Uploaded December 2019 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Moral of the story: Go for a registered courier. You'll cry less.
This is a cautionary tale of shipping and couriers, centered around a ~1799 "Directoire" period French Light Cavalry Officers Sabre that I lost, which had a blued and gilt blade and an unusual leather and wire wrapped grip (which is rarely seen on this particular style of sabre).
I purchased it over two years ago, and it disappeared after going through customs, and boarding a plane. While I was able to eventually reclaim the insurance value of the sword, it is impossible to replace the historical value of any individual antique object, as each antique is inherently tied to its story, owner, and maker.
Even if you find an identical pattern of sword, it will never have the same history as the one you lost.
#LostSword #StolenPackage #StolenMail
Moral of the story: Go for a registered courier. You'll cry less.
This is a cautionary tale of shipping and couriers, centered around a ~1799 "Directoire" period French Light Cavalry Officers Sabre that I lost, which had a blued and gilt blade and an unusual leather and wire wrapped grip (which is rarely seen on this particular style of sabre).
I purchased it over two years ago, and it disappeared after going through customs, and boarding a plane. While I was able to eventually reclaim the insurance value of the sword, it is impossible to replace the historical value of any individual antique object, as each antique is inherently tied to its story, owner, and maker.
Even if you find an identical pattern of sword, it will never have the same history as the one you lost.
#LostSword #StolenPackage #StolenMail
![[OUTDATED]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/qm-Qx3j60w0/mqdefault.jpg "[OUTDATED]
THIS VIDEO IS OUTDATED. See my updated video here: https://youtu.be/VlBIkJn1GnI
This is a kilij, (Turkic word for sword) also known as a Pala (specific to this style of short sabre with a T shaped spine).
It is made of wootz, a type of crucible steel that has distinct patterns. This particular style of wootz is known as dendritic wootz, as it has dendrites, or branches of bright lines (cementite) on a dark background (sorbite). (Although it is possible this is pattern welded and I am just blind)
In the top right image you can see a distinct band of pale steel. This indicates a scarf weld, where two bars of wootz were forge welded together by heating them to a orange color, then hammering them together. The reason for this is likely because the top / end section of wootz billets is often dirty and crumbly, so it gets cut off and a clean bit is used for the tang.
This style of sabre has a very, thin, fine edge, making it an exceptionally good slicing or slashing sword. The heavy curve further emphasises this. The thick (10mm) spine prevents you from chopping deeply with a typical cutting motion, requiring you to draw cut, pulling the blade along your opponents flesh and rending it apart.
This style first appeared around 1750-1770, and this example is from around 1780-1790. It is likely Turkish / Ottoman, and feels amazing to handle. Whilst the point of balance is something like 18cm away from the guard, it just floats when you hold it. You can barely tell youre holding a sword.
Length: 84cm
Blade Length: 70cm
Weight: 670 grams
Point of Balance: 18cm")
![[OUTDATED] 1882 French Infantry Officers Sword | Hilt and Blade Variation](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/s-0oxU4QWq0/mqdefault.jpg "[OUTDATED] 1882 French Infantry Officers Sword | Hilt and Blade Variation
A overview of the available blade designs and handle material for the 1882 French infantry officers sword, with some history and etymology.
The French 1882 Infantry Officers Sword is a thrusting sword with roots in the earlier French cuirassiers sword. The hilts were made of several materials, being steel (which was strongest), bronze (which was often used by mounted infantry), or finally from German silver, which occasionally had elaborate decoration.
Blades could either be standard, with offset fullers, or from French patterns both old and new, or even entirely custom made to fit an officers requests. The reasons for these choices varied, and so the end result is a surprising amount of variation between individual non-regulation swords.
There were two sizes available for the 1882, a full size and a smaller picquet size, and they were often sold in cased pairs.
Please excuse my errors or pauses. I did this in two takes without reading from my script, and this is my first video.")
