Dual Tone Black Lotus QC12Watt+ Frost White
Once upon a time I was fascinated with an All Black Hilt Finish and after some additions to my Collection, what was hyped as ‘All That’, now notso much. The All Black does have appeal to certain Hilt designs but in general, the surface appearance leaves it too flat and hides any distinguishable elements surrounding the Hilts design.
This is an interesting Hilt as it features design elements that I haven’t completely embraced however not by the result of a direct Purchase, I find it in my hands nonetheless. A surprisingly light Hilt, it may just be the lightest Hilt I currently own. Deceptively dull where by default, the only contrasting elements featured are the Silver accent squares around the Pommel and in between the Switch section to the Choke. Granted with an illuminated Blade it would trump any misgivings the Hilt as a standalone may lack and the option of QC LED Modules, heightens this projection but the Hilt is not always on.
Why is it an interesting Hilt? well let me explain. It’s a wrapped Hilt and a multi-clawed design. Two features that I’ve generally ever been 50/50 about at best but mostly 30/70 on any given day. When duelling with, it is always recommended to remove the claws first. It has often been debated in this hobby about the convenience of thumb blade retention screws over setscrews and the ease (or difficulty/hassle) with fiddling with an Allen key. Similar to that example, when it comes to the button-head screws that secure the Claws, well.. there’s 6 of them and between the Vipers and the Venoms, accessibility is somewhat limited between the two types. The Allen key for the existing setscrew blade retention is also a different size to the claws screws. In total, think of this Emitter as having 7 (Yes 7) Blade retention screws.
The Black Reptile wrap that came standard (or preselected at the Builders discretion) is, what it is, don’t really have any to add to it. As the primary grip section it doesn’t really add to it or remove from it either. Aesthetically, it’s not the greatest marriage of texture and colour but it does its job.
If you’re familiar with the standard finish this Hilt is typically represented by, the first you may have noticed is the difference. There is more Silver where there normally wouldn’t be. When this arrived, it did become victim of mysterious events inside the box but as my enquiries were investigated further with SFCS, I am led to believe some other points of interest that reacted with a raised brow. Shipping-wise, I actually concluded that it would be safer and more secure for the claws (3Viper & 3Venom) to be detached and require ‘some’ assembly. This wasn’t the case. The Hilt is wrapped (loosely) just like any other Hilt that is Shipped, regardless of claws inclusive to the Emitter design or not. I suggested that (prior to Shipping) instead of just rolling the Hilt horizontally like you would with a piece of flat bread, to fold in the ends (Pommel and Emitter) too or tack-on some extra padding.
When it did emerge from the Box, only 3 Claws were attached. I will guess that either with content-shift, vibration or general handling, it dislodged and loosened the screws and completely unthreaded them from the Emitter. Not a big deal. Pretty easy to screw something back in, right? I’ll elaborate more on this later…
The Ring.
What has that got to do with SW and LightSabers? Absolutely nothing.
I sometimes become easily distracted…. Squirrel!
Some Specs and Measurements:
Quad Cree 12Watt+ Frost White| Champion Tier| Quick Connect LED Module| Sabercore2.0 Crimson Font| (Modified) Standard All-Black Finish| Black AV Switch, White-Lit| Black Covertech| lazerforge Kill Key
Hilt Length (Pommel to Emitter): 287mm (11.2992”)
Hilt Length (Pommel to Viper Tip): 305mm (12.0079”)
Hilt Length (Pommel to Venom Tip)*: 342mm (13.4646”)
Blade Socket Depth: 41mm (1.6142”)
Venom Claw Diameter: 71mm (2.7953”)
Viper Claw Diameter*: 103.26mm (4.0654”)
Choke Diameter: 31.74mm (1.2497”)
Switch Diameter: 38.17mm (1.5028”)
Wrapped Body Diameter: 34.18mm (1.3457)
Pommel Diameter: 48.61mm (1.9138”) tapers down to 25.56mm (1.0063”)
*denotes standard Lotus setup.
