In the 19th century, Russian Cossacks flatly refused to wear ordinary sabers, giving their preference to already proven checkers. Considering the fact that a saber and a checker are two related types of weapons, the question arises: where did the service people there was such a prejudice to the first and why the Cossacks began to abandon sabers after centuries of successful applications? In fact, there were several reasons for the refusal.
In fact, problems with sabers among Russian Cossacks began only in the first half of the 19th century. In the 1810s, many Cossacks frankly complained to the command that their edged weapons had a number of serious shortcomings that prevented them from serving both on foot and on horseback. Moreover, there were simply not enough sabers of the new model of 1809, which created an unfunny situation. While in some formations sabers were almost ignored, in others they simply did not exist. The latter most often happened to Cossacks who traditionally served on foot, such as the Siberian Cossacks.
Extremely indicative in this regard was the inspection of the First Crown Line by Major General Maxim Grigorievich Vlasov in 1820. So, in the Olginsky cordon, the Cossacks had guns, pikes, some had a pistol, but at the same time there were no sabers at all. Although they should have been. At reviews of other units (where there were sabers after all), it often turned out that the Cossacks did not even sharpen them. And all because the service people preferred to ignore the saber of the 1809 model.
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The reason for this attitude was the extremely poor ergonomics of the weapon. A saber in an iron sheath on a long hanger weighed almost 2 kg, which is a lot for such a melee weapon. She was long and constantly clung to something; it does not matter whether the fighter was moving on foot or riding a horse. In addition, the saber constantly pounded and fought on the suspension against the body of the Cossack, which distracted and interfered with giving commands. Finally, the weapon often unnerved the horse with its shaking when it switched to a fast gait.
If you want to know even more interesting things, then you should read about why did the Cossacks wear earrings in their ears, and why their number was very important.
Source: https://novate.ru/blogs/311221/61718/