What do fencers use?

All Olympic Fencing is electric, which means that the equipment is wired to register on target and off target touches (in order to determine if the touch counts or not), as well as measure the timing between touches (in order to determine whose the touch was). Machines used on the Olympic level also keep the time of the bout and the score. As for the fencers, it depends on the weapon. Foil fencers use lames - vests interwoven with metal wire to conduct electricity - over their standard jacket (which reaches the whole torso and a little bit below in a V shape on the front); Sabre fencers use a similar lame, the main difference being that the Sabre lame does not cover below the waistline, while the foil lame does; epee fencers do not use lames. On the legs, all fencers are required to wear knickers, which protect the thighs, and knee high socks. Pretty much all Olympic fencers also wear fencing shoes, although these are not required. all fencers also wear gloves on the hand weilding their weapon, the only difference being that Sabre fencers' gloves also have the electric mesh used on lames to cover their wrists. for masks, the epee and foil masks are the same, with a gridded metal frame basically covering the front and sides of the head, and a little cloth bib underneath to prevent attacks from going under and hitting the neck and face. The Sabre masks have the lame electric mesh bib, and are attached to the lame through a wire, conducting electricity through both. Both fencers on the strip are connected to the main scoring/timing/touch registering machine through wires which string out behind them and are attached to the machine out of the way of the action. These wires are hooked onto the lame or jacket in the back, and go under the jacket and through the sleeve to connect to the weapon they are holding. When the tip (blade for Sabre) connects with anything, it completes a circuit with the machine and a light goes off. White indicates off target, and a colored light (red or green) indicates a touch on target (resulting in a point). The fencer's lame is also connected (except in epee) to the machine by the wire going through the jacket, which is also hooked up to the lame. Hope this isn't too confusing, I tried to simplify it as much as I could, but still had to use fencing terms and whatnot. Also, although everything is electrified in a sense, everything is completely safe and doesn't electrocute the fencers, even in touching the lame or the weapon. Hope this helps!