Sabre Recommendations#

This will be sectioned out alphabetically by seller. It isn’t a list of every single sabre and seller, but rather a curated short list of sabres that someone at our club has handled and liked. Think of it as a starting point, and as you gain experience, you can try opening every link in the big seller’s list and see what strikes your fancy.

Arm Street | 🇺🇸#

If you want to tinker with your sabre’s performance, Arm Street has a couple of interesting sabres like the Podium and One Standard. The idea is that you can swap out your sabre’s guard or handle to change its weight or balance, all without having to go out and buy a whole new sabre. The blade itself is made by HF Armory.

These could be tournament legal or not depending on what modifications are in play. The blade would be considered a partial curve.

Krieger | 🇵🇱#

The Krieger S6 is an underrated full-curve sabre. Not as flashy as other options, it nevertheless has good presence and balance as a middleweight sabre. Although the grip’s texture can feel a bit strange on a bare hand, it this same texture keeps it from slipping when in a gloved hand.

These are tournament legal with local organizers.

North Armoury | 🇨🇦#

North Armoury has been selling a WuWu Dueling Sabre for a little while now. It’s a good economy sword that’s fun to swing around. It has undergone at least one minor redesign to the extent that its weight has changed, so its best to ask North Armoury about its weight before ordering (they seem to be in the range of 710-730g right now).

These are tournament legal with local organizers. The blade would be considered a partial curve.

Regenyei Armory | 🇭🇺#

It’s physically impossible for fencers to talk about Regenyei sabres without bringing up the fact that their old sabres are considered crowbars. They have all undergone a drastic redesign and are now considered one of the best sabres available in terms of safety, performance, and price.

Cupped regenyei sabres come in three versions: the Tournament, the Light, and the Duelist. The Tournament and Light are tournament legal with local organizers (though it’s a close thing with the Light if its weight varies more than advertised) whereas the Duelist is not.

All blades would be considered partial curve.

Sigi Forge | 🇸🇰#

Unfortunately Sigi’s best sabre, the Sabre PRO, isn’t available at the moment, but there are other good options. The Sigi Sabre Big is a cuphilt sabre with enough room to accommodate a truly enormous glove. You could even fit a clamshell in there, though it’s not recommended.

The weight and handling of Sigi sabres depends a lot on what kind of blade you put on it (regular, fullered, light, etc). If you’re looking for a specific target weight, you can email SIGI ahead of ordering and find out which blade options will get you there, especially if you are looking for something tournament legal (weight aside, the rest of its specifications are tournament legal).

Sigi blades are sometimes criticized as being a bit wobbly. This makes them a bit kinder in a full-rainbow thrust, but you’ll need to have good edge alignment for your binds and parries.

Somewhat confusingly, the “straight” blade option is a partial curve. The “curved” blade option is a full curve.

Swordshop | 🇨🇦#

Swordshop’s Gymnasium Sabre is an in-house design made in partnership with other sword makers. It’s not someone else’s sword with a whitelabel, and therefore it isn’t available anywhere else.

If “duelling” describes a lightweight sabre, then “gymnasium” usually describes a middleweight that comes in a little under the weight of historical sabres. This seems to be where the Swordshop sabre falls: one that favours a more historical feel but without being overly bulky. Fencers who want to opt for something heavier but not heavy should consider this sabre.

This sabre is tournament legal with local organizers and would be considered to have a partial curve blade.