A successful fencer must possess a rather large variety of different items such as, an outstanding positive attitude and a whole lot of extreme patience. For the beginner, they will need a fencing mask, jacket, glove, and a practice weapon or fencing gear or a practice weapon, which is less involved than the obvious requirements of competition preparation. The main fencing swords used are the foil, the sabre, and the epee.
Many organizations will let you borrow their fencing equipment when you’re a novice and taking a starter course. Once you’re finished with the course and have become hooked, you’ll be urged to purchase gear of your own. These are the two choices for a beginner.
The first is to procure individual items one at a time until you have a full set and the second solution is to buy a starter kit. These fencing starter kits have all the basic requirements items pre-assembled and sold as a bundle. Kits will often include the fencing mask, glove, jacket, and practice foil. You have the list of equipments that you require, but now what? Before you really purchase anything or start using your new equipment, it’s a good plan to have a basic understanding of the capability and purpose of each.
The fencing jacket is to assist protect the fencer. It’s important to choose a jacket that is well made and that will give adequate protection. The US does not have a set standard minimum constraint, though Europe requires a particular standard of protection. For international tournaments like Olympic fencing, the requirement is greater.
The basic uniforms are sufficient for the beginner. If you choose cotton material you will find the price to be much more reasonable, but it is much hotter and heavier to wear. The other option is synthetic material which is a bit more expensive, but it is a much lighter weight.
The mask is used for safety so make sure you choose a mask that is equipped with enough padding, fits well and doesn’t bear down on the top of your head or your chin. Although you can buy non-electric gloves, it really is worthwhile to get a glove equipped with a cuff that you can wear for electric fencing.
The cuff allows you to easily attach the body cord that’s under your sleeve to an electric weapon. Cuffs come in small, medium and large or are sized in standard glove sizes. Getting gloves that are separately sized will normally fit better but they will be more expensive. The foil is used for thrusting. It has a very slender blade with a rounded or foiled tip. Foil blades bend when they come in contact with a foe so that injuries are avoided.
