A little trick I use to add more grip to metal pommels is to use a piece of a 700c bicycle inner tube cut to about the length of the pommel and installed with some soapy water and elbow grease. It lasts a lot longer than tape and has more tack to it. An inner tube will run you about $5 and can do a single pommel probably about 20 times over.
Excellent overview - nice job. Minor comments: It's a ga-bar-it, not a gar-a-bit. The Leon Paul tungsten "World's Finest Pommel" is no longer available, because the price of tungsten nearly tripled, and it would have to have sold for around $150
Great points, no disagreements here. Just like last time a few additions. Plastic core grips, due to how much they flex, put a lot more stress on the tang of the weapon, making the weapon a lot more likely to snap at the tang in your hand. This is especially true with the cheaper non FIE blades but true for all weapons. It is entertaining however, to go for a flick or heavy balde action and have the entire weapon fall apart looney toons style. I think if the stories I heard are true Coach reith literally took the cores of old PBT grips and put the tubing over them, so for those who like the coach reith grip and can't find more as they're out of production, that's probably the closest bet in terms of curvature. It's also worth noting that the ultralight guards that are typically 78-90 grams and thinner titanium get bashed up and take on that angle much faster than the one piece titanium guards which are significantly more durable and usually 100-120g. Most 3 piece guards are more likely to deform than 3 piece generally but especially the very light 3 piece ones. Titanium is also stronger than aluminum generally so it's almost always worth the extra ~$4 for a titanium grip of the same weight as the aluminum variety. Finally one potential upside to a metal pommel vs a rubber one is that if the pommel is metal and your grip is also metal core AND the core of the grip makes contact with the guard through the pad (this is common in older pads that have started to wear) then your pommel will ground out a touch if hit just like the bell guard. This is especially relevant to those who have smaller hands so they don't fully cover the pommel or fence at a half post or no post with the pommel sticking out behind their hand. Now is getting hit in the pommel extremely unlikely? Yes absolutely. But we're french grippers. Arguing over and pushing tiny margins is what we do :)
Thanks for the video, really helpful!! A friend and me decided to switch to french grip few months ago. We bought two grips mentioned in the video, the Karma from The fencing Post and the Mamba from Harut. Although the shipping costs were pretty high (we live in Spain 😅) we love the handles and we learned a lot with this video 👌🏻.
I'm one of the weirdos that actually likes the standard french grip that comes with the order. I love the lightest blade possible and pair that typically with a PBT ultra light bell guard and a FOLO F1.
Where can I get more of the curved schermasport grips? They don't seem to be available any longer :( Which is closer to the schermasport? Karma or harut pistol system?
INCREDIBLE EXPLANATION, THANK YOU VERY MUCH! Greetings from Argentina!
Fantastic! I didn't know many of these pommels existed! More things to try at the next ROC / NAC. Thanks for putting this together!
A little trick I use to add more grip to metal pommels is to use a piece of a 700c bicycle inner tube cut to about the length of the pommel and installed with some soapy water and elbow grease. It lasts a lot longer than tape and has more tack to it. An inner tube will run you about $5 and can do a single pommel probably about 20 times over.
Excellent overview - nice job. Minor comments:
It's a ga-bar-it, not a gar-a-bit.
The Leon Paul tungsten "World's Finest Pommel" is no longer available, because the price of tungsten nearly tripled, and it would have to have sold for around $150
Great presentation. Content and delivery are spot-on. Thank you.
Great points, no disagreements here. Just like last time a few additions. Plastic core grips, due to how much they flex, put a lot more stress on the tang of the weapon, making the weapon a lot more likely to snap at the tang in your hand. This is especially true with the cheaper non FIE blades but true for all weapons. It is entertaining however, to go for a flick or heavy balde action and have the entire weapon fall apart looney toons style.
I think if the stories I heard are true Coach reith literally took the cores of old PBT grips and put the tubing over them, so for those who like the coach reith grip and can't find more as they're out of production, that's probably the closest bet in terms of curvature.
It's also worth noting that the ultralight guards that are typically 78-90 grams and thinner titanium get bashed up and take on that angle much faster than the one piece titanium guards which are significantly more durable and usually 100-120g. Most 3 piece guards are more likely to deform than 3 piece generally but especially the very light 3 piece ones. Titanium is also stronger than aluminum generally so it's almost always worth the extra ~$4 for a titanium grip of the same weight as the aluminum variety.
Finally one potential upside to a metal pommel vs a rubber one is that if the pommel is metal and your grip is also metal core AND the core of the grip makes contact with the guard through the pad (this is common in older pads that have started to wear) then your pommel will ground out a touch if hit just like the bell guard. This is especially relevant to those who have smaller hands so they don't fully cover the pommel or fence at a half post or no post with the pommel sticking out behind their hand. Now is getting hit in the pommel extremely unlikely? Yes absolutely. But we're french grippers. Arguing over and pushing tiny margins is what we do :)
Thanks for the video, really helpful!! A friend and me decided to switch to french grip few months ago. We bought two grips mentioned in the video, the Karma from The fencing Post and the Mamba from Harut. Although the shipping costs were pretty high (we live in Spain 😅) we love the handles and we learned a lot with this video 👌🏻.
I'm one of the weirdos that actually likes the standard french grip that comes with the order. I love the lightest blade possible and pair that typically with a PBT ultra light bell guard and a FOLO F1.
Is there a minimum and maximum weights set by FIE for a french grip pommel? THANKS
it' seems to be very useful video, but i can't hear a thing - the sound is very quiet.
I bought en epee and the grip was hammered on and now I'd like to change the pad but I can't get it off. What's the best way to remove it?
Where can I get more of the curved schermasport grips? They don't seem to be available any longer :(
Which is closer to the schermasport? Karma or harut pistol system?