Fencing Equipment for Clubs & Schools

Equipping a fencing club, a school programme or a university team is a rather different job from buying for one fencer, because you are matching a budget to a whole group of people in different sizes, often across more than one weapon, and you need kit that will stand up to being shared week after week. Supplying 350N CE Level 1 kit to the beginner, club, school and university market is exactly what Blades Brand was set up to do, and we concentrate our design, material sourcing and manufacturing on 350N equipment so that we can offer good quality at real value for money where cost is a very important consideration.

Class sets for clubs and schools

Most groups need the same core kit for every fencer, which is a mask, a jacket, a plastron, a glove and a weapon, so the simplest way to think about a class set is as that core kit multiplied across a spread of sizes that covers the people you expect to coach. Because our clothing, gloves and masks come in a wide range of adult and children's sizes, and in left-handed and right-handed versions, a set can be built around your actual group rather than a one-size-fits-nobody bundle, and our sizing charts are a useful starting point when you are planning the mix.

Clubs and schools usually start with foil, as it is the weapon most beginners and juniors learn first, but we can equally kit out groups for épée and sabre, and our complete weapons come in blade sizes 0 and 5 plus a junior size 2 or 3 depending on the weapon, which matters when you are coaching younger fencers who need shorter blades for age-group competitions.

Shared and loan kit

A bank of loan kit for beginners and taster sessions is the backbone of most clubs, and it lives a hard life, passing between many different fencers and going through the wash far more often than a personal kit ever would. That is why we would always suggest building it around hard-wearing 350N clothing in a good spread of sizes, plus masks for each of your weapons in the sizes your members use most, together with washable three-weapon gloves that can be shared across foil, épée and sabre. When the time comes to replace worn parts rather than whole weapons, our foil, épée and sabre ranges include the blades, grips, guards, points and spares that keep club weapons in service.

Moving your group on to electric fencing

Once a group starts fencing scored bouts, it will need electric equipment, which means bodycords for every weapon and lamés for foil and sabre, and it often makes sense to plan this alongside the beginners' kit so that sizes and weapons line up. You will find everything for electric fencing in our lamés and wires ranges, and our guide to beginner fencing equipment explains what each weapon needs.

University teams and school programmes

University clubs and school programmes have their own rhythm, with a wave of new members at the start of each year, a competition season to plan for and a budget that has to stretch across all of it, and we are used to working with coaches, team captains and staff who are trying to make that budget go as far as it can. Whether you are setting up a new team from scratch or topping up an established programme, it helps us enormously to know your weapons, your numbers and the rough size range of your group, because that lets us talk you through the options and suggest the most sensible way to put the order together.

Send us your club or school enquiry

The easiest way to start is to email us a short note with the details below, and we will come back to you to talk it through. You are also very welcome to call us or visit our shop in Slough, where you can see the kit for yourself before ordering.

• Your club, school or university, and a contact name
• The weapon or weapons you coach
• Roughly how many fencers you are equipping, and whether they are adults, juniors or a mix
• The items you need, such as masks, jackets, plastrons, breeches, gloves or weapons, and any sizes you already know
• When you need the kit by