The Noble Art of Sabrage

I've sabered several bottles of champagne. Typically I use the back of a heavy chef's knife. It is pretty neat.

R

Seen it on TV, but not in person. Nobody seems to use an actual saber though. It's generally a short sword or large knife.

I did once for my birthday. Used a butcher knife (who has a saber these days?). It was a total rush. I even had one of my friends film it. I still watch the video when I feel insecure. Also, I look forward to the days of Light Saberage.

I've done it many times with a large kitchen knife. Works each time.

You can use a giant saw to cut a hole around a door, and walk right it. Cool!

Shoot a carton of milk, and pour yourself a glass. Yay!

Prying the top of your desk off with a crowbar to reach into the top drawer is dramatic. Wow!

Why is it considered a "noble art" instead of "pretentious crap"?

I work with a Revolutionary War living history group that does this on some occasions. When I was finally taught how to do this, I was harder than I thought it would be - mostly due to the size of the spadroon I was using. I've since found that a smaller swords work better.

"Noble" art is a bit of a misnomer. Sabrage was made popular by Napoleon's army, whose light cavalry bore sabres.

Now, your typical solider is no gentleman, nor is he very noble either. I imagine they would raid some rich aristocrat's wine cellar in the middle of nowhere, execute the previous residents, and proceed to get blitzed to blazes from the ex-owner's stash. Rampaging soldiers tend to be an unruly lot, and were probably far too wasted of their asses to bother with opening the bottles in a conventional manner and voila, sabrage was invented!

It was probably the French Napoleonic version of a modern redneck's: "Hey guys! Hold my beer & watch THIS..."

oliver: thanks for the chuckle, dude. That was funny!???

Because it's "champagne", vonskippy. Just like wine-tasting, or swilling wine around in your mouth and spitting it out isn't supposedly pretentious.

It doesn't ALWAYS ensure no glass falls back into the bottle. I've found chips before. Just don't drink the last little bit. Of course it could be a technique problem but when you've done it 4 or 5 times in once night, your technique will likely suffer.

That's what she said, Splint.