Opinion needed for a saber staff blade length

[Galef]

I have a very specific situation that I'd like opinions on.

What would be the best blade length for a Phantasm v2 (24" hilt) for someone between 5'10 and 6'?
Specifically between 28/30/32.

Now I know most will say 32" as that is the standard, but I'm really thinking shorter would be better for our purposes. We will be using thick-walled Red blades and due to the weight and loss of brightness, I think a slightly shorter blade would be best.
Shorter blades put the mirror under the tip closer to the light and therefore making the blade brighter.
And as they are heavy blades, shorter would be easier to spin.

We don't really do "hard" dueling, so having more reach isn't much of an issue, but we want the blades to look "full length". I have a custom Phantasm Initiate with 26" (27 with the pointed tips) blades that look full sized to me when not compared to 32+" blades. The total on that saber is ~6ft which is just over my height

My son, who this would be for, is only 13 and already my height, so I know he'll pass 6ft eventually
I've already cut 1 of the blades to 32" for use as a single, but as doubles, I'm leaning heavily towards 28-30"
It will put his saber at about 6'5'', which should be proportionately the same as my staff

So given our needs, what would you recommend?
28 - shortest, but should be brightest and easiest to spin
30 - the compromise between 28 & 32
32 - longest, potentially being more unwieldy, dimmer, but doesn't require me to "recut" our existing blade

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[Karmack]

Hey Galef!

If you're going to cut the blade anyway, go for 28".   It seems to fit what you want to do the best and the difference between 28" and 30" visually is minimal.
Also, the 28" blades seem to be the best look for staff work while retaining functionality as single-wield blades.

I would go for 28"

[Samhain138]

32s are fine, I personally use a set of 30s that I made myself, but the difference isn't enough to worry about.  

To further elaborate, I use heavy 30s and normal 32s.  Both of these feel about right to me.

When I work with a normal staff I prefer it to be around my chin in length, but the lightsabers on screen are clearly taller than the user.  30s would sit just over your height I imagine, giving you the look without the big disadvantage.  28s would probably sit around your height.

I do a lot with staff and I'm very particular in how I want it to behave, but this is just my opinion so do what feels right for you of course!

[Galef]

Thanx for the input.
I agree with both of you that the difference between 28 and 30 or 30 to 32 is minimal.
28 to 32 might make a difference, but that's why 28 may be the sweet spot.
Afterall, 32 is our standard for Heavy grade single blades, with 36 only for a few midgrades we have.

I also like the "evenness" of 28inches in the scale of existing ultrasaber lengths. It fills in that 4" gap between 24" and 32", giving a nice 24/28/32/36/40 scale.
That pleases my mild OCD.

Now we just need to wait to see if he's going to keep the Phantasm v2 or the MB that was supposed to be delivered today.
If the MB ends up having sound and is Red, Silver, Orange or Purple he'll probably keep it and we'll keep the Red blade he has at 32inches.

If that happens, I'll stick a set of 24" UEHG blades in the Phantasm and call it a day.

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[Galef]

So the MB turned out to be Arctic blue and thus not compatible with his Red day blades.
So he's keeping the Phantasm v2 and I've already cut the 32 down to 28. The other blade is now on order.

28in blade looks good in the Aeon v2. I think it will make a nice staff for dueling.
Another good reason I didn't think about for the length is the hilt length. Aeon V2s are 12in, so a staff would be 24in. That's long for a staff IMO, so shorter blades will balance out the total length to just over 6.5ft

Side question: any ideas of what to do with the plethora of 4-6in day blade "leftovers" I seem to be collecting?
Besides blade plugs, which I have no use for, I can't think of anything and I don't want to just toss them out.

[DarthFurta]

to get the best answer...

ask someone that teaches staff combat. I do believe factors such as height account for the proper length.

[Galef]

I do believe factors such as height account for the proper length.

Oh, I agree. That's why I'm going 28in. I'm 5'10 and my staff is 22" with 26" blades. That seems to be the perfect balance for me.
My son is currently my height, but he's also 13, so I have no doubt he'll exceed 6ft. Combined with his saber being HG and mine are only MG, him having a 24" hilt with 28" blades should be the same relative proportion for him.

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