Taking care of your equipment

 

Musketeers Fencing Alliance offers a full time armory service for all of our members. The following is a list of tips to help you to take care of your equipment. However, remember that there is a reason why armory staff exists. After trying several times you will realize that giving your weapons to the armorer for repear is a wise decision.

 

Taking Care of Your Jacket

 

Jackets should be washed in cold water with a little bit of detergent. Do not use bleach. Bleach will whiten the jacket, but it breaks down the fibers in the fabric, which compromises the jacket's integrity. Frequent washing will also start to wear out the jacket, so wash when necessary, but don't overwash.

When you get home, if you don't need to wash your jacket that evening, hang it on a plastic hanger and let it air out. You can also air out your glove at the same time.

 

Taking Care of Your Mask

 

Your mask is the most important piece of equipment you own. Remember the rule about dropping equipment? This is especially true about masks. Do not drop your mask! Dropping the mask causes damage, whether you can see it or not.

When you get home, take your mask out of your bag and set it out to dry. You can hang it on a dresser drawer by the tongue and leave it overnight before packing it away again.

 

Masks are washable. There are several different methods online, but the one I've used is this:

Fill a bucket with water and add a little bit of Woolite. Dunk the mask in and squish the water through the padding. Rinse with water, squeezing the padding to get all the soap out. Squeeze out the rinse water. Take it inside and dry it with a towel and blowdryer until it is almost completely dry. Set it somewhere it can air dry.

 

Taking Care of Your Glove

 

Most gloves are washable, but check the tag on yours to be sure. Since most gloves have a dark color on the palm, you will not want to wash it with your jacket or it will stain it.

 

You can fill a sink with cold water and a little bit of Woolite, and wash it by hand. Rinse well and remove it to a towel on the counter. Roll up the glove in the towel and press it. Avoid wringing or twisting the glove, as that will stretch and distort the fabric. You can hang the glove to air dry.

If you have questions about caring for your equipment, it is a good idea to get in touch with the vendor that sold it to you. They will know best how to help you care for your equipment.

 

Care & Feeding of Weapons, Electrical

 

"This is your rifle, it is your best friend. Take care of it and it'll take care of you"

Sounds pretty trite, or John Wayne-ish, but if you've been in the middle of a tournament and all of a sudden every weapon you had craps out on you, it suddenly comes home to roost. While not entirely reliable, most electric fencing weapons will last one or two tournaments with out causing you much trouble. The tricky part is figuring out when those one or two tournaments are! But all is not lost. Like anything mechanical/electrical, basic maintenance is essential to keeping things running smoothly.

 

Before every tournament (and preferably not the night before) you should take out all your weapons and check them over. Thoroughly. Don't just gloss over the fact that there may be a little rust on the blade or guard. Or that, yeah it works, but that little flutter in the light doesn't mean anything. Know the aspects of each weapon you fence and what will get you in trouble either on strip or at the weapons check-in.

 

The procedure is essentially the same as for foil. Start with the functional body cord and plug in the weapon. But, this time there should NOT be a light. Depress the tip. The light should go on. Release the tip and it should go off. Take the 1.5mm shim and place it between the tip and the barrel. It should slide in. Now take the 0.5mm shim and place it between the tip and barrel and depress the tip. The light should NOT go off. Check to make sure that you have both screws in the tip. Tighten them (why should I do that? they're already tight. Guess again!). Check with spring with the 750g weight. Again, put a nickel or quarter on it to make sure you have enough extra strength so that it won't be a problem.

 

Check out the two wires at the connector. Do the same test as for foil. Again, check for corrosion. This is especially important for epee because if the light goes off after you've tested bell guards at the start of the bout, you loose, unless you can replicate the fault. The 1cm block should not be able to slide under the blade with the weapon resting as described for foil. Again, you should now have a bright shinny, working weapon. If any of the foregoing results in a fault, go to Basic Repairs.

 

Body Cord

 

Checking out body cords involves a basic continuity check of the wires and making sure the connections are tight. You can do this with the test box or the ohmmeter.

For the foil body cord, plug it in to the test box. Short across the two pins and the red light should come on. Then take the alligator clip and connect it to the thin prong. The green light should come on. Check to make sure the screw on the alligator clip is soldered on and that the wire is at least 16" (40cm) long.

