Disclaimer: I received a complementary Prieur plastron, but paid for the arms, glove, and leg. There was no stated expectation by Prieur to produce a review. I paid for the PBT plastron and arms on my own dime. The EuroFencing coaching plastron was a gift from my club owner. I received no monetary compensation for this review, nor am I endorsed by any of the above companies in any capacity. All thoughts and opinions expressed herein are my own and not influenced by Prieur, PBT, or EuroFencing and/or their affiliates in any way.
If you’ve been coaching long enough, you’ve developed strong opinions about your plastron. You should. You’re wearing it every time you give a lesson, which means it gets more mileage than probably any other piece of gear you own. A bad plastron is the kind of thing that makes you dread picking up a weapon. A great one disappears entirely, and you stop thinking about it and start thinking about your student.
Over the years I’ve accumulated three of the major premium options on the market: the Prieur coaching plastron, the PBT, and the EuroFencing jacket. They represent three genuinely different philosophies about what a coaching plastron should be and do. Here’s my take on each.
Design and Aesthetic
EuroFencing XMaster- EuroFencing is far and away the king, when it comes to design and aesthetic. It does one thing that no other company has offered: insane customization. How insane? You can select the leather color. You can give them a custom logo for the chest, you can give them a custom logo for the arm, you can stitch your name (and fancy French title) into the neck if you so choose. They have national flag jackets, captain America jackets, and most importantly—you can even make a custom purple and gold jacket with the Prince symbol, which is exactly what I did.
So if you want “rizz” beyond a traditional black plastron, EuroFencing blows the competition out of the water when it comes to its design. The one caution: some of the custom stitching, particularly if you put smaller letters on the jacket can sometimes rip easily. A former coach at my club had a lion on his jacket with the words “Duri I Banchi,” and not too long after procuring it, the lion shredded, and the lettering began to fall apart. EuroFencing repaired his jacket at no cost, and I’ve heard good things about their customer service in general.
Prieur- The Prieur is a handsome piece of kit that almost looks like a motorcycle jacket. There’s something about French fencing equipment that tends to carry a certain elegance — it looks purposeful without being overwrought. The Prieur plastron follows that tradition. It has a clean profile that reads “serious coach” without screaming “I bought the most expensive thing in the catalog.” I wear mine with pride on the strip. The back has a clean, tailored look with curved panel seams that contour the shoulders and waist, giving it a structured, fitted shape. It’s finished with a subtle yoke across the upper back and a small branded patch at the back of the collar for a simple, premium touch.
The breathability is where the aesthetics meet the functional reality: the materials are thinner and lighter, which keeps you from turning into a human steam room during a long lesson day. When you’re giving back-to-back private lessons for two hours on a warm day, you will care deeply about this.
PBT Profi Leather Short Sleeve- The PBT is a Hungarian brand, and if you’ve spent time in the equipment space you know PBT makes serious gear. The coaching plastron looks the part: thick, substantial, like something engineered for a purpose rather than styled for a catalog shoot. It’s not flashy, but it has a quiet authority to it. You put this on and you look like someone who has been around.
The arm protection in particular is visually impressive — substantial enough that even before a student makes contact, there’s something reassuring about the silhouette. There is nothing aesthetically about the PBT coaching jacket that jumps out. At the end of the day, it’s a leather shell that excels in function more than it does design.
Function
Prieur- A little over a year ago when attending a clinic with the GOAT Michel Sicard, Prieur USA noticed I was wearing a PBT jacket, shot me a message and said “we think you’ll like ours better.” They were absolutely correct. When it comes to function, Prieur is in a class of its own, and use it pretty much exclusively now. It breathes well. The jacket has a good range of motion, with or without the leather sleeves on it, and I never feel constrained in movement when wearing it. The tradeoff for all that breathability and mobility is that the Prieur is thinner than the other two options in this review. For the most part, that’s fine.
It handles normal, well-executed hits without issue. Where it becomes noticeable is with beginners who haven’t developed a clean and controlled extension yet. A new student with a death grip on their épée who’s still learning to aim is occasionally going to remind your ribs that you’re wearing thinner protection. It’s not dangerous, but it’s a sensation you’ll notice more than you would in the PBT or EuroFencing.
For experienced fencers and structured lesson work, this is a non-issue. For those of you who spend a lot of time in beginner classes, just know going in what you’re signing up for.
The arms are substantially thinner leather than say, the PBT arms. Despite the thinner layer of leather, I haven’t taken many hits to the arm that have made me wince. When I began using the jacket, I had worried that the arms would rip easily due to how much thinner they are, but 1+ years into regular lesson usage and not a single tear has surfaced. Another nice functional bonus of the Prieur jacket is it has buttons on the shoulders that you can attach the arms to. If you’re worried about the arms riding down and exposing your bare skin to a hit, these are a nice little addition that keep the arms in place.
One note on the Prieur plastron: assume that if you’re a big American chungus that you want to go one size up, since we tend to be on the thiccer side compared to our European brethren.
PBT Profi Leather Short Sleeve- If the Prieur is about feel and mobility, the PBT is about protection and my “1b” on this list. That thick leather genuinely absorbs hits in a way that the Prieur doesn’t match. Students who are still learning control, beginners working on their targeting, or anyone with a particularly enthusiastic attacking game — the PBT is where you want to be. You can take hits from students with poor technique and barely register them, especially if you’re wearing their underarm protector.
