It's here, it's here! I officially decree I have completed the Isola Random Hilt Challenge! Here is my IRHC hilt, the Archon 3.1 with Consular Green and Sentinel Yellow FoC:
My two biggest reasons for putting off this hilt were 1) the blade wouldn't be bright enough for me because of the skinny neck on the emitter, 2) the blade wouldn't be sturdy enough for dueling. I found these two issues were really just inflated concerns of mine, and that the strengths of this hilt are appealing enough that the weaknesses don't matter as much as I had assumed they would. Without this challenge I would never have purchased the Archon 3.1. I'm glad I did now.
Here's a video review of it and my impressions of this hilt, which, along with 9 other hilts, I had dismissed as a no-go. I drew this one in the challenge and have now had a chance to examine first hand as a new Archon 3.1 owner... in a word - it's good
More Pictures!One of the "concerns" I had was the narrow neck of the Emitter through which light had to travel to get illuminate the blade:
There is a blade film inside the neck of the emitter to reflect light like it does inside a polycarbonate blade:
I didn't feel like this was as big of an issue as I had let myself believe, and there are too many other strengths in this hilt to more than compensate. One of the ways this hilt redeemed itself for me, being thus removed from the proverbial back burner, was the MHS compatible emitter. Check this out:
Archon 3. 1 emitter on the Emperor's Hand hilt - pretty good, right?
Archon 3.1 emitter on the Consular hilt - also very unique. I recently acquired a polished aluminum shroud for my Consular to use in place of my nickel finish shroud, for better MHS swappage options:
This challenge was a very good experience - I loved it and want to thank Isola for paving the way with his example to go for it. I trusted in the Force, and it did not let me down. I received a hilt that really mostly dismissed my previous concerns of durability and blade brightness. Sure the latter is a weakness for this hilt, but the gold neck emitter more than makes up for and makes it worth having a blade that is slightly less bright. I mean, there's just nowhere to put the LED anywhere but where it is AND remain a hilt that
can withstand medium dueling. I dueled with my son for a half hour last night, clashing my Archon 3.1 blade with his Archon 2.1 blade hard enough to trigger flash on clash, and though there was a small amount of vibration through that skinny neck, it is stronger than it looks. I'm proud to have this saber in my collection, and can't wait to see what unlikely hilt the Force wills for me next.
I challenge others to follow through on this challenge like Isola and myself did and show the Force that you trust its will for you. As Yoda said, "The Force is my ally, and a powerful ally it is." I've no doubt that it is an ally with Ultra Sabers, too, and will not disappoint. MTFBWY