Ensifer Black Saber

Ensifer's legendary quality, this time as a fast and attractive Polish saber. I have had two of these, an older and now the newer version, and while I did love the hook of the original's handle, the option to wear my heaviest gloves while fencing saber is a huge security upgrade. The ribs are enough to prevent the slide without a hook. Interestingly, this saber's fullered blade is the same length as their gymnasium saber, but has a more stylized mass distribution with a wider belly and more pronounced taper from there to the tip. Flex is as on other Ensifer models- quick, easy, responsive, and quickly recovered to straight. There's a very shallow grind to illustrate where the false edge begins and wraps around to the true, which is the sort of detail that bridges the gap between live and trainer in a tangible and useful way. That attitude is evident throughout.

This is such a nice,well made sabre, lightweight with good blade presence. I can see why everyone comments positively about the agility of this sword. It feels lighter in the hand than i thought it would, while still having the right heft to the blade. The build quality is top notch as expected from ensifer. Thank you SoCal swords for stocking this awesome sabre.

I purchased my Ensifer saber at SoCal Swords 2023 and I’ve been extremely pleased with it. It’s nimble and lively in the hand, with a weight that’s slightly forward but doesn’t feel like it’s tugging the wielder for the ride as they swing. The back of the blade also has an additional tapering towards the last third towards the tip, representing the false edge which would be sharpened.

I love sparring with this sword. Coming off from using a heavy shashka as my saber, having something light and possessing hand protection is a luxury lmao. The curve of the saber lends itself well to sneaking in cheeky thrusts and false edge thrusts from angles that people aren’t used to, It has also has great flex so you can keep your partner safe and continue training.

The gripes I have are that for people with just SPES lobsters, your mileage will definitely vary. My Progauntlets and HF sidesword/saber gloves fit fantastically inside the L-guard, but a SPES lobster really struggles because of how big it is. I also don’t recommend it for hard mixed weapons sparring or anything with a big blade presence and a chunky edge. I haven’t had it occur to me when I’ve played against my clubmates with mixed weapons, but my friend who also purchased one has a few noticeable nicks and dings from sparring against people with a longsword.

Other than that, this is a great training tool to use for one’s HEMA journey and simply something nice to have in the ever-growing armory of weapons lol.

Ensifer Black Saber

Ensifer Black Saber