SIGI Saber Pro | First Look & Market Overview

Today I'm taking a first look at the Saber Pro by SIGI Forge. I'll share some specs and talk the EU market situation for bowl-hilted HEMA training sabres.
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Relevant links:
- Article on sword stats by Meblourne Fencing Society: melbfensoc.com/2020/06/28/the...
- Matt Easton's article on the 1864 with measurements: www.antique-swords.co.uk/1864...
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Timestamps:
0:00 Introduction
1:55 SIGI Pro: Overview
6:00 Stats (Blade/grip length, mass, curvature, PoB)
7:30 Gloves (RDs and SPES Heavies)
8:56 Handling
11:00 Typology, sort of
13:36 Alternatives & Market Overview
18:00 Conclusion
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FOLLOW ME:
- Instagram: / historyandsabre
- My HEMA club: indes.at

[@historyandsabre]

Here's a couple more relevant makers I simply forgot to mention: - VB swordshop (HU) Light HEMA sabre (good choice overall but I don't love the grip) - Silkfencing (PL), heard good things but unfortunatley I've got zero experience with their products - Poker Armory (PL), no personal experience but heard some good things. - Swordsmithy (CZ), good for Barbasetti-like sabres. Good quality products. And before sb asks: Blackfencer is a maker I really like but they're not relevant to the category of bowl-hilted sabres.

[@Swordsnstuff]

Always great to see a sword review!

[@Chibi_changa]

Hello Mr Peter, I started doing military sabre a month or two ago, and it's been great fun, but my mustache still isn't nearly as incredible as yours. When can I expect that to happen?

[@historyandsabre]

Hey there, great to hear you've picked up the sabre! Honestly, I didn't have much facial hair at all until I was about 23. You might also try horse riding, wearing a hussar uniform and charging your enemy at neckbreaking speed to stimulate beard growth. Hope that helps.

[@Chibi_changa]

@@historyandsabre I'll try that next! Jokes aside, I've been doing longsword for a bit, but I got interested in sabre after stumbling across your channel. I'm glad I did, I love how dynamic the system feels once you get moving. Always looking forward to more from you!

[@clementcrn]

Thank you for this well detailed video, it is helpful for my next purchase! Greetings from france

[@historyandsabre]

Glad it was helpful!

[@LondonLongsword]

Lovely overview, thank you.:)

[@historyandsabre]

Thanks, you're very welcome!

[@BS-bd5uq]

A big heads up with SIGI is that they are heavily on their backlogs. I have waited for 8 months for mine while they claimed it only took 5-6 months back then. Stats wise it looks more promising than the Kvetun sabre, which had been one of my favorite ones for years.

[@historyandsabre]

Yes, good point. We also waited from September to early May. I hope it gets better with their new premises that they recently moved to.

[@BS-bd5uq]

@@historyandsabre Damn we ordered on the same month while you already got it and mine just got finished

[@BS-bd5uq]

I have enjoyed mine very much! I have to say it's my favorite Victorian Infantry sword ever. It handles really nicely, and the grip construction looks SO premium!

[@historyandsabre]

Yeah, it's great!

[@TotalCook]

Nice presentation of the sword! P.s. Two more sabres with bowl hilts can be found by Silkfencing from Poland, and VB swordshop from Hungary. Cheers!

[@historyandsabre]

Thanks, appreciate it! Oh yes, I did forget to mention the VB. That should have been an obvious one!

[@yuriys.6352]

Very beautiful saber!!!

[@historyandsabre]

I think so too!

[@maritimeswordschoolmoncton6513]

Great review. i have the same model shown here witht he heavy curve, and you're right on the money. It's a premium trainer, ticks a lot of boxes, but the heavy curve isn't quite right for the grip specifically. The handling is just a hair off. Super fun to fence with, great piece of kit, but if I'm hungry for the W, I grab a different sabre. I think I'm going to order a separate lightly curved blade for it as it would appear to be modular and I'm expecting a significant handling upgrade from that.

[@historyandsabre]

Yeah, interesting to hear that your experience with it is similar to my first impressions. SIGI says is modular when I checked on they website, so you should be absolutely fine ordering another blade. It's an all around great gymnasium sabre with a few downsides. No such thing as a perfect one!

