Since we all know fencing is a not-so-cheap sport and most of us are poverty-striken college students, the club has a mass of gear available for club members during practice. There's a fairly large assortment of sizes, from a kid's meal small to a supersized large - and not to mention everything in between. (Okay. Maybe I'm exaggerating a bit, but there is a good chance everyone will find something that fits.) So, what can members borrow? Well, here's a list of what the club has in stock:

Masks Jackets Knickers Plastrons Saber Mask Cords Saber Overgloves

Saber Lamés Foil Lamés Practice Weapons Electric Weapons Body Cords

The club does ask that members purchase their own chest protectors (just for the ladies!), tall socks (um . . . hopefully no one wants to wear anyone else's sweaty socks), and gloves (which actually get quite disgusting themselves). The gloves and chest protectors can be ordered through the club during the beginner's class, but everyone must go out and purchase his or her own stinkin' socks.

To become a club member and borrow equipment, you must pay dues! These fees are relatively small compared to the total costs of you personal gear and the electric equipment. Trust me, purchasing all your own equipment at one time can add up to a pretty hefty sum.

Tell the armorer or another officer - and quick! This way the armorer can do his best to keep everything in working order. Whether or not the club member must pay the consequences - i.e. the expenses - depends on the situation and the irreparability of the damages. However, through the generosity of the club, each member is given amnesty for one, and only one, broken blade per year.

Hear Ye! Hear Ye! Equipment is available for weekend competitions! Gear checkout must be arranged with an officer, and all equipment must be returned the following practice (in case others wish to practice with it). Members who need to borrow electric equipment - weapons, lamés, body cords, etc. - must notify the armorer a week prior to the competition. This means no requests the day before a tournament. (And no sympathy for all you procrastinators.) What's the advantage of this, you ask? I can name three: keeping your armorer sane, keeping your armorer sane, and, last but certainly not least, keeping your armorer sane.

Oh, and one more final piece of information (this rarely happens, but our attornies said we needed the fine print): if an individual competition is the same weekend as a team event, members of the team have priority to the equipment; that means that you need to wait until the team checks out gear before you do!

Providing equipment is an extremely convenient service of the fencing club, but owning equipment definitely has its perks too. You get to wear your own gear without worrying about who stole that jacket or mask that fits you so perfectly. You don't have to crawl on your hands and knees begging for forgiveness because you didn't tell the armorer a week in advance that you needed gear for the weekend. But the biggest advantage is customizing your weapons to your personal preference. (Do you have more faith in French or German parts? How far would you like your tang bent? Do you want your blade curved? Which grip fits your hand best? Viscotti? Russian? Belgian? I could go on for hours.) There are a lot of choices, and if you need some opinions, talk to some of the officers or those older members that just keep coming to practice. If you want to do some research on your own, here are a few popular vendors:

Triplette Blue Gauntlet Physical Chess Blade FencePBT.com, Inc. Fencing Post American Fencers Supply Co.