Puncture Resistance#

Puncture resistance is a rating you will see on jackets, pants, and mask bibs. Puncture resistance is measured in Newtons and describes the amount of force required to pierce the material. Jackets generally come in 350N and 800N varieties, and mask bibs go up to 1600N because that’s where your throat lives.

The reason we wear puncture resistant fabrics when fencing with blunt swords is that swords can break, exposing a jagged and decidedly-not-blunt tip. Puncture resistant fabrics are the last line of defence against injury in such cases, and significantly decrease the risk of injury when combined with other equipment and protocols.

An important caveat is that higher puncture resistance does not necessarily mean a jacket with thicker padding. Some jackets achieve their puncture resistance with more material, but strictly speaking, puncture resistance is a trait that is independent of padding thickness.

Thinner jackets are usually branded as “Light.” These breathe better in the summer when the DSBN decides not to air condition their gyms, but the trade-off is that you will bruise more easily unless you achieve an impossibly perfect defence.

350N vs 800N: Which Should You Get?#

One of our clubmates wanted to answer this with scientific precision and performed controlled tests against different fabrics using different steel trainers and styles of tips. You can read the paper here if you want all the details. If not, the punch line is this: 350N is better than nothing, and 800N offers significantly better protection.

Can you get away with 350N? Sure, because safety cannot rely on only a single piece of gear performing its job. Increasing the tip’s surface area and visibility with a leather or thermoplastic tip increases the force required to puncture, and wearing a hard chest protector adds another layer of defence for your organs.

All things being equal (which, admittedly, they are not) an 800N jacket will offer objectively better protection. An 800N jacket is a good idea if you will want to fence with weapons that can transmit a lot of force through a small tip, like a rapier. An 800N jacket will cost more however, and can retain more heat, which isn’t much fun in the summer. Consequently, there are a lot of us running around with 350N jackets, and it’s not like you will definitely get stabbed if you don’t opt for 800N.

Mask Ratings#

Some masks will be advertised as offering 1600N protection, which technically only applies to the bib. The bib covers your throat so that’s actually a pretty good place to have 1600N fabric! More importantly, these masks tend to also be FIE level 2 certified, which means the mesh is less likely to cave in or “waffle” on a hard hit.

Some tournament organizers are beginning to require either 1600N masks or specific back-of-head protectors, so if you plan to attend tournaments, you should go straight for a 1600N/FIE level 2 mask. Lesser masks are still being accepted for now if other conditions are met (such as a rigid back of head protector) but it feels like only a matter of time until 1600N becomes a hard requirement by tournament organizers.