 

For the epee body cord, plug it in and short across the center prong and the one closest to it and the red light should come on. Short across the center prong and the one farthest away from it, and the green light should come on.

 

If you are checking with the ohmmeter, check either end. Resistance should be less than 1 ohm.

 

Some pins occasionally need a slight leaf-expansion as part their regular maintenance routine. With a jewelers' screwdriver or the blade of a small penknife, slightly separate the leaves from the pins to ensure a tight fit into the sockets.

 

In order to check if the connections are tight (usually indicated by a high resistance), start by disassembling the housing around the pins. Check to see that the setscrews are tight and that the wires are firmly seated in the ends of the pins. When checking for tightness, you might want to loosen the screw ¼-turn before re-tightening. Reassemble (easier said than done!).

 

Lame

 

Two things about lame`s: continuity and cleanliness. In order to check continuity, set the ohmmeter for 1-20 ohms, and keep one probe in one spot. Take the other probe and put slight pressure on it (it's supposed to be 500g, but unless you want to get a special weight, finger pressure will do) and run it all over the lame`. Resistance should not exceed 5 ohms. Be sure to check the back, too, especially if you have your name stenciled on.

If you have a spot that is over 5 ohms, try taking a scotchbrite pad and rubbing it gently to see if that gets rid of the resistance.

 

As for cleanliness, soak the lame` in cold water, a tablespoon of Woolite and a tablespoon of ammonia. Rinse and air dry. Check again to make sure nothing has gone south in the meantime.

 

Lamés should not be folded. Hang them on a hanger when storing them. Folding could cause multiple broken wires in the conductive materials over time. If you are traveling with your lame`, lay it out flat on a towel and roll it length-wise. This keeps from putting any folds into it.

 

Mask

 

A visual check of you mask is always a good thing. Make sure the bib is in good repair. Check the mesh of the mask. Are there any really deep dents? If so, take a rubber mallet and gently beat them out. Are there any obvious broken wires? If so, the mask is unsafe and shouldn't be used. Also look for wires pushed out of position. Sometimes you can merely push them back and they'll be OK. If you have a mask punch, test it yourself.

 

Inspect the bib attachment to the mask. If there are any areas where a blade might penetrate this area, use a hot-glue gun to re-attach the bib to the mesh.

 

Also check the insulation on the mesh. Are there large bare or rusty spots? If there are, and your bib gets soaked with sweat, you can get a connection between your lame` and mask, making your mask target! Thoroughly clean the rust off and touch them or any bare spots, up with glossy black Rustoleum paint (mask off what you don't want painted with masking tape and newspaper). Then check the location later with your punch to ensure that the rust did not degrade the mask beyond it's ability to withstand the 12k punch test.

 

If you have had your mask for a while and have been really working out with it AND your spouse wonders how you manage to stick your face in it with out getting sick, you might want to consider washing it. You can do this either by using the technique for the lame` or just stick it in the dishwasher with regular soap (no jet-dri) and take it out before the drying cycle and let it air dry.

 

Tool list

• Magnetic strip
• Wiring Chain
• Clamp
• Dental pick
• Vise grips
• 6" Crescent wrench
• 7mm box end wrench (foil connector)
• 8mm box end wrench (foil connector)
• Large bladed screwdriver (epee connectors)
• Small tipped screwdriver
• Jeweler's screwdriver
• Hemostats
• Point setters
• Nippers
• Pommel nut tool (8mm outside hex, 6mm allenwrench, ¾" deepwell socket (you can also use a sparkplug wrench) or large bladed screwdriver)(or if you want to be a hero on strip, all of them and carry them in a little bag with you)
• Test weight(s)
• Epee shims
• 12kg Mask punch
• Test box (good to carry to the strip with you)
• Ohmmeter (analog is preferable)
• Springs
• Screws
• Q-tips
• Tip tape (1" gaffer's tape will work very well, as well as vinyl electrical tape)
• Razor blades
• Superglue
• Acetone Nail polish remover
• Isopropyl Alcohol
• Scotchbrite pads 220 grit sandpaper
• And of course, a box to put it all in!