Why Did Sabers DOMINATE Other Swords in the MILITARY?

So, basically, sabres have very balanced functionality and practicality.

6:30 You also have to remember that officers (and sergeants) were not supossed to fight at all. Their job was to lead the soldiers and keep them in line (literally, as they fought in Line formation). Until 1786, company officers even carried spears (spontoons) as a sign of status and to push the men into position. British sergeants carried halberds until 1792 and still carried spears at Waterloo. The officers sword was mostly carried as a status symbol (because they were gentlemen) and for self-defense, together with pistols.

Fun fact. From wikipedia: The M1859 Marine NCO sword is the oldest weapon in continued (unbroken) service still in U.S. inventory(1859–present). Which from what I can tell should be classified as a saber.

Pretty much what I was thinking. The versatility of cut and thrust without the weapon being stupidly out-sized.

You can see certain trends. The Sabre increases in popularity as armored cavalry starts to fallout of use. The sword becoming estoc like in response to the lance (and melee combat it general) disappearing. It makes sense that if your going to be a dedicated shooter you don't want an obtrusive side arm.

When I made Chief in the US Navy I invested a little extra to get the optional Chief’s Cutlass, which I believe qualifies as being in the saber family. Entirely ceremonial of course, but entertaining and not unreasonable to wear on the belt weight and bulk wise.

As a man who does a lot of edge maintenance on knives and axes, I’d love a video about sword edge maintenance!

20 minutes of continuous knowledge without a break. I will have to watch again for the bits where I blinked. Thank you for this, I am not a swordsman, but all the same this is somehow valuable to me.

I heard that learning the basics of saber fighting is easier than learning the basics of fighting with other weapons - which is important in a mass army. Not everyone is a noble who has practiced fencing since childhood. Even in a movie, a woman says to a guy, "Take my husband's saber and strike like this. Then you will kill your opponent." It was, of course, a ridiculously short "training", but - you get what I mean (the potential opponent was some kind of ghost or the living dead, so the skills of the opponent were probably also questionable).

I find it interesting that the saber became very popular in China as well. Seems like one of those designs that fits many situations. "The liuyedao or willow-leaf saber is a type of dao that was commonly used as a military sidearm for both cavalry and infantry during the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing dynasties (1644-1911). A descendant of the earlier Mongol saber the liuyedao remained the most popular type of single handed sabre during the Ming dynasty, replacing the role of the Jian in the military." From what I understand it was easier to train soldiers to be proficient with it than the Jian straight sword.

Extremely concise by Matt Easton standards 😂

I’d say another contributing factor to the popularity of the sabre, would be emerging semi-industrial production methods. A sabre is relatively easy to produce. Its only sharp on one edge, and the simple knucklebow is easy to make but still offers decent hand protection.

my old man has a sabre. the feel of a cavalry sabre is just awesome, it feels really good to use

What I can also imagine to play a part is the disappearance of armor. Rapiers and other swords more oriented towards piercing are needed less because of that. And it is not so that with a cut or a slash you are more likely to incapacitate the opponent? And less of a chance of getting the point stuck in the other guy?

My grandfather Kovats Andras was a Capt. in the Budapest Hussars in WW1 and carried a sabre. Mind you, sabres, originating there with popularity moving east and west, dominated Central Europe for generations.

Western Europe cavalry in XVIII and XIX century borrow lots of things from central and eastern European counterparts. Polish, Hungarian or Croatian cavalry units were considered as top notch in that time. And all of them used sabers.

They also offer several distinct advantages for cavalry use. If you're on horseback, charging someone down - the single edge allows you to rotate the blade out and lay a dull edge against the horse's neck. No accidentally cutting your horse. The curve of the blade also tracks around that horses neck. You can lay flatter behind its neck or even lean to the far side of the horse, and the curve will angle the point more forward, rather than way out to the side. If you hit with the point, the smaller basket makes it easier to drop the sword, and then the chord on the bottom stays looped around your wrist so you can yank it back as you ride past. If you miss with the point, the curve still gives you the option to rake the blade against a foe in a push-cut driven by the power of the horse.

Even the Japanese jumped on board to the sabre with the Kyu-Gunto. Really interesting.

I don't film but at our modern sabre club 1 kid got frustrated with the rules (understandable) so I said round robin no rules, doubles are both dead and he did equally as bad compared to the ones now using priority as a way of understanding how to not get hit. This was a great learning experiment for all. I do frequently blur the line of the sport and historical stuff to bring swordsmanship back to the sport. The kids like it.

Wow, thanks Matt (this is Jon), A great in depth answer to something I’ve been thinking about for a while!