Saber Forum

Is there any way to get good at blocking nerf darts or something like that with a lightsaber?

Lots of practice and Class 2 super senses with a healthy dose of ESP.

Seriously, good luck with that. I have about a half dozen nerf blasters and a handful of sabers. When we break them out it inevitably comes down to a saber vs a blaster. You're much better off going Agent(think "Matrix") on the guy with the blaster and dodging the darts. It's much easier, and much more impressive to everyone watching when they can empty a whole magazine and hit nothing but air.

I know there is this violent twisting thing I can do with both of my sabers that has both of them moving in a spinning direction in the front... I highly doubt a nerf dart could make it past it.

its basically done by dual sabers, having your inner elbow of one arm under the bicept region of your other arm and just spinning them while doing this pattern back and forth with both arms.

sorry if that seems vague.


on another topic - my friend and I were discussing that shouldn't bullets be more effective than blaster shots, since you can't really deflect them - they'd just melt and you'd get hit with molten metal?

I've managed to do this with some Nerf guns, mostly the ones that don't shoot very fast.  I assume a real blaster bolt would be faster moving though.

Regardless, it's still fun to try!  I recommend using a lighter blade like the midgrade to maximize the speed of the blade's movement.

yeah i get my friend to shoot me a bunch a times and my record is 4/10 blocked.

Actually, blaster bolts would be faster. A bullet is a kinetic projectile, a blaster bolt is an energy projectile. Simply by that nature the energy bolt is faster since it moves close to the speed of light.

However, that doesn't make for good tv. Star Wars isn't a spagetti western where the gun goes bang and people fall over, and if they actually moved at their proper speed no jedi or sith would be able to block it except for the occasional stray bolt. Force foresight could tell them where the bolts were going to travel, but the human body can only move so fast, and human or alien no living thing can move at the speed of light.

The blaster bolts in star wars really do have a lot more in common with nerf darts than actual bullets. It's a slower projectile for more of a show, and yes, IF you were to practice enough, hone your focus and reflexes you theoreticly could get good enough to defelct nerf darts with your lightsaber. It's not that big of a feat. Martial Arts masters have been doing that kind of thing for millenia training themselves to perform nearly superhuman feats with superhuman precision.

So it can be done, nerf darts are an appropriate parallel, and I still think it's much easier to just dodge.

Actually, the Jedi deflecting blasters makes sense to me, since they're (often) defending not only themselves, but "innocent" people who may be cowering behind them or a fellow Jedi relying on them to protect their back.

Sith and grey can just dodge.  Sorry Jedi.  :D

That'd be great except we're talking about the practicality and mechanics of blocking blaster bolts, not the application.

Speed and distance (and maybe vision)

FPS (feet per second)

NERF dart
35 FPS

Fastball pitch (90 mph)
132 FPS

Paintball gun
300 FPS

BB gun
450-1000+ FPS

.22 caliber standard load
1255 FPS

Laser Beam
983,571,056 FPS

BLASTER BOLT
? slower than Laser?

I'm thinking... if you want better success blocking NERF darts.

Make sure the dart goes to the same spot each time. Thus eliminating the WHERE part.

Make sure you have some kind of countdown to eliminate surprise.

Make sure the place is well lighted.

Other than that I don't think you can CONDITION your reflexes very much, you either have it or you DON'T!

You're right to an extent, either you have it or you don't. However, you can hone your reactions by maintaining a state of higher awareness and alertness.

If you train your muscle memory you can. Technique comes first and speed comes second.   But lets leave all that out of it. It is just fun to do.  Especially if you use the glow in the dark ones.  ;D

way to be a buzzkill


besides, why is it hard to believe?  i mean after all, people shoot lightning from their fingers.

LOL yeah Leave you're physics and logic out of my fictional Universe!   LOL

Caine and I have used nerf guns to shoot at students / b-day party kids before... and even YOUNG ones (read: 5 years old, 6, 7, 8) have been able to deflect the darts, so... I'd say it's probably possible to improve your hand-to-eye coordination doing most any OTHER kind of exercise(s) that improve said coordination.

Before I go on--I'm simply going to "remove" the concept of uber super crazy fast things like paintballs and whatever... and try to focus on what is POSSIBLE--even at a very "poor accuracy".  Since catching/blocking a paintball is not only dangerous (even with protective gear)... it's most likely more of a waste of cO2 and paint and TIME... vs. "training".  :)

That being said... let's consider some of those + the "size / dimensions / specs" thing:

* Baseball to mitt -- baseball is about the size of your closed fist... mitt is 2.5x or 3x size of ball.
* Ping Pong action -- ball is about the size of a big walnut... paddle is 2.5x or 3x size of ball.
* Tennis action -- ball is about the size of a orange/fruit... racket is (again, what a surprise) 2.5x or 3x size of ball.
* Football -- it's big.

