Catalyst or Bellicose...which is best for dueling?

[wolfmetal45]

I'm picking up my first Ultrasaber very soon and since this'll be a rather large investment for me (I'm a college student so money is tight and I can rarely splurge like this) so I want to make sure I get a saber that will be able to stand up to all the punishment I will probably be putting it through.  The saber I get will be use in choreographed fights along with dueling.  And I'm looking for something that can be help comfortably in one or both hands (My hands are a bit larger than average).

what do you guys think is the better saber for dueling?  I love the look of the Catalyst but I've heard the blade doesn't sit quite as deep as it does in other sabers so that concerns me a little bit.

Thanks for reading and your replies,
wolfmetal45

[Kham-Ryn Kurios]

I like the Catalyst but it can feel a bit blade heavy, (the saber will stand up as a dueling saber, that's why it was made.) But like you heard, it doesn't sit as low into the either as other hilts. I wound up adding weight to the it in the pommel. (I do not have sound on any of my sabers, they are all stunt sabers.)

The Bellicose can be wielded comfortably one or two handed; the same as the Catalyst. There is a different feel to having a choke point like on the Catalyst but it's hard to explain without sounding biased; you have to hold it yourself.

I think the Catalyst is a great hilt but I find the Bellicose more solid in my hands; granted it truly is. While the Bellicose is solid except for the pommel the catalyst is 3 pieces, with a choke point much thinner than that of say the War Glaive Emitter.

Hope I could help.

[Sandtracker]

As a fellow Dark Catlyst owner, it is blade heavy. I put a 32" midgrade on mine and it made the saber less blade heavy (mine has sound). Also, if the choke is too thin for you, you can put leather wrap around it to make it thicker.

Hope I could help.

Edit: Not to be rude but the Catlyst is made up of four peices: the emitter, choke, body, and pommel.

[Kham-Ryn Kurios]

As a fellow Dark Catlyst owner, it is blade heavy. I put a 32" midgrade on mine and it made the saber less blade heavy (mine has sound). Also, if the choke is too thin for you, you can put leather wrap around it to make it thicker.

Hope I could help.

Edit: Not to be rude but the Catlyst is made up of four peices: the emitter, choke, body, and pommel.

Not rude, I'd rather be corrected than continue to say something false.

[Master Nero Attoru]

I can't comment on the Catalyst, as I've never held one.  However, the Bellicose is overall a great choice for a combat-ready saber.  Simple enough for combat but stylish enough to show off.  Master Artorius has one in Arctic Blue and it's a great dueler, very well balanced.

[Ander]

I have a Catalyst (two, in fact), and have dueled with it extensively for about one year.

The choke makes it very confortable to handle, expecially if you have smallish hands. It's also a very natural resting place for your dominant hand, and one that can be "felt" helping the hand stay in the correct place.
Again because of the choke, it's a really great saber if you favour techniques that involve a lot of spinning, though it must be said that the non-dominant hand, even with good gloves, sometimes slips a bit. The Dark model with its silver rings may (or may not, a friend of mine has one but I haven't used it much) be better in this respect.
Another important positive point that I forgot: there is nothing, absolutely nothing that stands in the way of your hands. It's a clean design, and that's important for dueling IMO.
As for downsides, it's a quite light saber, and can feel a bit blade-heavy. We all use midgrades so it's not bad, but you can add weights to compensate if necessary. Also, it's true that the emitter is not great at holding the blade properly; however I have found that if I tape the blade well with electrician tape, and force it, I have no problem. Adding one more retention screw can solve the problem as well. Aesthetically, the emitter petals cause the blade to be lighter at the bottom and darker at the top.
As far as mods are concerned, I have purchased a Shock emitter, which is quite heavy, and plan to see how the saber handles with that and the Bellicose or a similarily heavier pommel. My friend with the Dark Catalyst does that, and reports that it's a quite good combination. I am uncertain about the heavier emitter, but I wanted to give it a try.
It's just hard to improve a saber that is quite close to perfection; if I'd have to rate it, I'd give it a 9 out of 10, and I am a perfectionist; I purchased the Catalyst for its dueling value, and it performs.

