Got a new sword

[Teufel Hunden]

1796 Light Cavalry Saber. Came with a certificate of having passed the British Proof Test.



It's very well made, from Cold Steel. I have only two complaints: 1) the blade is only half sharpened. The tip down to midway toward the hilt is great for cutting. Further down, it's unsharpened. No idea why they would do this. 2) The scabbard is fake leather... very cheap fake leather at that. But, aside from that, it's very heavy, very sturdy, and it cuts as well as in the videos on the Cold Steel website.

Close up of the hilt:



This is all very heavy steel... You feel confident that an afternoon of cavalry charging and skull bashing wouldn't bend anything out of place.

It's a very well balanced sword as well. Back to back cutting can be done very easily without skipping a beat. I ran out of tall cardboard boxes and my last cutting mat in about 20 minutes.

My favorite part: There is not one single marking on the blade. No "Cold Steel" logo, nothing. It looks like you'd expect a historical piece to look like, which is incredibly rare these days.

[Dale Seago]

It's very well made, from Cold Steel. I have only two complaints: 1) the blade is only half sharpened. The tip down to midway toward the hilt is great for cutting. Further down, it's unsharpened. No idea why they would do this.

I wonder if that might actually be historically correct. I seem to recall that military saber technique by the late 1700s emphasized a lot of blocking/parrying with the edge, preferably at the forte near the hilt. It may have been thought in the day that the blade didn't need to be sharpened all the way to properly do its thing.

[Teufel Hunden]

I wonder if that might actually be historically correct. I seem to recall that military saber technique by the late 1700s emphasized a lot of blocking/parrying with the edge, preferably at the forte near the hilt. It may have been thought in the day that the blade didn't need to be sharpened all the way to properly do its thing.

Hmm. Good points. You're correct, saber technique did call for a lot of blocking with the cutting edge. It makes sense not to sharpen those parts now that you mention it.

[Orvis]

Beautiful sword. A real slicer. My only comment is that both the British 1796 Light Cavalry sabre and the 1796 Heavy Cavalry sword had bright steel scabbards. See this link: http://www.swordsandpistols.co.uk/sw...m=72&image=402

If you can get a copy, the Tower of London Armouries video series "Arms in Action" had a segment on swords. In that segment is showed a modern horseman riding at the heads with a 1796 Light Cavalry sabre. In ultra-slow-motion, one can see the blade "wave" as it strikes each target, thus demonstrating the quality and flexibilty of the blade. I believe the technique for using such curved blades was to strike and pull the blade, thus causing massive slice cuts (or openings in the skull), rather than cutting through in the manner of hacking. It would have been too easy to break the blade or stick the edge in a bone (and thus be unable to clear it in time to engage the next opponent - a bad situation in a melee) if one hacked... Rather like sticking a bayonet point into an opponent and being unable to withdraw it and having to fire a round to free the blade.

S/F,

[Teufel Hunden]

Beautiful sword. A real slicer. My only comment is that both the British 1796 Light Cavalry sabre and the 1796 Heavy Cavalry sword had bright steel scabbards. See this link: http://www.swordsandpistols.co.uk/sw...m=72&image=402

I bought this for an upcoming event, and had to sacrifice authenticity for the look of black on steel. I don't mind it much, this is just a stock, mass produced weapon, and not the center of my collection or anything.

If you can get a copy, the Tower of London Armouries video series "Arms in Action" had a segment on swords. In that segment is showed a modern horseman riding at the heads with a 1796 Light Cavalry sabre. In ultra-slow-motion, one can see the blade "wave" as it strikes each target, thus demonstrating the quality and flexibilty of the blade. I believe the technique for using such curved blades was to strike and pull the blade, thus causing massive slice cuts (or openings in the skull), rather than cutting through in the manner of hacking. It would have been too easy to break the blade or stick the edge in a bone (and thus be unable to clear it in time to engage the next opponent - a bad situation in a melee) if one hacked... Rather like sticking a bayonet point into an opponent and being unable to withdraw it and having to fire a round to free the blade.

Interesting. I'll check it out, thanks for the suggestion.

S/F,[/QUOTE]

[Manitoban Keith]

beautiful piece! i love the cold steel line. i rarely go anywhere without my cold steel spartan folder.

[Duke of Delrio]

You sure did get a new sword! Now, don't let us catch you running with it, and . . . . don't put your eye out!

[Taygrd]

Very Nice, thank you for posting it. This style saber is one of the more attractive swords of that period. I have an American cavalry saber from that era and it was sharpened it's full lenght. Most of the readings that I have seen stated they shipped the blades unsharpened to stave off rust on the edge and then the blades were sharpened when or prior to being issued. So Dale's and Orvice's points would make perfect sense because the sharpening would be by the end user who was best versed in the swords use.

[Pleater]

Just be careful not to slice the ears off your horse when swinging it.



Anne the Pleater :ootd:

[English Bloke]

There's some interesting stuff going on at this website.

http://www.militaryheritage.com/swords2.htm The British Commonwealth Infantry Officer's Sword takes me back a bit...