Saber Forum

I was just wondering what everyone's opinions are on guards for lightsaber hilts
I personally think they have some use from what I've seen as I don't usually see the blades sliding down towards the handle and they may provide some extra leverage as well they also just look awesome I mean come on who hasn't seen kanaans lightsaber and thought "man that's awesome"

Never much thought of guards on a saber before. At least not for myself

Appearance wise, it can be good. I like how they did Kanan's. A lot of guards don't seem Star Wars looking enough though.

Function wise, either we assume guards aren't needed for some reason, such as a sticky/magnetic blade, or we assume they are useful in the same way as real world guards are useful in the fighting styles that use it. I've brought this up before, and some think it's untrue to Star Wars to have guards. But if the blades can slide down toward the hand in real life battle, it's foolish to go without a guard. That's why a sword has a guard. We have to modify our styles to protect the hands without a guard, limiting our maneuvers. Or we have to modify our styles to simulate the sticky blade, limiting our maneuvers for fan simulation.

Also, a guard would need to be a lightsaber resistant material. Maybe that's why we don't see many in the Star Wars universe.

I too, have been thinking about this recently. Traditionally, guards are not seen much in the SW Universe and I suspect Obese Wan Kenobese is close to the mark. Unless the guard was made of light (like Kylo Ren's) I would think a saber blade would slice right through the guard material. So from a practical standpoint I don't think they would do much good.

That said, I like the aesthetics of a guard at times. I am in fact trying to figure out a way to add one to a custom build my self in the style of a cutlass. Tow of my favorite things, Star Wars and Pirates so why not combine them! I have seen a few examples on the forums, but nothing that has caught my eye and frankly I am limited in moth skill and tools when it comes to metal work. I guess I will have to keep searching and see if I can modify something to achieve my goal (of find someone who can).

If you can find aluminum sheet metal, it can be cut with strong scissors and shaped with a hammer.

Probably do this easily.
(http://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/deadliestwarrior/images/1/1a/Cutlass-0.jpg)

Likely cut a shape you'd want into the flat aluminum and just bend it so a hole at the top and bottom fits your saber handle.