Fencing Equipment

Clothing

There are four items of clothing worn when fencing: jacket, plastron, breeches, and glove.

The jacket provides the main protection for your body by covering your arms, torso, and neck. The plastron is a half jacket that is worn underneath the jacket on the armed side of the body. Gloves are worn on the armed hand only and have a gauntlet that overlaps the sleeve of the jacket. Breeches provide protection for the legs.

All the clothing is made from a special lightweight material that resists puncturing.

Masks

Masks are worn on the head to protect the face and neck. They are made from a steel mesh, with padding on the inside to make them comfortable to wear. On the bottom of the mask is a padded bib that is made from the same material as the clothing to provide good protection for the neck.

In electric foil and sabre fencing, masks are connected to the lamé jacket by a short wire called a mask wire.

Lamés

Lames are conductive jackets used to help record hits electronically. They cover the target area applicable to that weapon. Lame's are only used for electric foil and sabre fencing. They are not required for electric epee fencing.

Lames are connected to the electrical scoring apparatus using special wires.

Wires

Fencers are connected to the electrical scoring apparatus using special wires called bodywires. Bodywires connect the weapon and, for foil & sabre, lamé to the scoring apparatus. Bodywires allow the act of hitting an opponent with a weapon to be recorded by the apparatus.

Foil and sabre use the same two-wire bodywire as each other, whereas epee uses uses a three wire bodywire.

Weapons

Weapons are generally made from steel and are flexibile so that they bend when they hit the target. All weapons have guards to protect the hand and the shape of each guard is designed to provide the most safety for the style of the weapon.