Jackets, plastrons and breeches.

FIE rules for all three weapons (Material Rules, August 2026)

• 800 Newtons: jackets, under-plastrons, breeches and trousers must be made entirely of cloth able to resist 800 Newtons, and a protective under-plastron of 800 N covering the vital upper areas of the body is obligatory (m.25.3.c). Annexe A puts the same figure as resistance to perforation by a force of at least 800 Newtons (Annexe A, 3).
• What the plastron and breeches must cover: the FIE Medical Committee's definition in Annexe A (3.2) says the plastron protects the neck under the bib, the hollows above and below the collar bone, the area around the sword-arm armpit and the heart; the trousers protect the abdomen, groin and genitals, the last by a protective cup.
• Condition and fastening: clothing must be clean, in good condition and carry the FIE homologation label, with no buckles or openings that could catch the opponent's point, and jacket and collar fully fastened (m.25.2). Zips and other fastenings are covered by a flap sewn toward the sword-arm side (m.25.3.c).
• Jacket cut: at all weapons, for men and women, the jacket overlaps the breeches by at least 10 cm on guard (m.25.4.a), with a lining giving double thickness on the sword-arm sleeve to the elbow and on the flank up to the armpit (m.25.4.b). At epee the jacket must cover the whole trunk (m.25.4.b).
• Breeches fasten below the knee (m.25.5.a).
• Colour and names: any colour except black (m.25.3.d). The national uniform is socks, breeches and jacket (m.25.3.a); approved national strips are compulsory on both legs at official FIE competitions (m.25.3.f and m.25.3.g); the family name and federation abbreviation go on the back in dark blue Roman capitals 8 to 10 cm high; a World Champion may wear them in red for the following season and an Olympic Champion in gold until the end of the next Olympic Games (m.25.3.h).
• Label: the uniform quality label is indelible, circular and 50 mm across, with the maker's emblem, year and month of manufacture and the FIE emblem. The same annex states that "chip and label installation requirements are suspended", without a date (Annexe A, 4).

Conductive jackets (lames): foil and sabre only

At foil and sabre the lame cloth has conductive thread in warp and weft, no more than 5 ohms between any two points, and a lame with holes, oxidation or other defects that could stop a valid hit registering may not be used (m.28.5 and m.34.4). At official FIE competitions a fencer may present at most two conductive jackets for checking, and one judged unusable is marked with very visible paint (m.38.1 and m.38.8).

How the plastron came in

The IOC's fencing injury chapter (Harmer, 2010, citing Parfitt 1964) records that the protective plastron was introduced after a fatal penetrating injury at the 1951 World Championships, where the fencer's jacket was found to be of inadequate thickness. An informal online fencing FAQ (2002) dates an 800 N plastron at FIE "A" competitions to 1 April 1995; that date was not found in an FIE document and is unconfirmed.

National rules below FIE level

USA Fencing (October 2026)

USA Fencing's Rules for Competition reproduce the FIE text requiring 800 N jackets, under-plastrons and knickers (m.25.3.c), but a USA note to t.64.1 says an FIE-homologated uniform is not required in USA Fencing competitions, and a note to t.64.5 says the plastron must have at least two layers and a sleeve to the elbow with no opening or seam in the armpit region, and "does not need to be constructed of 800 Newton material". The Athlete Handbook 2026-2027 says standard uniforms and plastrons are acceptable with no FIE label. The rulebook therefore carries both an 800 N plastron rule and a note saying the plastron need not be 800 N material, a disagreement within the document itself. The handbook also requires a full jacket with a groin strap at epee and foil and on foil and sabre lames, bars fencing in warm-up trousers and torn uniforms, and requires names on uniforms only at national-level tournaments, a Board decision of September 2010.

British Fencing

• Domestic Variations (6 December 2023): 350 Newton jackets and breeches at domestic events; 350 N plastrons, integrated ones included, allowed at under-14 level (size 3 or smaller blades) and below, 800 N for all other events.
• Equipment by Activity (2 October 2026): CEN 1 (350 Newtons) jacket, plastron and breeches for beginner classes, pupils in lessons and under-14 and under-10 fencing; a CEN 2 (800 Newtons) plastron with CEN 1 jacket and breeches for general training and BF competitions; CEN 2 (800 Newtons) jacket, plastron and breeches with the FIE mark at FIE competitions.
• A disagreement between British Fencing pages of different dates: the CE, CEN and FIE markings page (as at 13 March 2026) gives a 350N minimum plastron for metal club fencing, with 800N recommended, while the Equipment by Activity page (2 October 2026) requires a CEN 2 (800 Newtons) plastron for general training. The under-plastron safety page (8 June 2026) says plastrons should meet at least CEN Level 1 and advises personal buyers to choose 800N because it meets the standard for every activity.
• Markings: the same markings page says a jacket marked 800N without an FIE mark is not approved for FIE competitions, and that meeting CEN Level 2 does not make an item FIE-approved.
• Safety Guidelines, 23rd edition (25 June 2026; British Fencing lists a 24th edition, Board approved in September 2026, which could not be read, so the section numbers here are from the 23rd): jackets at least CEN Level 1 with the CEN mark, breeches likewise where required, and a 10 cm overlap on guard (1.3). If both fencers use non-electric foil blades, or size 0 blades at any weapon, breeches may be replaced by full-length trousers of strong material with openings closed, except in BF-licensed competitions (1.3.vi). British Fencing's jackets and breeches safety page (8 June 2026) says damaged, torn or worn-out clothing must not be used.

A maker, Leon Paul, states on its US site that an 800N plastron is mandatory for electric fencing in the UK (maker's claim). British Fencing's own documents disagree: they allow 350N plastrons at under-14 level with size 3 or smaller blades and list 350N as the minimum plastron for metal club fencing.

Wheelchair fencing

The Wheelchair Fencing Material Rules Amendments of January 2018, the newest found, require the foil and sabre conductive jacket to cover the whole target with the fencer seated on guard, and a dark-blue vertical line 10 cm by 2.5 cm on the back of epee jackets and lames (m.25.4.d, m.28.6, m.28.7, m.34.6).