Re the Bellicose, I am afraid that neither me nor any of my friends has one, so I can't give you my impression.

[wolfmetal45]

Ander, what you said about it being a clean blade is what makes it so appealing to me.  But the blade problems...do you think replacing the 'forked' emitter with a Bane or War Glaive (without Claws) emitter would help?   I'm all for customizing sabers and all, but I don't want to rely on tape to hold my blade in place securely.

Browsing the store again I've noticed that the Aeon also seems to have a clean hilt while still having some large grooves for your main hand.  Is the balance on that saber better than the Catalyst?

[Veldryne]

the aeon v3 is a great hilt, very comfortable though for me a bit too long to be used as a one handed saber. simple lines though, and very very solid for dueling

[Master VorNach]

Browsing the store again I've noticed that the Aeon also seems to have a clean hilt while still having some large grooves for your main hand.  Is the balance on that saber better than the Catalyst?

I've got a Dominix, which as far as I can tell is simply a black anodized Aeon.
I have fairly short fingers relative to my hands but I've not had any problems doing one and 2 handed work with it.
Like some of the others mentioned the choke points on the hilt are excellent for grip and control.
The padded gloves I wear are rather slippery on all of the hilts I've had a chance to try. The grooves in the hilt of Dominix/Aeon are very well suited to sliding some o-rings into them, which don't impact the weight significantly drastically improve handling, with or without gloves.

As with all opinions here, ymmv.
Good luck.

[Slaide]

Ander, what you said about it being a clean blade is what makes it so appealing to me.  But the blade problems...do you think replacing the 'forked' emitter with a Bane or War Glaive (without Claws) emitter would help?   I'm all for customizing sabers and all, but I don't want to rely on tape to hold my blade in place securely.

You could replace the emitter, but depending on the emitter type it's going to look very odd. Choke and emitter are two different pieces on this saber unlike say the War Glaive, which may leave the emitter looking a little funky were you to change it. That said i'd never found the shorter blade socket to be an issue, so long as you use that retention screw i've never had a problem with it. (And i duel on a regular basis with some friends. ) It will make the blade noticeably longer, a 36 inch in a catalyst is a bit much for me personally, i'd go with a 32, but thats all in user preference. You could even get a 36 and try it out and shorten it if it's to much for you. As far customizing it's about as clean sheet of a saber as you can get. I purchased mine a little over a year ago and i've had no problems with it, and it's my main dueling saber, in fact it's my only saber not counting an old broken V1 dominix, and i've been completely happy with it since. I definitely recommend it!

[Ander]

Ander, what you said about it being a clean blade is what makes it so appealing to me.  But the blade problems...do you think replacing the 'forked' emitter with a Bane or War Glaive (without Claws) emitter would help?   I'm all for customizing sabers and all, but I don't want to rely on tape to hold my blade in place securely.
Browsing the store again I've noticed that the Aeon also seems to have a clean hilt while still having some large grooves for your main hand.  Is the balance on that saber better than the Catalyst?

Actually you are taping the blade, as in adding thickness, not taping the blade to the emitter. This is something I recommend for every emitter, as a forced coupling is better at blade holding anyway.
A friend of mine hotglues his blade, but he is a bit of a fanatic
Anyway, if you don't want to tape, you can add a second retention screw, that would solve the problem.
My favourite solution would be a type 7 TCSS-like blade holder, but unfortunately the TCSS one has a thread that is too long for the Catalyst choke (I know because I tried it) while being very good at blade holding.
I'll let you know how the Shock emitter works out, but it seems very solid.
I don't know the Aeon, sorry, but a friend of mine has an Initiate v3 and it's a very good saber in my opinion, if a bit short if you have largish hands (but potentially good for Makashi, for example).

[wolfmetal45]

Well...the order's been placed.  I know that the warehouse employees haven't even started putting my order together but I'm already tingly with excitement.  In the end I went with the Phantasm V3 (2 sabers are always better than 1  ) so my friend and I can start filming.  Thanks for the advice everyone.  I've been wanting to get this since I first found Ultrasabers last year and you have no idea how much it means that you guys were willing to offer your advice

Happy dueling and may the force be with you,
wolfmetal45