TOPIC: Saberforge Review - Venomous Fury

Hello all!

I just received my very first lightsaber! I checked it out some with the basic charge on the battery and will talk about my first impressions here. I know it wasn't its brightest, but I just had to check it out!

Once it's fully charged and I can take it outside tonight with the family I will hopefully post something a bit more substantial.

Saber: Venomous Fury
Tier: Champion
Finish: Standard
Sound: Crimson
Colour: 12w Amber
Length: 12.7 inches
Blade length: 37 Inches

**Please note I am 6'3" so most of what I write with the 37" blade may not apply to someone shorter**

The hilt itself has just the right heft to it. Without a blade is is well balanced and all edges are nicely smoothed save the shroud, which has a bit of an edge to it but it did not cut the skin when I felt the edge.

The grenade grip feels perfect in my hands, quite comfortable and fits nicely. I find the covertec in a bit of an odd spot. I would have liked it closer to the pommel but this does not affect my two handed grip at all. I plan to remove it anyways and put on a D-Ring I purchased tonight.

With the blade in it was a bit more heavy to the front. This does not bother me much at all given I used to do a variety of exercises with a broadsword and a two-handed sword, as well as took some MMA with a katana and staff. I found a great choke point up near the shroud for one handed use and the rest of the hilt came pretty close to balancing out the weight. It was easy enough to hold for my 8 year old son even with the 37" blade. Out of curiosity I grabbed it at the grenade grip one handed to see how it balanced and while that made it heavier up front, it was still pretty easy to control.

This is my first saber, so I am unable to practice any of the forms for saber combat, but I did take some katana combat in a mixed martial arts class for about 4 months so I went through some of the basic movements for that and everything just felt right. The balance of the blade, the weight distribution. Everything is ideal for me.

As for brightness I was quite impressed. While not like the photos at all (They don't glow white in the center after all. I did know this before hand though) I was quite pleased with the colour. I still have to adjust sensitivity for the motion but tinkering with it the sound is amazingly clear for such a small speaker. I like the deeper sound the Crimson board has for the saber. Made me shiver like I did when I saw Darth Vader for the first time as a young child.

While I still want to play...er...'test' this more, I am very much pleased with this gift from my wife. So later once my family checks it out I will write more on how it handles and sounds.

Maybe get some action shot taken too!

Congrats on your first saber adn thanks for insight into the hilt. Look forward to seeing some pics when you get them up.

I'm 6'4" so I'm glad to hear the 37" blade works nicely.

My first saber is due to arrive today and it's also a venomous fury, but deep blue and veridium sound.

Alright, so I spent about a couple of hours on the unit. Swapped the covertec knob for a D-Ring. Checked out craftsmanship more thoroughly and I cannot find a single flaw in the finish on this saber.

Balance is amazingly, especially when in a two handed grip. It was pretty quick and easy to move around, quick enough to keep 3 younglings with their own toy sabers at bay! While they preoccupied themselves with their own battle I did some test spins (I am still learning how to do the obiwan/anakin spin so no videos to embarass myself with) but even at dusk it came out very dang bright! Had a few neighbors to stop and watch the proceedings with a lot of interest.

They were swinging pretty hard and it left all kinds of scuff marks up and down the blade. These wiped off with nothing more than a soft cloth and I am unable to find a mark on the blade whatsoever. If I stop it hard enough you can feel the blade shiver ever so slightly, but it is not very noticable unless you're paying real close attention. Once I got in combat with the kids I didn't even notice it.

I let the children handle it and they the only issue they had was, obviously, the length of the blade. Not that it stopped them from racing around using the Lightning sound on each other.

Feels a lot like my old katana in terms of weight distribution and ease of movements. To me that is all good. I've been incredibly pleased with this, to say the very least!

Pics imbound! Not as great as some but they should give a good overall look of the saber!



Total length of saber should be roughly a little over 4 feet with blade installed.



