A Lighter Mantis

[Mimiaga]

So about week ago I found a Mantis on my local Craig's List. Picked it up for 200 bucks, but once I got it (and tried to duel with it) I found it kind of... heavy. In my mind curved hilts and meant to be fast for fencing like strikes, and the heavy hilt created too much torque on my wrist. So, a few part swaps later, I present you with the "Grasshopper", a striped down high-speed low-drag Mantis. Both the pommel and emitter have been swapped for an Emperor's Hand pommel (the lightest available that's not an open hole) and a Warglave emitter (which I went with since it's the cheapest). I also removed the spiral outer grip from the lower end of the saber and wrapped the remaining handle with some rubber tape, and removed the upper ring. I find the hilt now is MUCH more usable for fencing techniques, and the Warglave emitter providing an excellent choke point for tradition swings. Overall now this saber has me about 240 bucks in the hole, which for a customized sound sound saber is fine by me.

[Sean107]

Nice work! That $240 is well spent if you have a saber you love, and can duel with comfortably.

[scifidude79]

That's really cool.  It definitely looks lighter.

[tx_tuff]

I like it! To bad you didn't have before pictures to put them side by side.

[Mimiaga]

Used this thing last night and it feels AMAZING now, much much better design!

[JdiKnhtJMH]

Very nice mods there! I'm right with you on the regular Mantis, it's a bulky saber thats not fit for one handed dueling. I had to make some mods on it and my curved reaper to make them more useable too, but I really like what you've done here, very minimalist!

[c3p-oates]

I really like what you've done here, very minimalist!

I'd like to second that. I'd say until now I like a bit of extra detail without going overboard but this...this floats my boat!

[Therion Jinn]

Yours definitely has a practical feel to it

[Grindspine]

That is sleek!  I wonder how the weight compares to the Initiate v3.

[Mimiaga]

That is sleek!  I wonder how the weight compares to the Initiate v3.

It's probably still heavier, that rear section (with the tape on it) is still significant. However because of that, the center of gravity is on the swordsman's side the bend, so you can flourish it nicely if you're gripping it on the black.

[JediCook]

Nice

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[JdiKnhtJMH]

Very nice work here, I heartily agree about the mantis being too heavy in its stock form. I did a lot of work on my own mantis too to balance it.