Suggestion Box/Wishlist: what do we want from Ultrasabers?

[SirLiftaLot]

And the refrain: we want that curved saber so terribly, reaper or really anything...

I do agree with Firehand as well on the "buy a hilt and figure out the smooth swing install" the internet is a wonder for self help DIY everything after all. That good ole chestnut of desire building passion leading to strengths and accomplishments? Paraphrasing the road to victory... But if all else fails and you can't get a particular job done, do it yourself somehow (if it's that desirable anyway).

Though I am laughing a bit at how terribly precise you'd have to be with saber-chucking, thinking it through SirLift's design he's used would be reasonable to use but lunacy in how perfect the execution must be... Since num-chuks almost require so much hand/grip switching and there is barely any hilt to grip mid high speed transition. The mastery level in universe to not lose a finger seems staggering. (even above and beyond not maiming one's self with other saber variants)

By my estimation I'd say that showing off with saber-chucks wouldn't be horribly difficult for a skilled force user, or even quickly changing hands and grabbing the hilt as opposed to the blade. I'm thinking the real issue from a combat perspective would be what happens to one side/blade after it makes contact with an opponent's saber. It is notoriously difficult to know exactly where the nunchuck that makes contact will bounce or move to. Hitting a static target from a known angle, masters can anticipate and know where it will end up to avoid hitting themselves on the recoil, but against a target that is itself moving in an unpredictable manner at an unpredictable speed, it would be incredibly difficult to predict what will happen to the chuck after it makes contact with the opposing saber. And with normal "blunt" nunchucks, after making contact with a blade, if it recoils and hits you with a fraction of the force from the initial impact, it may not be the end of the world, but if that blunt stick became a lightsaber blade, well, even if it's hardly moving with any force at all, a saber blade falling gently onto your arm would still make for a bad time. I suppose that a master of precognition through the force would be able to anticipate their opponents movements and position of their blade, and also therefore what will happen to their chuck after making contact, but that would require an incredible balance of weapons skills and force ability, almost an active meditation during combat where any slight deviation from perfection would spell disaster.

TL;DR: I don't think the main issue is even losing a finger switching grips or hands, but potentially losing an arm in combat after the saber-chuck deflects off an opposing saber and lops off your arm.

Ive been hoping for something more permanent and elegant but that should work just fine to get started and getting it actually working. Point.

Here's a link to a video using my improvised saber-chucks with the gaffer tape. I've used them the same way without the tape too, but better safe than sorry. They're a fair bit heavier than your standard nunchucks of course, but more than the weight is the length that kind of slows things down. Shorter overall length would greatly improve handling, but taking away from the blade length would make them look less like lightsabers, and taking too much away from the hilt length would make it so that when sort of wrapping it around the body, you'd be hitting yourself with the blade as opposed to the hilt sometimes. It's not so much grabbing and holding it that's the issue. It's easy enough to hold it and grab it close to the chain, but it's the wrapping around the body with super short hilts that I think would be the larger visual issue.

https://i.imgur.com/8Ywh2yo.mp4

It also screws together to form a baton, or short staff:

https://i.imgur.com/kqLorSn.mp4

[Beeblebrox]

By my estimation I'd say that showing off with saber-chucks wouldn't be horribly difficult for a skilled force user, or even quickly changing hands and grabbing the hilt as opposed to the blade. I'm thinking the real issue from a combat perspective would be what happens to one side/blade after it makes contact with an opponent's saber. It is notoriously difficult to know exactly where the nunchuck that makes contact will bounce or move to. Hitting a static target from a known angle, masters can anticipate and know where it will end up to avoid hitting themselves on the recoil, but against a target that is itself moving in an unpredictable manner at an unpredictable speed, it would be incredibly difficult to predict what will happen to the chuck after it makes contact with the opposing saber. And with normal "blunt" nunchucks, after making contact with a blade, if it recoils and hits you with a fraction of the force from the initial impact, it may not be the end of the world, but if that blunt stick became a lightsaber blade, well, even if it's hardly moving with any force at all, a saber blade falling gently onto your arm would still make for a bad time. I suppose that a master of precognition through the force would be able to anticipate their opponents movements and position of their blade, and also therefore what will happen to their chuck after making contact, but that would require an incredible balance of weapons skills and force ability, almost an active meditation during combat where any slight deviation from perfection would spell disaster.

