Kit Suppliers and Club Discounts

Buying Fencing Kit.

(Go On, You Know You Want To!)

There aren’t many household brand names making fencing equipment. Adidas dabble in the market (not just shoes) and Nike make fencing shoes, but when it comes to jackets, breeches, weapons and masks then the names become much less familiar to the non-fencer or the new fencer.

Below are a list of the most common names you’re likely to encounter and some info about them. Despite having many years of fencing experience between us in the club, we won’t have direct hands on reviews of every supplier. If you want a range of opinions, just ask some of the coaching team or one of the more experienced fencers. You can also check out the British Fencing website for the regulations for equipment and any product recalls or safety issues with particular brands or equipment ranges.
General advice, as with all things in life, you get what you pay for when it comes to fencing kit and the better quality kit (especially clothing, masks etc.) tends to be more expensive, but will often last longer and perform better. You will be able to speak to many adult and veteran fencers who have clothing from the big names (Leon Paul, Allstar, PBT etc.) that is still serviceable after a decade or more. If you're buying for a fast growing youngster, then how long the kit lasts may not be an issue as even with budget kit, they are likely to grow out of it before they wear it out!
Having written that last paragraph, I realise that, as with any other industry, it is equally true that you can pay a premium for a brand name item and find identical quality and identical functionality from a cheaper source. This is particularly the case with, weapon grips, weapon guards, guard pads, non-electric training blades, etc.
As an example... Leon Paul's cheapest foil grip will cost you about £21 (before discount), the same size and shape of grip from Excalibur is £15 (before discount), Swordpricefighters will charge you £8 and BladesBrand only 1/3 of the LP price at just £7! All of those grips will fit any foil and work just as well.

UK Stores and Suppliers

Leon Paul – A British company, based in London (with a physical shop too) that produces some of the most innovative and well made fencing kit. Not always the cheapest option; especially for the FIE regulation stuff, but they do have low price beginner and intermediate ranges and a 10% discount available if you buy through the club can help. LP supply Team GB and sponsor some other top international fencers. Ask Chris about placing an order.

Allstar/Uhlmann – These are the BIG names in European fencing equipment. According to their advertising, 85% of all the world ranked fencers use Allstar or Uhlmann equipment. They have a variety of price ranges, but they can be expensive, even if the quality is pretty high.

PBT – This is a Hungarian company who produce good quality equipment. They are usually slightly cheaper than the equivalent products from LP or Allstar, but not always. The UK supplier not only has an online presence but a shop in Aldershot.

Excalibur Sports - A relatively new supplier with physical stores in Hereford and at the Manchester fencing centre. They stock a range of budget and branded equipment of good quality. All of their clothing and "ES" range of equipment attracts a 10% club discount. Just use the code DPFC10 at checkout. Not a bad place to pick up your first bits of gear or upgrade to FIE kit without the LP or Allstar pricetags.

Blades Brand – This is another British supplier that specialises in 350N CEN 1 beginners and club equipment. They don’t sell any of the high end FIE rated uniforms for international level competition, but the equipment is decent quality and good value for your first items of equipment.

TheFencingShop.co.uk – This website sells a range of budget equipment from different low cost brands. (ask one of the coaches about a club discount before ordering!) They are based in Durham (Gilesgate), so there's also the option to save on postage and collect your orders, if you send a message to the operators.

GR8 Fencing - Another relatively new UK supplier. They stock a range of budget and branded equipment, similar in some ways to the range from Excalibur.

​Swordpricefighters.com – Low, low prices! They had a product safety issue some time ago, which had their original range of 350N gear banned from competition use in the UK. They’ve since sourced a new ‘competition’ range which is legal for competition. The prices are very good, so not a bad place to pick up your first bits of gear, a cheap practice weapon, grip or lamé.

Decathlon - Believe it or not the discount sports retailer does have a range of fencing kit... but they are often far from discount prices! Worth looking out for "Sale" items

Amazon - Yes you can buy anything from Amazon! You won't find kit from recognisable fencing brands like Allstar or LeonPaul, but you might find a bargain bodywire, bag or glove.

Brands without UK stores...

FWF – Fence With Fun. This is a relatively small company with a slightly silly name, that produces some really nice equipment. They were born out of the original manufacturing facility for Allstar/Uhlmann when that company moved production to China. You can still try to order direct but you will also see this brand sold by some of the UK based companies as their "top of the range" kit.

UNIC - A Ukrainian based company that (a little like FWF) are harder to order from direct, but their products are often found as premium offerings from other sellers.

Other brands that you may see include: Negrini, Prieur, StM, Absolute Fencing, Viniti, Blaise Freres and Zivkovic. Most of these companies are based outside of the UK and don't have dedicated UK distributors, so delivery can become expensive and since Brexit, it is more complicated placing orders direct from Europe. Some of the names are just blade forges and you’ll only see their names next to high quality maraging steel blades in other sellers stores.

Used, Pre-owned, Pre-loved, Outlet, Factory seconds.....

www.ebay.co.uk – As always with eBay, buyer beware! However, you can pick up some good, used (and new*) bargains on eBay! No, really, everything from brand new jackets to barely used bodywires, Leon Paul even have an outlet store.
Beware of old kit that won't meet the current safety standards. There are plenty of non-CE (or FIE CEN) marked, jackets, breeches and masks for sale. Always, read the descriptions and check the pictures carefully for labels, or contact the seller before bidding. There should be a CE symbol on the label with the Newton rating (CEN 1 350N or CEN 2 800N with the FIE logo). If it isn’t there, then it isn’t rated as safe or "legal" for competition (or for training in a BF club like Phoenix).
Also be aware of things that were recalled or "banned". There may still be some early swordpricefighters.com and Chinese made Duellist kit in circulation, but those recalls were a long time ago and even the sellers may not realise.
Facebook has a variety of market places including a UK based fencing kit selling group... you can find the link to request access here

Now you know where to buy fencing kit, if you don't know what you need to buy, have a look at this post for a list of kit for starting out and beyond.