[@chrismorgan1336]

Thanks for your review, quality over quantity again. Whilst the optioned-up grip looks fantastic, what will it do to the palm of your glove? Also, do you think it might impede the ability to quickly change hand positions? Re the Kvetuns: I have the three Easton's with the straight, semi and fully curved blades. It is quite surprising just how differently they behave. I also have a superb Kvetun boarding cutlass (loosely based on the Brit 1845) which also utilizes the same Easton hilt. Having the same hilt eliminates unwanted variability when investigating blade behavior. The Kvetun's 'rolled edge' on the guard is actually solid rod shaped and welded to the edge of the bowl. Regards Chris

[@90Degrees_]

Cool sword

[@JWhite-qf5qx]

I am considering buying one of these, Do you think thokk weaponmaster gauntlets would fit into the sigi pro gaurd? Ive never used the red dragons so im not sure of the size comparison

[@historyandsabre]

I can try it out when I my club mate brings his SIGI to class!

[@BS-bd5uq]

I believe the reason why Kvetun 1895 has different weight stat was that the original 800+g was a typo which they fixed later.

[@historyandsabre]

Ah, I didn't realise. Thanks!

[@favkisnexerade]

Nope, I bought kvetun 1895 last year and now upgraded to kvetun Easton because my 1895 is 850-870g and is a heavy ass truck A bit disappointed that I got heavy version while now they offer light version and I bought Easton cause I'd be happy with 1895 if it weighted 770 or so :/

[@coda8219]

I think the reason behind it might be related to the minimal weight limitation in Russian tournament

[@favkisnexerade]

@@coda8219 on the last tournament i was in st. petersburg (russia), minimal is 800 and as I understand it is a standard minimal weight for a tournament here.

[@historyandsabre]

Do you happen to know why the minimum is 800g? For sportive sabre fencing competitions that seems too heavy for me. Historically, many fencing sabres were lighter than that.

[@TyLarson]

I like my sigi. Wish I had sprung for the wire wrap.

[@MaxGroeneveld_]

Hi, You look like someone who has understanding of the history of swords. I have a question cuz we have a Sabre at home(it’s blunt). And there is some sort of fabricated name or something carved onto it: Bayek or Bayer Graz. And the Sabre it self is pretty clean and shiny and all but the hilt and the sheath are rusty. So idk if you know anything about where it might come from, but if you do I would be happy to know

[@historyandsabre]

Hi there, I wasn't aware of that maker but I did some quick research and it seems that Hans Bayer was a sword cutler in Graz, Austria around 1900. His business address was Hofgasse 7. Incidentally, I am from Graz and walk by that spot almost weekly. Cheers!

[@MaxGroeneveld_]

Thanks A lot!

[@glenbrooks2269]

How are they compared to the easton MK3 sabre ?

[@historyandsabre]

I think the SIGI Pro fills a similar niche as the standard Easton Mk3. The SIGI is a bit lighter but I think both are good choices in that category.

[@Vyrian89]

I've handled an almost identical SIGI Sabre and found that the blade was a bit too wobbly for my liking. Did you not find that to be somewhat detrimental to your fencing?

[@historyandsabre]

Wobbly as in overly flexible? That's not what I have found so far but we got them only recently. Interesting, though. I'll pay attention next time I get the chance to fence with one.

[@Vyrian89]

@@historyandsabre Yes that's exactly what I mean. Let me know if it affects your ability to do quick feints!

[@pardubiceswordplayassociat2120]

It's a well made sabre, the hilt is almost perfect. The weight distribution in the blade doesn't suit me very well. Although the PoB is good, the saber doesn't feel agile in my hand.

[@historyandsabre]

Yes, I have handled the straight-bladed version twice and I know what you mean. It's a very good sabre but the weight distribution overall isn't *quite* there for me, either.

[@robertvondarth1730]

What is the longest blade, heaviest HEMA sabre you know of?

[@tommyss4l]

I don't think any Sabre fencer should be using heavy gloves like red dragons. You lose so much mobility with the sword with those massive gloves, plus the guard has to be made so much bigger to accommodate the gloves.

[@historyandsabre]

Hi, thanks for the comment! I have to disagree here, tho. RDs are not heavy gloves in my view and the absolute minimum hand protection needed for sabre sparring in most contexts. I mainly train from Roworth using sabres with simple stirrup hilts or slot hilts. You simply can't do any sparring without at least RDs. Many prople use something like the Thokks nowadays for sabre which are also a good option overall. It's a needed tradeoff because I don't like broken fingers. Cheers!