Weight: 453Grams ( 15.9791Ounces)
Balance (from Pommel to POI): 158mm (6.2205”)
Balance (from Pommel to POI) 26”: 305mm (12.0079”)
Balance (from Pommel to POI) 32”: 334mm (13.1496”)
Balance (from Pommel to POI) 37”: 385mm (15.1575”)
The Emitter essentially has 7 retention screws you need to struggle with before a blade can be cleanly inserted without friction or catching on any internal protrusions. Fully tightened Claw screws, you’ve got 360Degrees open space for Venom (these are long and effortless to finger tighten first before using allen key) and about 270Degrees closed space for Viper (these bastards are the most user-unfriendliest). The thread pitches are short too. Too short for quick n easy finger tightening first as the eye needs to be threaded exact and performed using an Allen key. Too long in that they extend right into the Blade Holder and become internal protrusions. All 6 Claws need to be literally loosened to hanging on by a thread before a blade can be inserted for seating. Under tighten (and whilst is attached to the Emitter Flute) the Claws wobble like jingle bells. There is no happy medium.
For now, I completely disregard the setscrew for blade retention. 5 of the 6 Claws are fully tightened by the default buttonheads. 1 has been replaced with a sockethead and slightly longer pitch (because between the 3Vipers and 3Venom Claws the screws included are not all the same specific to the Claw type) The sockethead also enables me to use as a thumbscrew for blade retention. Due to the extra tediousness of ensuring the blade holder well is clear, a blade is left permanently inserted. This creates convenience when the desire warrants grabbing this Hilt for random swings and spins to pacify some boredom. Or when I pace during thinking -time, lately it is now done with a twirling Saber in hand.
The Claws supplied were dangerously sharp, had dings, dents and scratches too however the biggest concern was the edges to the Switch and Recharge Port. I provided this feedback to SFCS and was replied with ‘switches are left sharp on this Hilt because of the design. Any softening cannot be done because the black anodise will be stripped as a result. You can sand the edges if you wish but any damage sustained won’t void your warranty but is not covered under warranty.’ Not being quick to return items with RMA for correction, I was hoping for a more accommodating troubleshoot. I may have even considered sending the Claws back but with the returned outcome, completely abandoned that route. For Lotus I did anyway.
The interesting part to this feedback was the finishing of the Parts. IDK if it is what I am to believe for now specific to this Hilt based on the specific query I had specific to this email? It concludes Parts are received (obviously empty) and either completely anodised Black or completely anodised Silver. Further in-house treatments are then done by either drilling switch holes (after the fact), stripping/polishing etc. Steps taken in this order explain the exposed aluminium after a hole has been drilled. What conflicts to this is reports of other Hilts (shared and from personal Collection) and ASP individual Parts where the treatments i.e. drilling holes and whatnot are done to raw aluminium and the anodising is done after. I throw my hands up in the air. It’s not something I’m supposed to know I guess.
So what eventuated and resulted to what you see now is me taking to some sanding and cleaning to the affected claws. For consistency, I repeated the process to the unaffected ones as well to keep appearances uniform. Much the same with the Switch holes. Edges are definitely much more user-handling friendly now but rather having just a small section of scratched-off anodising, continued the stripping of the entire switch section. IDK, it’s almost a TIE themed Lotus now but aesthetically, I believe (or maybe I’m delusional and tooting my own horn is all it is) it is more effective than what it was in the standard All Black Finish. From a momentary distraction (Yes, another one) the view from the front of the Emitter reminded me of the Octalus creature in the Movie Deep Rising. Cool? Maybe.
I have specific Hilts I use for Duelling. When I write duelling, it’s nothing choreographed or professional, rather when my Brother comes around or when a Mate swings by and feels like having a bash. The intention is to include this solely because it is so ridiculously light. With All Claws removed (haven’t taken pictures of this as I’ve only removed all Claws once, plus I forgot being distracted by the frustrations of securing the claws, to access the LED Module during initial assessment and they’re a pain to secure because they’re really fiddly. There, I referenced it again.) it’s just a plain looking Hilt. The Claw retention Holes mimic light shine-throughs which is kind of neat and similarly resembles ASP Emitter7. I may (if I’m feeling creative) drill additional holes that would be covered by the Claw footprint to promote this shine-through effect and further replicate ASP Emitter7.
This handles well during dual wield where primary hand chokes high or grips low with single handed use. The claws become body magnets with painful results when not careful and all-in-all, not bad. Would I get another multi-clawed Emitter Hilt, probably not, well by choice anyway.
What I have with this Lotus is essentially 4 Sabers in 1.
1. All Claws removed, it’s like an ASP Build headed by Emitter7 but (because of the lesser holes for shine-through) is more known as Emitter7’s younger Brothers Cousins Friend.
2. Only Venom Claws attached. Like a Crystal-less, shine through-less, no windowed Descent.
3. Only Viper Claws attached. Like a shine through-less, no windowed, wrapped Viper.
4. As you see it. DT Lotus.