* Baseball again -- MORE "RELEVANT" -- ball to BAT... is MUCH more of a "matching sizes" thing.  :)

So... I'd say the last one = *DINGDINGDINGDINGDINGDING* ... if you want to improve.  :)
It's the closest size representations...
It's the closest ACTION representations...
It's not overly dangerous for training or experimentation (so I can warrant it openly on forums, heheh!)

That all being said... let's also consider the "DDddduuuUUUUhhhHHhhHhhs":

* Any way you slice it... "landing" a ~3/4" diameter dart onto a 1" diameter "saber blade"... ... ...is VERY hard--and fairly random.
* Unless a dart is BRAND spankin' new (and even THEN)... it rarely flies perfectly straight--out of even fairly "awesome" dart guns.
* Few darts can maintain velocity while also not sacrificing altitude and range... (duh)... because they are light.  VERY DIFFERENT FROM A BASEBALL.  Uh-oh.
* That last one means... you have a VERY small window to SEE IT... TRACK IT... WHACK IT.
* If you "foul tip" a dart, chances are... you may not even know it.  :)

So there ya go.  My analysis.  It's REALLY TOUGH.  Even though I think you can CERTAINLY get better at such things!

Finally, I will say... most hilarious things are the "suction" and / or "velcro" darts...

Velcro = have the "defender" wear a wooly style jedi cloak... tell them to TRY BLOCKING (not dodge)... see how many are stuck to him / her, hahahahh!
Suction = anyone who can get a dart to stick SQUARE onto the saber blade and STAY for at least 2-3 seconds or more... = WIN , hahhahah!

I've seen both, and it's hilarious!  :)

We wont disturb you fantasy world if you promise to read the original post!

BLOCK the NERF darts is as old a game as nerf it self.... don't over think it just do it and have fun!

blaster bolts are not lasers. they're projected superheated ionized plasma (kind of like lightsaber blades). since they're made of matter (plasma is kind of like gas), they are not traveling nearly as fast as the speed of light. blasters work like gaussian rifles in that they use electromagnets to propel the projectile, except in blasters the projectile is superheated gas rather than a caseless metal slug. therefore, if you had serious arm chops and were force sensitive, it would not be impossible to block blaster bolts with reasonable reliability.

The most frustrating element to trying to become skilled at deflection is that it is so heavily dependent on both your reaction time and your ability to move your body quickly enough to accomplish your task. Nerf, if it indeed travels as was previously stated, flys at 35 FPS than it probably will be your best candidate and then its a matter of practice, practice, practice.

Baseball was also mentioned earlier and is also one of your best possible options, batting cages provide a safe environment in which to practice (as long as the rules are followed) where the pitching machine should give you nice even pitch that should always come in the same place. Also if the idea of the machine launching a ball at you is a bit daunting you can start with the slow pitch softball option which gives you a slower, bigger ball to ease you in.

When I was more fit I would go Airsofting with some of my friends and there was a time where I could see the round coming at me, but I wasn't fast enough to dodge that (come on that's 200 FPS compared to Nerfs 35), but I able to catch the round out of the air right as it bounced off of me. Just really goes to show that you need to not only see what's coming at you but also move in time and this combination of processes is deceivingly complex.

LOL, it's just a drill.

 :D

I use a bouncy ball, a wall, and my saber the harder you hit the ball the quicker you have to be on the block.

Blaster bolts are in fact slower than bullets as they are, as mentioned above, a beam of superheated plasma. They are used over bullets because presumably the kind of armour worn would deflect bullets and because blasters can deliver more energy. Jedi/Sith can block blaster bolts because they can sense where they will go even before the enemy has fired and because, through the fForce, can achieve near-impossible speeds. They would be able to use the same ability on bullets, or telekinetically stop them, crush them to dust, etc. Bullets would vapourise rather than melt if they hit a lightsaber so one would not be hit by molten metal.

Well... in any case... I'm down to see videos of people blocking as many or as few darts/pellets/blobs/_____ as they can.

As it is... shoot... I need to replace the batteries on this insane nerf gun.  What a beast!  6 D cells.  Geez!  Do ya think that's enough?

I tried to convert it to an 18650 Li-Ion 11.1v pack, but... I think the amp draw is way too great, and I'll have to do something else.

Sounds like you have a Vulcan!  I have one too and I've been contemplating using it for just such practice... Lemme know how that goes for you!

Can you imagine...standing "in front" of a PITCHING machine trying to knock baseballs out of the air before they hit you!?!?!

 (KID DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME)

The whole difficulty level jumps up when YOU are the target of the attack!