Sabering Champagne - Anyone ever got hurt?

[Peter Reutter]

After seing a very stylish video of a French Monsieur sabering a bottle of champagne at the 2009 ProWein, I wanted to do this my self. And yes, of course this is decadent, totally useless and without any sense at all. But like some things in life once you saw it, you have to try it for yourself. So I searched youtube and quite surprisingly found lots of very instructive videos, it really is amazing what people do in their spare time...

Armed with protective glasses, clothing and gloves I "opened" six bottles of cheap sparkling wine - 2 € per bottle, terrible stuff, best to open it and throw it away so nobody hurts his liver.
It was much easier than I thought, using a big kitchen knife as a substitute since sabers are a rare species in our home. The tops came of with clean cuts, nobody got hurt and the whole things looks to easy to be true.

Would I would like to know from any of the board members is: How dangerous is this? Not in theory, but spoken from real life experience. Has anyone of you ever witnessed or experienced a harmful incident while sabering a bottle of champagne? How often does this happen?

I would like to come up with some estimation of risk in general, to make up my mind about an upcoming wedding in summer.

Any input is appreciated.
Thanks
Peter

[Andy Velebil]

It's pretty safe if you do it the right way. But it is glass and you are breaking that glass bottle while holding it in your hand so there is always a risk. I prefer to wear at least a leather glove in the hand I am holding the bottle with, just in case. I have seen one bottle that shattered into several large pieces when someone was trying it, luckily no one was hurt. better to be safe than sorry if you ask me.

[Moses Botbol]

Had a bottle blow up in my hand once. Not totally explode, but it cleaved just below the neck, so about 1/4+ of the bottle was lost. I have sabered over 100 bottles in my life, with this one instance; so the odds are slim.

I find that the more expensive bottles usually saber easier. Cristal, Ruinart, Dom, etc... have a larger ring around the neck to make a perfect cleave. I want to saber a double mag some time. I do not saber as much as my friend have all seen it a million times by me. Usually saber idea happens after "a few" and we decide on a sparkler.

[Peter W. Meek]

Chaad Thomas sabered several at New Years with no ill results. He said that several practise attempts (before performing in public) also went well. He used the back edge of a large chef's knife since we couldn't find my Vorpal Knife, and didn't have a saber. Anything with a fairly square back edge (you weren't planning to wreck a perfectly good sword, were you?) that can catch the ring will work. A moderately heavy bar of square steel should work just fine; not very elegant, though.

Maringer Vorpal

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