With its sweeping blade and light weight the Balaur Arms Hungarian Saber is a fast and powerful cutter that easily slices through targets such as tatami or water bottles with its sharpened edge and cut-focused point of balance. The blade has thick spine at its base for durability and the whole blade thins steadily toward the tip in its distal taper before radically thinning at the widenend yelman-style tip, the blade thinning inversely as it widens to improve its slicing ability by minimizing drag with its thinner cross section. The blade terminates in a vicious tip that can be a capable of a surprisingly capable thrust when wielded by a skilled hand.
The guard and pommel are crafted from stainless steel and the hardwood grip is bound in cord-textured leather. A thick and wide peen of the blade tang over the pommel cap solidly anchors the blade into the hilt. Like some historical examples, a makeshift “knuckleguard” is formed by a chain. The example here might defend against light or glancing strikes, but it was not built to withstand hard hits so please use caution. For customers who prefer the appearance of Hungarian Sabers without chain “knucklebars” the chain and its anchoring points could be clipped and ground flush with a power tool with final blending being accomplished with scuff and polishing pads.
The sword comes with a wooden scabbard which is wrapped in stitched, supple leather. Its fittings and chape are stainless steel and it is completed with a set of hanging rings by which it can be suspended from a sword belt or sash with a pair of leather saber sword hangers (not included).
Dan (verified owner) –
When I first saw a Polish / Hungarian saber with the chain guard I thought it was a very cool looking, “primitive” form of hand protection. When I saw this pop up I just had to have it. The blade is beautiful, comes with a deep fuller and that nice, aggressive looking yelmen with a sharpened false-edge. The blade comes very sharp out of the box, and while a bit heavy for a saber, the point of balance is not too high, it has a consistent distal taper, and handles very nicely overall.
I do have some concerns over the fit and finish. The chain of the handguard is somewhat light and flimsy; I wouldn’t actually trust it to protect my hand, but it shouldn’t have to, so that’s fine. However, in my limited handling of the sword the red coloring on the grip has worn off in some places. And while I appreciate it comes with a scabbard, the metal fittings only loosely resemble its shape, but more concerning is that it fits the sword very loosely. The reason, I suspect, is that a cutout has been lazily made in the scabbard in order to accommodate the langets. In every other example if this type of saber I’ve seen, there is either a metal fitting or an imprinted region in the leather that the langets “bite” into to give it a strong purchase. As is, the saber easily slides right out of the scabbard.
Overall, still an excellent piece which fills a niche in the market, though there’s room for improvements.