Blade etiquette:
- If you borrow a blade from a teammate, and you break it, you buy them a brand new replacement blade of the same brand. I broke a teammate’s saber in competition this weekend and am ordering them a new one today.
- It is okay to respectfully decline sharing a blade with a teammate. Blades are expensive, it’s often difficult to find the exact kind of forge you want, and many fencers wait to go to NACs to buy in person rather than online where you don’t quite know the bend/feel of the blade you’re ordering. Sometimes you have to wait months before getting one.
- If your college team/club supplies the blades, and you don’t share with a teammate, you are a foondanglin’ whifferninny.
- If a teammate bails you out with a blade, you owe him/her a beer or a meal.
- Above all else, your responsibility as a fencer is to have three working weapons (two by the rules, one for the sake of sanity). Rules 1-4 do not apply if you show up to a tournament ready.
Rule #6. If your coach breaks his blade while giving you a lesson, you replace it for him. Don’t ask your coach if you should do this. It is expected.