metis,
how much is too much? what's the usual?
I wear a fencing mask, cup, mouth piece, knee pads and lacrosse gloves. At my first Gathering, I wore more padding (It is hard to fight the desire to wrap yourself in foam). By the next Gathering, as I got more comfortable with parrying and moving, I wore less padding.
As for how much is too much ... One time, I saw Crafty tell a guy to take off some padding. The guy had elbow and fore arm pads with heavy hockey gloves. The point is, these things work themselves out. It'll be fine.
IMHO - Too much padding gets in the way of the experience. It also sends a message. It tells others how much confidence you have in your skill "Only you are responsible for you" AND it tells others how much trust you have in them to adher to the code "Be friends at the end of the day." We are a tribe. We are there to make each other better, not put each other in the hospital (overnight
).
Lets talk at the Gathering, I'll go one with you, if you agree.
xtremekali,
where can I get a good deal on a fencing helmet?
This forum has at least one threads on masks. My words of wisdon on the subject are go a local fencing club get a used mask. Any mask will do, but you only need what is called a
"3 weapon mask" (the ones with the black screen).
I recently searched the Sacramento Craigslist "sporting goods" section with the term "fencing." I found a $10 mask for sale. Go to
http://www.craigslist.org/about/cities.html find your city, run a search (or post a want ad) and see what comes up. You have time.
