Notching of sword blades -Austria 18th century

Jim McDougall · 31st July 2009, 06:56 PM

On Eastern European swords in the 18th century, a number of these swords have a curious notch, which seems consistantly placed on the sword back near the tip. Wagner, in his "Cut and Thrust Weapons" describes the anomaly as intended to worsen a thrusting wound, however this would seem unlikely in the case of sabres which were obviously for slashing cuts where the notched back would be of no real use.
Clearly, there were cases known during Napoleonic times where cavalry used sword manuevers of 'giving point' even with sabres, but I am uncertain of how prevalent that might have been in Eastern Europe over 50-70 years prior.

It is important to note that this practice seems primarily to have been used by Austrians, and apparantly on cavalry swords, whether the heavy straight blade pallasch or light cavalry sabres. I would like to find out whether this practice might have been used on other swords of other countries, and what might have been the purpose of these notches.

I should point out that these are not damage nicks as has been suggested, but deliberately filed notches in essentially the same blade back position.

All best regards,
Jim

31st July 2009, 06:56 PM	#1
Jim McDougall Arms Historian Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Route 66 Posts: 9,943	Notching of sword blades -Austria 18th century On Eastern European swords in the 18th century, a number of these swords have a curious notch, which seems consistantly placed on the sword back near the tip. Wagner, in his "Cut and Thrust Weapons" describes the anomaly as intended to worsen a thrusting wound, however this would seem unlikely in the case of sabres which were obviously for slashing cuts where the notched back would be of no real use. Clearly, there were cases known during Napoleonic times where cavalry used sword manuevers of 'giving point' even with sabres, but I am uncertain of how prevalent that might have been in Eastern Europe over 50-70 years prior. It is important to note that this practice seems primarily to have been used by Austrians, and apparantly on cavalry swords, whether the heavy straight blade pallasch or light cavalry sabres. I would like to find out whether this practice might have been used on other swords of other countries, and what might have been the purpose of these notches. I should point out that these are not damage nicks as has been suggested, but deliberately filed notches in essentially the same blade back position. All best regards, Jim Attached Images