Following up my review of my Hero Tier RGBA Descent now comes my review of the Bane. Both are my first ever sabers. While I already reviewed the Bane and the Descent review actually came second, I was unaware that trying to post with images that are too large for the forum to handle would result in the post timing out and disappearing, so I shall write it once more.
First of all, I must say that as with the Descent, the Bane is beautifully crafted and pretty much everything I expected. Also as with the Descent, I shall begin with the minor issues I had (and they really are minor) and them move onto to everything great about it.
First off, when I originally placed my order over 3.5 months ago, the Bane was available in a number of finishes, and I selected the weathered option. However, about a week or so after ordering, the listing was changed to being only available in the standard black/silver dual tone finish. I inquired with customer service about this, figuring that since at the time of my order it was advertised as available in that color that my request would be honored. However, I was then told that for whatever strange reason that the Bane was only available in standard at that time and my request would NOT be honored even though, again, it was advertised when I ordered. Therefore it's not quite the product I dreamed of when I bought it, but I don't hate the dual tone either, so it's fine. A coupon or little extra throw-in would have been nice, but no big deal.
Secondly, the underside of the emitter shroud isn't quite symmetrical, one side doesn't quite meet with the center claw the way the other one does. That may be easily fixable, however, and is not a huge issue by any means.
And the third and final minor issue is that I was sent the wrong size allen wrenches for the Bane. It uses one of the screws that hold the shroud together as a blade retention screw, and it's a little larger than the standard blade retention screws on other sabers. Unfortunately, one of the claws on my Descent was slightly loose as well and required the same size wrench to tighten, so I needed it for that reason also. However, I'm fairly sure Saberforge would have mailed me the correct size, had I asked, but it was easier to just go to the hardware store and get a new set with the right size (as mentioned in my Descent review, so no real problem there either).
Now, for all the good parts... The finish is well done, even if not the ideal color that I wanted. I've heard many complaints about the Bane's claws being sharp enough to cut, and while the edges on mine aren't perfectly smooth, they're only a little rough and it causes no issue for me. The 12w+ Indigo LED is extremely bright and almost exactly what I wanted for the color. Surprisingly, the 3w colors of the RGBA Descent don't look dull at all in comparison, but that's a huge bonus for the RGBA setup and not a downside to the 12w+ single color in the least.
Next, the soundboard. I, of course, went with the Crimson sound font on the Sabercore board. It's loud and clear and the effects of the hum and clashes are quite aggressive. Very suiting of the hilt design, I would say. It's obviously not as tweakable as the Spark Color 2 board of the Hero Tier sabers, given there is only one LED color and one sound font, but the options that are there (volume, motion sensitivity, pulsing effect of the LED, etc.) are more than enough and the on board menu is easy to understand and navigate to configure these options.
The curved grip takes some getting used to, but it's fairly comfortable and just looks unique and cool. The Bane is actually the only curved hilt design to really catch my interest so far and I love the aesthetic of the claws and all the edges. Lit up with the blade in, it looks fantastic.
Here's a few last things, also found in my Descent review. A shot of the new kill key, for one. I don't have an old one to compare it to, but here it is anyway...
...And here is the blade plug it came with, next to the Descent's.
Thank you to anyone who took the time to read this. Again, the only issues I have with it are quite minuscule overall and I am otherwise quite happy with it. And just because I have room for one more image, here is a shot of them side by side.