Fun and Games in the Dordogne
Back in 2019, I was introduced to the wonderful ‘sport’ (sic) of sabering by the Mercer Island chapter of The Chain Gang, particularly Bruce and Kim York, and their daughter Casey, my sabering gurus.

Sabering is supposed to be opening a bottle of champagne using a sabre (that’s ‘saber’ for our American cousins who are wondering what on earth a ‘sabre’ is).
The Yorks have a great Instagram account called ‘WillItSaber‘? I’m a bit of a coward when it comes to sabering – I’ve usually got a dirty-great pedal spanner handy, and they do the job wonderfully. But the Yorks try to find out whether an implement can be used to saber, or not!
Fancy giving it a go? The first step should probably be to check out @willitsaber on Instagram. To give yourself the best chance, prepare properly. Chill your bottle, and then put it in the freezer for the last 20 minutes.
No glass ever goes inside the bottle – the bottle is under 5 Bar of pressure, about 75 Psi, nothing is getting inside the bottle!
Last May in the Dordogne, we were lucky that Rob Thomas managed to capture the whole process on camera. Sat on the banks of the River Beaune, in the garden of the Moulin de la Beune, somebody must have raised an eyebrow, and before we knew it, we were sabering.
We’ve had plenty of sabering on The Chain Gang since May 2019 – I’m sure I’ve got some videos and photos to share, I’ll try to find them. Meanwhile, I urge you to give it a go – it’s really easy, it’s great fun, and that should be all you need to know!
Do click on the images to enlarge them – especially No. 4, look at the neck of the bottle, it’s just perfect. Thanks, Rob.
