even wax can be used to reduce rust formation.

Body cord:

  • No special care is typically needed.
  • Eventually they will need repair of some kind. They always do.
  • The hardest thing about body cords is not losing them— especially at a tournament.

Broken Stuff:

The club has a very nice Armorer who, when not working on her doctorate in Electrical Engineering, will, for a nominal fee, fix whatever is wrong. Her name is Kaelyn, and she’s just awesome =)