[Lance Morris]

Hey everyone,

I'm having a hard time finding a knife or a dagger who match a hussar saber from the 18th century. Does anyone know if they carried them? Any pictures.

All I see are euro hunting knives

Cheers

[Dan D'Silva]

It would probably help if you could clarify which country and decade.

However, from what I have been able to find out, it seems that, with a few exceptions, 18th-century soldiers were much more likely to have a simple belt knife or folder rather than a dagger.

[Lance Morris]

Hey,

Thank you so much for replying.

I was thinking French around 1850s
I'm just trying to pair a saber with a dagger or knife, your thinking a standard belt knife. Bone handle ?

I'm be very happy if you found any pictures to share!!


Cheers

[Tom L.]

As far as I know, there is no matching dagger that was ever paired with hussar sabres. Hussars in the 18th and 19th century were issued with a sabre, a carbine and anywhere from 1 to 2 pistols. The sabre and carbine were carried on the person whilst the pistols were carried in 2 holsters at the front of the saddle (1 on each side, hidden under a sheepskin cover that went over the saddle to provide a more comfortable seat for the hussar) . Supposedly, sometimes only 1 pistol was issued (for economic reasons).

A small knife utility knife (for chores/eating) may have been used but it would not have been mounted on the sword belt (perhaps carried in the haversack or in the portmanteau at the back of the saddle). The belt was used for the sabre and a slim, case called a sabretache (supposedly an item of dress that started out as a mapcase that contained paper for sketching observations found during reconnaissance, but later it became a decorative item). The carbine was slung from the left shoulder so that the carbine hung pointing barrel down against the right hip. The cartridge case for the carbine was also hung from a strap from the same shoulder. This type of gear would have been fairly universal among the other types of cavalry at this time with differences being straight versus curved swords, carbines of differing lengths etc (this dragoons, light dragoons, chasseurs, horse grenadiers etc).

Napoleon's Mamelukes had daggers among their weapons but then we would be dealing with a different unit of cavalry and not hussars.

Hope this helps.

[Tom King]

Laguiole knife? (without the "fly")
as far as living history kit this would most likely be the closest to what you're looking for. A cavalryman doesn't really need a combat dagger after all, but he does need to cut his steak

[Dan D'Silva]

A laguiole would make sense from what I know. Were navajas still popular in France by the middle of the century?

If you browse antique sites, you see some weapons attributed to 19th-century France that are similar to bowies or small naval or gambler's dirks. I don't think they'd be what a cavalryman would prefer in the field, being less handy for small tasks and not much use in horseback combat, but if you really want a dagger, they're possibly the most plausible options.