The Fencing Athlete

Price Range: $95 – $120

Durability: Good

Flexibility: All variations available

Value: Excellent!

Weight: A good balance

Where can you buy it? : The Fencing Post, Absolute Fencing, Sword Masters

The STM FIE blades have been a staple of mine over my many years of competitive fencing. They are fairly well balanced, they aren’t too heavy and they are relatively inexpensive compared to other FIE blades.

When I fence I am pretty hard on my blades, so I don’t expect them to last forever. But I’ve found that no matter how flexible or stiff the blade is, it tends to last me one full season on average. Considering how much practicing I do and how many competitions I go to each season, I consider that to be excellent durability! And at that $100 price point, I can’t help but call it a good value.

I personally prefer my blades to be super stiff. I feel like this gives me more control over my tip and helps keep my flicks stay tight and accurate. Whenever I buy these blades in person, I make sure to dig through the rack to pick out only the stiffest ones. The blades can vary wildly in how flexible they are and I’m obviously not a fan of the noodliest ones. But hey, to each their own. If you want a whip, you can find an FIE STM that is pretty darn whippy too.

Because of this variability, I used to only ever buy these blades in person. I need to make sure that I get blades that I would like and actually be able to use. One time I was out of blades with a competition fast approaching. So I tried ordering online from another vendor and they basically delivered a bunch of “Fun Noodles.” That’s a big part of why I like TheFencingPost’s online system. They sort through their stock and categorize their blades by flexibility. You just select how flexible you want your blades to be and they send you specifically what you ordered. As a time saver they’ll also cut the tang for you if you’re a pistol grip fencer which can save you some time putting the thing together.

You can buy these online at The Fencing Post site or you can swing by their booth at the next competition and check out what they have.

-Written by Jonathan Yergler. You can support him by engaging with him on social media. Click here to like Jonathan’s Facebook Page or check out his Twitter/Instagram handle @yerglerj.