The optional underarm protector is worth the add-on price. Coaching plastrons leave you exposed under the arm in ways a full jacket doesn’t, and the underarm protector closes that gap meaningfully. If you’re using this plastron for heavy-volume teaching, budget for it.
The arm coverage, however, can occasionally feel like too much of a good thing. There’s a point where thick arm protection starts to eat into mobility, and the PBT arms flirt with that line. You can still do what you need to do, but if you’re someone who relies heavily on demonstrating technique, you’ll feel the difference compared to the Prieur.
When it comes to durability, I know coaches who have had their PBT plastron intact for decades and don’t have so much as a rip on the jacket. It’s hard to describe, but there is a certain density to the leather that makes me feel like this one is going to stick around for a long time, and I probably used mine for about ~5 years without putting a single hole in it. That’s not true of the arms, however. I have had some issues with the elbow stitching that have required me to take it to a leather worker on a few occasions to patch up. It’s not a dealbreaker, but it’s a notable quality control miss from a brand that otherwise clearly knows how to make coaching equipment, and fencing equipment in general.
EuroFencing XMaster Plastron- Whenever I put on the EuroFencing jacket, it’s like I’m Hannibal Lecter in a straightjacket being transferred to a new psych ward. It’s a plastron that could probably stop a baseball bat from BALCO version of Barry Bonds, and I mean that almost literally. The protection level is extraordinary. I have stood in front of students doing their absolute worst, and the EuroFencing has absorbed it without complaint. For sheer stopping power, nothing in this review is in the same category, nor are any of the other jackets when it comes to their awesome customization options.
The price of that protection, however, is breathability and mobility — and it’s a steep price. This jacket is significantly less breathable than either the Prieur or the PBT. If you’re giving lessons in a warm gym, you’re going to feel it, because it gets mega toasty in there. And the arm mobility is noticeably more restricted; the arms simply don’t move as freely, to the point I have to ask students to zip me up whenever I put the thing on. For extended lesson work, that restriction is something you’d need to adapt to.
For potential buyers, I recommend buying the short sleeve version of the XMaster and buying the long sleeve separate (as opposed to the one like mine that has the arm attached. It just helps with the breathability and mobility.
For these reasons, despite the extraordinary protection, I use the EuroFencing primarily in a ceremonial capacity, so to speak. It’s perfect for that. For everyday grinding through private lessons? I reach for the Prieur.
A Brief Note on the Gloves- I have only used the EuroFencing coaching glove once—not enough time to have an informed opinion on it, so this will focus on the Prieur and PBT gloves. My general go-to is the PBT Sabre glove. It has good protection on the fingers and the top of the hand, and the cuff padding is also exceptional.
The Prieur coaching glove is thinner leather both in the cuff and the fingers, so you’re going to feel those hits a little more. But, it does look more fly.
Pricing/Availability
As of about two years ago, Prieur has set up shop in the USA and are present at most national events (bringing their coaching kits with them). PBT and their coaching kits are sold by Blue Gauntlet and are also available domestically.
| Brand | Plastron | Arm | Leg | Glove | Full Total |
| Prieur | $359 | $115 | $165 | $76 | $715 |
| PBT | $399 | $159 | $179 | $72 (Sabre) | $809 |
| EuroFencing* | $450 | $133 | $166 | $83 | $832** |
*Prices converted from Euro value as of 2/17/2026. Prices based on the short sleeve XMaster with no customization, the Thigh Protector XMaster, and their coaching sleeve without glove.
**EuroFencing jackets are only importable from Italy. As of my writing this, it costs an additional $184 when you factor in shipping + stupid tariffs, so budget about ~$1,000 for the full kit + shipping/taxes/stupid tariffs.
Overall
Prieur- The Prieur is my daily go-to, and that’s about the highest endorsement I can give something. It looks good, it moves well, it keeps me comfortable through long lesson days, and it handles the workload without complaint. If you’re a working coach who wants equipment that respects both your craft and your body temperature, the Prieur is where I’d tell you to start. It’s also decently cheaper than its premium peers.
PBT- The PBT is a tank, and there are coaching contexts where a tank is exactly what you need. Beginners classes, high-volume lesson days with aggressive students, or coaches who prioritize protection and a plastron that can last decades — this is your buy. The stitching concerns in the arms keep me from ranking it higher, because “great gear that needs repairs” isn’t the full endorsement it could be. But the protection it offers is genuinely excellent, and with the underarm protector, it’s a good package.
EuroFencing XMaster- The EuroFencing coaching plastron is the only item in this review I’d describe as *fun*. The customization alone sets it apart from every other option on the market: no one else is letting you put your name and your passions on your jacket in any meaningful way. As a demonstration piece, a gift to yourself upon achieving a new certification, or the plastron you wear when the occasion demands that you look the part, it’s exceptional. As a daily workhorse, the price, breathability and mobility limitations are real enough that I’d point you elsewhere first.
Every coach is going to have a different answer for what they need from a kit, and truthfully, if budget allows, there’s a case for owning more than one. I do, and I use all three…just for different things. The Prieur is where I live. The PBT is where I go when I know I’m going to need the armor and simplicity. And the EuroFencing is where I go when I want to wear a friggin’ custom coaching jacket with the Prince symbol on it.
| Brand | Protection | Mobility | Breathability | Durability | Customization |
| Prieur | Good | Excellent | Excellent | Excellent (so far) | None |
| PBT | Excellent | Good | Good | Excellent Jacket, Average Arms | None |
| EuroFencing | Exceptional | Limited | Poor | Excellent (but beware customization) | FRIGGIN AWESOME!!! |
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