Top view of saber with covertec knob. Please note the retention screw up at the shroud here is the only one that holds the blade in place. The one on the opposite side is only to hold the shroud in place. Looks kinda neat when it is removed.



Side view to show full shroud coverage, location of killswitch and covertec knob before removal.



View with blade plug. It makes a nice pattern when it shines on things.



One of my Apprentices removing the other!

Nice review! Congrats on the Saber!

Quite the weapon of ultimate destruction you have there, as your padawans illustrated so well! I am always delighted to hear about folks who are totally blown away with their new saber, especially when it is their first.

Congrats on the Fury! Use it well...use it wisely!

Quick question about the grip: Did you notice any sharp edges? Specifically around the grenade section, but I want to know how necessary gloves are for this saber.

I lied, there's another question: About how thick is the hilt? As someone with skinny, gangling hands I've always preferred the feel of slimmer sword grips over the thicker ones.

Okay, last question: Where did you get the D-Ring and how difficult was it to install? Not much of a description for this one, I think it's pretty straight-forward

Much obliged, and fantastic looking saber!

The only sharp edges I found are near the tip of the shroud on the claws and the outer curve of the shroud itself. I did not find any sharp edges anywhere else, it's all very smooth. The grenade section is very easy to grip. If you twist it real hard while clenching the grenade section it bites into the palm a bit but does not cut the flesh. I do not see gloves being a necessity given how thorough they've been with making sure the main body is clean and smoothed out.

Diameter of the outer edges is 1.5 inches. I do not know the average size of the rest but it feels the perfect size to me. It's about the same as any katana or broadsword I've held. I don't exactly have thick mitts as far as I've known and it fits me real good.

The D-Ring is super easy to install as there is only one allen screw holding the covertec knob in place. I do not remember the size of key required though. It's just a matter of removing that screw to remove the knob and screwing the D-Ring back in it's place. I bought a pair of D-Rings and their belt clips online for about 20 bucks with the shipping. The location of the covertec knob is a bit odd as it's not as close to the pommel as I'd like, but with a D-Ring in place I barely even feel it when I grip the hilt two handed. Shouldn't cause an issue once you mount one.

Congrats, great review!

The more I see this saber, the more and more I love it! My first ASP saber is going to be aesthetically similar to the Venomous Fury, but the major difference being that it uses the grip section for the Dissident (The Rahm Kota inspired hilt.)

I wasn't too sure of the choke area under the shroud myself, it seemed like an odd shape to grip with all the ridges. It really surprised me when I grabbed it and it felt very comfortable and incredibly easy to manipulate one handed from that location. it wasn't slippery at all up at the choke point. Personally I like the feel of the grenade grip far more and seeing a saber with a full grenade grip would probably perk my interest, but I've really been loving this saber!

I even took it to work to show people as all my coworkers have been interested to see it and feel it. They were all impressed with how well built it was and how easy it was to get a good grip on as well as the aesthetic style of the hilt itself.

I work at a movie theater where they're allowing us to dress up for TFA, so I'm wearing my Sith Acolyte costume and displaying both sabers proudly on my hips. ^_^

I don't have a full costume myself, I do have some things to try to get kind of a dark jedi thing going on for halloween at least. Won't be movie accurate or anything but it should do to take the kids around and make use of it in the dark while they trick or treat hahaha!

That's pretty cool your boss will let you dress up for the screning of tFA. You'll have to post some pictures of that with both blades!

Sweet! I'm so glad to know that there aren't any sharp edges or anything. Also, this is the first time I've seen any measurement approximations for one of these sabers (viper, venom, venomous fury) so I really appreciate it! I don't really think 1.5 in is too thick either, I was just thinking of the 00's plastic retractable sabers without light, sound, or anything else fancy, and how they were 2in+ in thickness. At least, my hasbro prequel OWK saber was.

