New BF Blades in Town from Allstar and Uhlmann with Free Shipping
Editor’s Note: We feature vendors and products based on our direct positive experience and recommendations of happy customers. Fencing Parents has no financial or other interest in Need A Blade’s business, and does not receive commission or payment of any kind from this business.
The enterprising owner of Need A Blade has put his deep knowledge and connections in the fencing world to bring us FIE epee and foil blades from Allstar and Uhlmann at very competitive prices and free shipping domestically. Need A Blade is an official distributor of Allstar and Uhlmann FIE BF blades.
Ralf Bissdorf, silver medalist in foil at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, European champion and 11 time gold medalist at Senior World Cups, is a familiar face to many of us who attend NACs, or who live and compete on the East coast. Ralf currently coaches at Marx Fencing Academy in West Concord, MA.
As a coach, Ralf understands that replacing broken blades can get very expensive, especially for those from less privileged backgrounds. His motivation to make fencing more affordable for all is admirable, noteworthy, merits our support.
By selling online only, and not incurring the extra costs of a booth at NACs, it looks like he has succeeded at putting together a simple and straightforward business model to bring the best epee and foil blades to fencers at superb prices.
It’s hard to find a better price for an FIE BF blade from Allstar and Uhlmann fully wired with German tips. $99 for foil blades, and $129 for epee blades.
Need A Blade also supplies square blades for those looking for more blade stability and balance to accommodate their specific fencing styles.
Ralf and his wife Joan, also a familiar face at NACs and East coast competitions as a referee, are very happy to discuss individual blade preferences with their customers, especially level of stiffness. So feel free to engage them in a discussion on what you like before finalizing your order.
As Joan puts it about understanding blade requirements with an online store:
“We try to solve this in a number of ways: 1) by welcoming people to contact us if they’ve got a preference for blade stiffness; 2) Ralf and I put our brains together to pick out what we think might be suitable since we’ve observed/directed these fencers and have an idea of their age, gender and skill level/style; 3) as we obtain feedback from our customers on their blade preference, we’d note them on our customer’s database in our website”
Ralf wants you to think of Need A Blade when you need one, and we fully concur.
You can find a new FIE BF blade from Allstar and Uhlmann at www.needablade.com