TL;DR: I don't think the main issue is even losing a finger switching grips or hands, but potentially losing an arm in combat after the saber-chuck deflects off an opposing saber and lops off your arm.
Here's a link to a video using my improvised saber-chucks with the gaffer tape. I've used them the same way without the tape too, but better safe than sorry. They're a fair bit heavier than your standard nunchucks of course, but more than the weight is the length that kind of slows things down. Shorter overall length would greatly improve handling, but taking away from the blade length would make them look less like lightsabers, and taking too much away from the hilt length would make it so that when sort of wrapping it around the body, you'd be hitting yourself with the blade as opposed to the hilt sometimes. It's not so much grabbing and holding it that's the issue. It's easy enough to hold it and grab it close to the chain, but it's the wrapping around the body with super short hilts that I think would be the larger visual issue.

https://i.imgur.com/8Ywh2yo.mp4

Very nice! Those are the closest I’ve seen to proper saber chucks as you’re not touching the blades. Well done. The fact that they convert to a baton as well is brilliant. Great point about the bounce back of nunchaku. Most people don’t take that into consideration. I’ve been hitting trees and chain link fences with mine for about 30 years just to try and learn to anticipate where it will come back at me to dodge it and continue the motions. My sensei always stressed that nunchaku were too unpredictable and violent, which I took as a decades long challenge. It’s payed off quite a bit but it’s just impossible to predict every possible outcome.

[SirLiftaLot]

Very nice! Those are the closest I’ve seen to proper saber chucks as you’re not touching the blades. Well done. The fact that they convert to a baton as well is brilliant. Great point about the bounce back of nunchaku. Most people don’t take that into consideration. I’ve been hitting trees and chain link fences with mine for about 30 years just to try and learn to anticipate where it will come back at me to dodge it and continue the motions. My sensei always stressed that nunchaku were too unpredictable and violent, which I took as a decades long challenge. It’s payed off quite a bit but it’s just impossible to predict every possible outcome.

Thanks. They're still quite long. I'm using standard-length hilts (my Sentinel V4 US hilts are even longer than the ones shown). Here's a quick improvised design where I'm just using some extensions and emitters with the blades to make much shorter chucks that still have sufficient surface area for holding. The only issue is there's no light in the blades with this configuration. The only easy solution I can think of would be shoving some small but powerful flashlights into the "hilts" to light up the blades. It would mean only white blades, but that's not a big deal, as I like white lightsabers. Here's a test with shorter saber-chucks (no light though). They feel SO much more like normal nunchucks this way:

https://i.imgur.com/sLhH7cK.mp4

I'd also think that it would be nice not to have fancy/expensive electronics in saberchucks, since it's a lot of contact directly to the hilts, so perhaps something more basic would be ideal for that setup. Always a work in progress!

[DarthProdigal]

Very nice! Those are the closest I’ve seen to proper saber chucks as you’re not touching the blades. Well done. The fact that they convert to a baton as well is brilliant. Great point about the bounce back of nunchaku. Most people don’t take that into consideration. I’ve been hitting trees and chain link fences with mine for about 30 years just to try and learn to anticipate where it will come back at me to dodge it and continue the motions. My sensei always stressed that nunchaku were too unpredictable and violent, which I took as a decades long challenge. It’s payed off quite a bit but it’s just impossible to predict every possible outcome.

Surely, I mean in all the books even the best of the best using the Force in combat can't generally predict everything perfectly. It's a catch 22, you need the Force to not maim yourself using them regularly, but in a fight it'd be so demanding and require such focus that you'd probably lose anyway or get injured regardless against someone of similar/greater Force or combat ability... so it'd seem a bit impractical sadly.

Still fun to mess around with, and respect for taking it as a personal challenge to improve yourself when your master said "well, that's a crazy idea." I agree with that logic often, I hear "it is highly unlikely" and I say "guess we'll see then" all too often. This is all off topic, but I cant help myself at times... 

[BlindJedi]

We need a new saber announcement, possibly the Emissary, the Revenge Of The Sith version of Obi-Wan Kenobi‘s saber.

[MotoKoto]

Not going to lie, I've always wanted a Halo Energy Sword replica.
 
That would be pog if UltraSaber made me one

[nunya]

I never noticed the marque feature
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[BlindJedi]

I would love to see a shroud for the Consular with a cut out pattern on the back.

[Zren Tobas]

@BlindJedi, looking through all the sabers and not seeing this new mentioned saber, unless its on a social medial page or something and not actually listed yet?

[BlindJedi]

@BlindJedi, looking through all the sabers and not seeing this new mentioned saber, unless its on a social medial page or something and not actually listed yet?

I’m not sure what you’re talking about, I was saying we need to have a new saber, for Obi-Wan Kenobi. I was also saying we need to have some more options for the Consular.

[Zren Tobas]

New just pommel design ideas to add some more. Rancor tooth, only design I can really think of I thought we could use

[BlindJedi]

Did I just see a video for a pixel blade? That is cool. But, can you duel with them?

[DarthRondoudou]

Did I just see a video for a pixel blade? That is cool. But, can you duel with them?

You did! No idea yet on the dueling.

[Zren Tobas]

Usually no, the leds will be inside the blades

[DarthRondoudou]

Usually no, the leds will be inside the blades

I've seen people on this board saying it was totally ok. But I can't recall if there was a need for modification of the blade. And maybe it's not the same kind of pixel blade.