best sabre for forms

It isn't strictly a saber, but I found Cold Steel's shamshir-like thingy to have very good balance! Very quick and authoritative, and pokin holes in people with the tip wouldn't be too hard either. It also trains very good point control due to the curve--once you can compensate for that, you can thread a needle with a fencing foil.

Oh and there's always Lutel, they have buttloads of gorgeous sabers that won't bankrupt you, though I've no idea how they handle.

A couple of years ago, I went looking for something of fairly straight and of modest length for both play and cutting. What I ended up with was this. This is billed at retailers of American Civil War reproductions as a College Hill Arsenal saber. Slightly anachronistic but it has proven to be a good bit of fun. The blade on this is about 33 1/2" and a good size for me on foot.




The splotches on the blade are actually reflections.

Although still working the blade down, it has taken a very nice edge. It does have about an eight inch false edge which I have not as yet sharpened. The real problem with the majority of the India produced sabres is the lack of historical proportion to the distal taper. This one is no exception. A quarter inch thick at the guard, the spine is still three sixteenths where the false edge grind starts and aside from grind to the two edges is still three sixteenths thick right out to the tip (or a smidge behind). What this does is put the balance out to eight inches. Quite honestly though, it doesn't handle that badly and has proven an excellent cutter. For consideration, note that a period early 19th century sabre I just got in has a twenty-eight inch blade and the balance is at five inches. Compare that distal to another original sword in my collection that is 9mm at the hilt and has a fairly radical concavity to the distal taper proportions and is a mere 2mm in crossection at the tip. The balance on that very epee like blade is still four inches out and the entire sword weighs about a pound and three quarters.

I think there is a bit of misconception to point control and balance points. With something like an epee or smallsword where a lot of the control may well be in your wrist, I don't think a close balance point really hinders you but with heavier build swords, including rapiers, a lot of hilt bias could/can actually work against you in control and recovery. I also don't think it much of a mystery that swords that better excell at cutting tend to have a forward mass distribution.

There is a lot more to be said than static numbers anyway and I do agree that a lot of it can be personal preference. Not unlike so many things. We are kind of stuck with what they market might have to offer on the reproduction end but don't overlook original military examples from the late 19th century and early twentieth century. They are plentiful and relatively inexpensive. A good many of them are common enough that you would not be doing the antique world a great injustice by using one vigorously. That last is simply my feeling and I know many collectors would shudder at the thought.

Do also consider historical context if it matters at all to you. Cavalry swords tend to be longer and often curvier but there is no abslolute there. I am 6'2" tall and find blades between 30" and 34" to be plenty when considering use with one hand.

Good luck in the quest.

Hotspur; didn't really set out to write a book there and not trying to preach a sermon. Just some thoughts and an example

I had posted some links in the recent aquisitions thread of the reviews subforum for German militaria. To be honest, my links list has been compliled mostly through Google searches and checking links lists of sites I visit. The British swords of the late 19th century are fairly plentiful as well. I would say, yes, originals are definitely worth the money and one can occasionally find real bargains. My problem has been narrowing down the field of what appeals to me and was the drive to buy the sabre pictured above. What I was trying to get across though is that originals do have characterisitics that make them a whole lot more lively in just about any context. As to what might be the best fit for you, it is hard to say. Me, I've kind of a hankering for British artillery and engineers swords lately.

I am going to create a seperate thread in a moment with some links for antiques. There really are a lot of good sound swords out there for less than $500.

Cheers

Hotspur; some period swords are going to be better suited for lots of use than others

Jonathan: Oh yeah! That is my kind of sabre, love the curvature in the blade, I love a deeply curving blade there is just something about those curves that do it for me

Anyone think they'll buy the Windlass shashka? It looks really nice. It isn't on my priority list, but I sure am curious.

Bloodwraith,

When I was in the market for good handling sabers, I had good luck plying through the militaria collectibles section of ebay. I got two very good original sabers in the $165-175 range. They were less expensive because they lacked scabbards. One is (I think) an M1831 Austrian Artillery saber. It has a moderately curved blade and handles better than any saber I have ever touched, antique or repro. It handles exactly as you describe, and being an artillery saber, the blade is shorter and designed for ground fighting.

Prices have gone up considerably since I bought it, but they are not too uncommon and are still affordable. That reminds me, I need to hunt down another to fill out my "crossed sabers" wall mount. ;D

hot spur I don't like geting antques cause I play rough with my toys ;D and I break a repo I'm out 90 bucks I break an antque we lose a piese of history


so what saber would you recomend

I meant which similarly priced sabre would you suggest for some medium to heavy cutting

Maybe something along these lines?
www.alcheminc.com/turkic.html