Me too!
Beautiful sword! It looks like my Cuirassier sword, only much nicer. Too pricey for my taste, however.
Here's a piece on the Cuirassier sword: http://www.oldswords.com/articles/Frenc ... N%20XI.pdf
Me too!
I questioned the utility of the sharpened back-edge in my comments on the M1907 Spanish saber, but here is a rational explanation of it's utility:In the Peninsula War, the English nearly always used the sword for cutting. The French dragoons , to the contrary, used only the point which almost always caused a fatal wound. This made the English say, "The French don't fight fair." Marshal Saxe wished to arm the French cavalry with a blade of a triangular cross section so as to make the use of the point obligatory. At Wagram, when the cavalry of the guard passed in review before a charge, Napoleon called to them, "Don't cut! The point! The point!"
The point is vastly more deadly than the edge. While it might be possible to inflict a crippling blow with the edge (were the swing unrestricted by the pressing ranks of the charge or by the guard of attack) the size and power of the blow is so reduced there is grave doubt it would have sufficient power to do any damage to an opponent's body, protected by clothing and equipment. And even should the blade reach the opponent, it's power to unhorse is dubious.
The cavalryman rides at a man to kill him. If he misses, he goes on to another, moving in straight lines with the intent of running his opponent through. As to the question of recovering his sword thrust into an opponent, when a man has been run through he is going to be pretty limp and will probably fall from his horse, clearing the weapon for you. It would seem, then, that the straight sword possesses all of the advantages of the curved sword for cutting, besides the proper use of the point, which the other does not, and that in using the point in the charge not a single advantage of the edge is lost, while many disadvantages are overcome. In addition, the highest possible incentive to close with the enemy is given.
The sharpened back edge makes it much easier to withdraw from a body than would be the case if it were single edged. The use of the point is taught exclusively. In the charge with the point, all the energy of the horse is conserved and he becomes a steel-pointed missile.
Interesting that there are examples of 1918 marked blades with SN lower than 1917 marked blades.M-1913 Cavalry (Patton) Saber
Year - Production- Low Serial No.- High Serial No.
1913 - 200 - 13- 8,140
1914 - 24,799 - 8,246- 29,574
1915 - 5,292 - 30,119- 30,440
1916 - ? - 30,735- 30,817
1917 - ? - 31,199- 33,482
1918 - 5,000 - 32,822- 37,610
I believe all swords were issued dull and sharpening was only done prior to deployment. My better quality swords are all un-sharpened. The ones that are sharp are also "ridden hard". That's true for my British, French, German and Spanish swords. The only exception is a ca. 1900 Japanese NCO sword that is pristine and still coated with factory grease. It is sharp.Michaelser wrote: ↑Wed Jul 04, 2018 2:29 pm Maybe it has something to do with sharpening? A curved blade has only one cutting edge, and thus can be sold sharpened, much like a common knife. A straight sword has two edges and must be sold unsharpened false-edged. Because most people wont bother to sharpen their swords, maybe they are trying to remove one danger by banning curved swords which already come sharpened? This is just a wild guess, but I cant think of any other reason why this distinction should be made.