So, I bit the bullet and bought that slightly more colourful fencing gear I mentioned in a previous post.
I have not, unfortunately, had the opportunity to take it fencing since it arrived. Dang assignments and exams. They're so needy, time-wise.
Anyway, here are my first impressions on taking the stuff out of the box, trying it on and running around the house like some deranged weirdo, lunging at random points in the hallway:
The pants are awesome. I'm completely stoked by the Leon Paul 350N tracky-dacks. The tags say they are part of the "Phoenix" range (that's their more expensive 350N line), and I believe it. They are just really well turned out. I think they're actually better quality than my 800N "Team" range breeches.
Around the waist they have that weird grippy stuff that good-quality cycling nicks have around the leg grippers, which keeps them from slipping down, and you can unzip the legs to help with getting them on and off (over shoes, if you're that way inclined). Plus, it has a pocket. Not just a pocket in the back to put the hitmate, but an actual pocket in the side (left side, making it a bet less useful for lefties) for keys and wallets and stuff.
Of course, I have yet to play with them properly "in combat", but so far, so awesome.
Plus, they're perfectly suitable gym wear. I can now go through any gym I feel like wearing sword-proof pants. This is bound to be an advantage at some point.
The jacket, on the other hand, is a bit of a disappointment. Yes, it is a pretty shade of blue, and yes it does, in theory, replace three other items of clothing. But...
Considering the fact that it costs significantly more than the "Pheonix" range jacket, it's just not quite as good. It seems cheaper in design and construction.
The back of the jacket has two straps for tweaking the size, but it's a double-ring fastening system, and the size of the rings is a fraction to small for the thickness of the straps. It's not impossible to do up, but damned difficult.
I had trouble doing up the straps with the jacket in front of me, let alone trying to do it behind my back. It just wouldn't happen. I could, after much struggle, get the bottom strap through the rings, but the top-strap was at too awkward an angle. Fortunately the jacket fits well enough without the straps being done up, but then they're flapping around in the breeze. I'd either have to remove them or get someone to help me dress (hardly the bold strike for convenience I'd been hoping for).
If the rings were just a fraction larger, this wouldn't be a problem. But the straps aren't my greatest concern.
A greater concern is the chest protector situation. The jacket has pockets on the inside to slip in those little round cup guards (which I also bought). But the pockets are so big and loose (no doubt to try to allow a wide range of boobages) that they don't hold the cup guards still.
The leeway for movement is so great that a sword hitting it at the right angle would push the guard out of the way, and the blow would land full-force on an unprotected boob. This does not strike me as being a good thing.
I suspect I'll be able to stitch up the pockets a bit to try to control the movement, but that seems like hard work, given I already own a chest-protector that covers the whole chest and stays put. I was just looking forward to getting rid of it, because it's not the most comfortable thing to wear.
But that isn't my greatest concern, either.
My greatest concern is the throat. This is the first fencing jacket I've ever come across that has only one layer of material over the throat. All of the others have two layers, and while the extra thick material around the throat is a bit uncomfortable, it's also rather reassuring. Especially given the fact that one of the girls I fence with has a habit of lunging straight at the throat. She says she doesn't do it on purpose. I think she has issues.
This is the one thing I can't generate a workaround for, and it seems strange to have a jacket that's über padded in most other places have less padding over your windpipe than other 350N jackets.
Fortunately my mask is 1600N, and has a bib that covers the throat. But, still...
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