We pride ourselves on making the most accurate Victorian dueling saber simulator on the market and have earned the accolade of being the best. We’ve worked extensively with the most knowledgeable historians and collectors with regards to these antiques in order to reproduce the toughest and most accurate simulator for the modern practitioner.
To design and engineer this high-end saber, we started with historical statistics. Many of the masters of the period (1860-1900) agreed that the ideal point of balance for a light fencing sabre is 9 to 11 centimeters from the front of the guard. This distance was often referred to as “4 fingers width”. Universally, the overall weight for this class of sabre was often between 600 and 750grams.
We’ve gone to great lengths to engineer these products to precisely follow these specifications while using the most robust blade materials available today.
We offer one guard that has rich Victorian history and is considered a very common variant in the world of antique sport sabres. The Horstmann, a common historical variant that has a shallow dish and small footprint. This guard is made from hardened .08” 4130.
We offer three choices of dueling sabre blade profiles, each in a 20mm and 16mm size. While each feature the highest quality and handling the difference is in how they are constructed and the results are largely only cosmetic. In form and function they all handle incredibly well. Our Blades are split into two categories:
Hand ground distal taper 5160 spring steel blades.
Hand ground flat distal taper “BBS” spring steel blades.
While both types handle similarly, and are of similar weight and balance, the distal taper blades take a great deal more skill and precision to manufacture. These blades are considered by many to be the finest and most historically accurate dueling sabre blades produced in the world today. The latter are made from .130 5160 blue temper spring steel and are flat distal ground with equal precision to put the flex right where it needs to be- the tip 3rd.
We offer two levels of calibrated and consistent flex on each of our dueling sabre blades. The lighter flex is our F3 flex which translates to 18lbs (8kg) flex weight, great for delivering solid yet forgiving thrusts and cuts in light armor sparring. The heavier flex is our F4 flex which translates to 21lbs (9.5kg) flex weight. This heavier flex is better suited to higher calibration, heavier armored sparring and competition. Note! The 16mm blade comes only in F3 flex due to material constraints.
We have designed using exacting measurements from antiques, a hyper accurate metal 3D printed backstrap system from 316 stainless steel. This includes a backstrap and feral and to fill them, two grip inserts; deep and shallow. Both also modeled from extant references. The deep grip insert is designed to mimic the general shape of the light military sabres of the 1870’s through the 1920’s. The shallow grip insert is designed to the general specifications of the “sport” sabres of the 1880’s.
All of these parts are held together by a recessed M6 threaded pin. The pin is hardened to reduce the potential for damage and stripped threads and requires a metric 4mm hex wrench.
And, just like everything else we build, all of these parts are interchangeable with every other dueling saber product we make.
Overall weight:
If with a 16mm blade and F3 flex ~ 685gr.
If with a 20mm blade and F3 flex ~ 700gr to 715gr. If with a 20mm blade and F4 flex ~ 715gr to 740 gr.
-Sam
