4 ms·

Everyone is talking about the "blade breaking" as a dangerous thing. Can someone please explain?

thaumasiotes 4y ago
Based on almost zero specifically relevant knowledge - The blade of a foil is a long, flexible metal rod. It is dull at the end, and it is expected to flex very heavily in normal use. If it snaps, I assume you end up with a short metal rod with a sharp, jagged tip. (And the part that used to be the tip will go flying off somewhere.) That would be dangerous for the same reason a window breaking is dangerous.
glfharris 4y ago
The foils can break, leaving a sharp tip that is more able to pierce protective clothing.
- AzzieElbab 4y ago
  the blade doesn't event have to be sharp to go through a mask. I had my mask pierced by a rapier with safety tip still attached. Hell, a blade may break while bending against a mask.
  - tianqi 4y ago
    That sounds horrible, I hope you were okay. Also it's hard to imagine. What brand and model of mask were you wearing?
    - AzzieElbab 4y ago
      Some very rusty made in the ussr brand
chrisseaton 4y ago
A blade is completely blunt until it breaks and then it’s extremely sharp.
nordsieck 4y ago
> Everyone is talking about the "blade breaking" as a dangerous thing. Can someone please explain? To add onto what other people are saying: When a blade breaks, not only is there a potentially sharp point on the new end of the blade, but the blade that's left attached to the handle is probably more stiff - possibly quite a bit more stiff - than the original sword. This is for a couple of reasons: 1. Leverage: short things are stiff, long things are floppy. 2. Profile: I honestly have no idea if this applies to olympic swords, but in historical swords used for combat, blades will often be quite wide at the base and taper towards the point.
- hacoo 4y ago
  You are absolutely correct on both counts. Olympic fencing blades are wider at the base and taper down. They’re designed to flex mostly in farther half of the blade, the base needs to remain fairly stiff or the sword would be weak in parries (and would flop around excessively). Many historical swords taper in width, thickess, or both in order to improve handling. Distribution of mass matters quite a lot in how nimble a sword is, especially for historical swords which were heavier than modern fencing weapons.
- tsuujin 4y ago
  > short things are stiff, long things are floppy. Come on now, how can you say this and not expect me to make a wiener joke?
  - not1ofU 4y ago
    because of downvotes, HN has no sense of humour (which is not surprising, they say a good sense of humour is a good gauge for inteligence) :-D
    - NowTestThis 4y ago
      I see what you did there! :)
HyperSane 4y ago
The tip isn't sharp but if it breaks then the broken edge is very sharp.

Based on almost zero specifically relevant knowledge - The blade of a foil is a long, flexible metal rod. It is dull at the end, and it is expected to flex very heavily in normal use. If it snaps, I assume you end up with a short metal rod with a sharp, jagged tip. (And the part that used to be the tip will go flying off somewhere.) That would be dangerous for the same reason a window breaking is dangerous.

glfharris 4y ago

The foils can break, leaving a sharp tip that is more able to pierce protective clothing.

AzzieElbab 4y ago
the blade doesn't event have to be sharp to go through a mask. I had my mask pierced by a rapier with safety tip still attached. Hell, a blade may break while bending against a mask.
- tianqi 4y ago
  That sounds horrible, I hope you were okay. Also it's hard to imagine. What brand and model of mask were you wearing?
  - AzzieElbab 4y ago
    Some very rusty made in the ussr brand

chrisseaton 4y ago

A blade is completely blunt until it breaks and then it’s extremely sharp.

nordsieck 4y ago

> Everyone is talking about the "blade breaking" as a dangerous thing. Can someone please explain? To add onto what other people are saying: When a blade breaks, not only is there a potentially sharp point on the new end of the blade, but the blade that's left attached to the handle is probably more stiff - possibly quite a bit more stiff - than the original sword. This is for a couple of reasons: 1. Leverage: short things are stiff, long things are floppy. 2. Profile: I honestly have no idea if this applies to olympic swords, but in historical swords used for combat, blades will often be quite wide at the base and taper towards the point.

hacoo 4y ago
You are absolutely correct on both counts. Olympic fencing blades are wider at the base and taper down. They’re designed to flex mostly in farther half of the blade, the base needs to remain fairly stiff or the sword would be weak in parries (and would flop around excessively). Many historical swords taper in width, thickess, or both in order to improve handling. Distribution of mass matters quite a lot in how nimble a sword is, especially for historical swords which were heavier than modern fencing weapons.
tsuujin 4y ago
> short things are stiff, long things are floppy. Come on now, how can you say this and not expect me to make a wiener joke?
- not1ofU 4y ago
  because of downvotes, HN has no sense of humour (which is not surprising, they say a good sense of humour is a good gauge for inteligence) :-D
  - NowTestThis 4y ago
    I see what you did there! :)

HyperSane 4y ago

The tip isn't sharp but if it breaks then the broken edge is very sharp.