Introduction
Adaptive Saber Parts have arrived! Designed as a modular hilt building system Adaptive Saber Parts (ASP) gives saber enthusiasts the opportunity to design… thousands?... of hilts. Some parts were designed to be a complete build while other are individual components. Some of these designs are “canon” and others are Saberforge originals. ASP is also an opportunity to mix in hilts inspired by the Extended Universe (now non-canon). Thomas Snyder, SF’s hilt designer and renderer, designed an ASP hilt inspired by the EU character Corran that consists of Pommel 9, Body 10, Switch 7, and Emitter 9. I didn’t exactly follow this build but that’s the beauty of ASP!
Lore
From Wookiepedia
Corran Horn was a Force-sensitive Human male Corellian pilot who served as a Corellian Security Force investigator, a Rogue Squadron ace and New Republic hero, and later a Jedi Master of the New Jedi Order.
Spliced into Star Wars universe Corran Horn is perhaps the most Gary Stu
A Mary Sue for female characters and Gary Stu, Marty Stu or Larry Stu for male characters is an idealized and seemingly perfect fictional character, a young or low-rank person who saves the day through unrealistic abilities. Often this character is recognized as an author insert or wish-fulfillment.
character in the EU. He’s an ace pilot, Jedi Master, has a secret heritage, possesses Force powers different from the majority of other Jedi, is friends with the core SW characters, his nemesis wants to shag him, he’s functionally invincible… and the list goes on. I vacillate between enjoying Corran and rolling my eyes at him. While I have problems with the way Horn is handled in the EU (especially in “I, Jedi”) his saber is unquestionably cool. Built in a pinch from a speeder throttle , spare machine parts, and a legacy focusing crystal from his secret father who was a famous Jedi who hid Corran during the Jedi purge…. And we’re back in Gary Stu territory. Anyways… It’s an intriguing concept that is both functional and different from the typical hilt.
Dimensions
Height: 27 cm
Width: 4 cm
ASP Components
Emitter 9 Standard Finish: I’d almost call this a pseudo thin-neck. This emitter has a natural choke 5 cm from its lip.
Switch 10 Standard Finish: Although this wasn’t part of the original Corran hilt its’ grooves match the emitter well.
Body 10 Standard Finish: The knurled portions and machined look of this body set it apart from the other body options. I’ve seen it featured in a number of ASP builds that have incorporated it well.
Pommel 9 Standard Finish: Pleasantly understated it balances out the heavier portion of Body 10.
Blade Plug 5 Standard Finish: I reeeeeally like this blade plug. The render has it popped up over the lip of the emitter but it looks sublime recessed into the hilt.
Overall Impressions
I greatly appreciate how different this ASP build is from the rest of my hilt collection. Some of the parts didn't match the render but, fortunately, I feel that the final product looks better than the render. It also looks less chunky than the render and it's a surprisingly comfortable hilt. I was curious whether the quality of the materials would dip with the inaugural launch of ASP the quality of the components and the overall feel of the hilt exceeded my expectations. I’m not planning on using this as a dueler but I could see it as a midlevel two hander.
Aesthetics
I firmly feel that this hilt sells the fantasy that it was created from random speeder parts. Body 10 and Emitter 9 unify the design with its’ knurled portions and the grooved square motif. The greeblie screws on the emitter sell the concept well too. Like I mentioned earlier it’s very different from the typical SF offerings because it doesn’t look like your typical saber. Body, switch, pommel, and emitter don’t have any design elements from the canon SW saber hilts which sufficiently sets it apart from the rest of my collection.
Mechanics
This hilt doesn’t deviate away from the typical Saber Forge build. LED and blade retention screws are placed in the usual spots and there is a covertech wheel that can be used to attach the hilt to a covertech belt system. It has two 12mm holes for the switch and the .The only main variation is that the greeblies on the emitter can act as blade plug/blade retention screws. It took me a couple of tries to get the rights shims in to align all the parts but it’s looking alright.
Final Thoughts
My first ASP hilt is a work in progress. I’m planning on installing a Frost White LED and I’m considering swapping out Switch 10 with a Switch 7 once I can buy more ASP parts. That’s the beauty of the ASP system, I can play around with parts until I find what I like. I’m looking forward to seeing where ASP goes from here.