Ensifer Black Saber

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

I really like this sabre from Ensifer. Surprisingly light and agile in the hand. I also have a VB 17th century Hungarian sabre w/ knuckle bow and the Ensifer seems lighter and more nimble to me. The flex on the Ensifer is much better than the VB as well. I was a bit concerned that the grip material seemed almost slick when it arrived by I've had no issues with keeping a hold of it while training so really a non-issue. Tested fit with M/L set of SPES Heavies and the glove fits but plastic does touch the knuckle bow. Not sure how this will affect handling yet. I also have a pair of Sparring Gloves Infinities and these fit without issue. Have not had a chance to use in sparring yet, so no information on how it holds up to contact. Given Ensifer's reputation I'm not really worried about how well it will hold up. SoCal was great to work with. Placed the order through the website after seeing they had it in stock and a week later I had it in hand.