[OUTDATED] 1882 French Infantry Officers Sword | Hilt and Blade Variation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.