About the D-Ring, is there any way you could post a closer picture of it? I'm just curious about the setup. I've mostly seen pommel-mounted D-rings, and just want to get an idea for the type/size you used.

Thanks!

I can definitely post a closer picture or two.



Top view of D-Ring. This is on the same side as the retainer screw for the blade. This uses a standard sized allen key (I forget exact measurement) to remove.


Side view to show how much of a lower profile this gives compared to the covertec knob. I removed the pommel and the threads reach in really far for it, about the length as the last silver area before the pommel grooves. It's why the covertec is put so far up. Works fine with the belt clip that accompanies this type of D-ring though you will inevitably scratch the saber a bit in the D-ring area when attaching to the clip.

as for sharp edges, I did mention there is points of the claws is pretty sharp and the outter edge of the gets sharper the closer to the points you get. The rest of the saber does not have any sharp edges to it.

Thanks for the pics!
I might do something similar with my saber, when it comes. I guess I'll have to see how the covertech knob feels to me.

I guess I should have said "Glad to know I won't need gloves" or something. But the sharp edges near the tip mean that, if you have the hilt with you, but no blade, you can still stab people for self defense, amirite?

Well, at that point, why wouldn't you just use a knife or something. Still, trying to look on the bright side though

Alright alright. Now that I've had it around for a while and have had time to practice with it and test it out more thoroughly, let's revisit this review!

To be honest, It's real hard to leave this thing just staying on it shelf if I'm at the computer reading or playing a game, hahaha. Tend to hold it and just check out various ways to grip it to see which is the most comfortable. The dang thing just WANTS to be used, but due to bad weather and falling ill it has had to be a bit of a shelf queen. For now.

Anyways, I have yet to charge it and I'm betting I've gotten about 5 hours of battery life out of it so far. It is still astoundingly bright, even with audio set to High and the sensitivity on swing cranked up. The Grenade grip really digs in and holds it in place when doing wide swings, with the choke point just above the switching working real well for spins. Well, what little spins I can ineptly do at this point. But I'm getting better!

Balance without the blade installed is directly under the kill switch, nearly as centered as you can get. It has just the right amount of heft, and when clipped to your belt it lets you know it's there without attempting to drag your slacks down to your ankles. I have not tried the covertec system but personally I do really like the freeswing of a D-ring and clip like in the classic movies.

Using a 37" blade, I've been finding it better and better to use with my old practice maneuvers the more I do it. While the balance point with the blade installed is a couple of inches past the tip of the shroud, it is very easy to maneuver to deflect blows and counter attack. Control is very quick and precise, despite the slight imbalance of weight in the blade up at the front. it has about the same slight weight difference as my katana and broadsword do.

While I have yet to do major contact with the blade besides with my kids' toy sabers, any mild scuffs or marks are incredibly hard to see unless you're really staring at where they are. They are nearly invisible otherwise and absolutely no dents. My kids were swinging about as hard as they could to try to hit me, so no dents are an impressive thing! I have yet to try the magic eraser trick that was mentioned to clean it up but I do plan to try that soon.

So, overall the longer I have it the happier I've been with it. I've shown several friends and they have been really impressed with the quality of work in the hilt and just how RIGHT it feels to hold it, not to say the ease it can be maneuvered. Some of them seen it out in the dark and looked like they were 8 years old again playing with it in the yard.

Guess it's hard for any Star Wars fan to give up the chance of holding a saber, at any age!

Always love to hear accounts of folks that fall more in love with their sabers, the longer they are around!

Actually, speaking to your assertion of folks becoming 8 year olds when a saber is around, I have found that to be true for the most part. However, there exist those Star Wars fans that are embarrassed/ashamed of their love of all things Star Wars. The closet geeks who wish to keep their fandom close to the chest, and refuse to be seen publicly enjoying something like a light saber. They even go so far as to downplay the whole thing. I know...it is hard to envision this, especially here in this forum, but it is true in some cases, none the less. I happen to know a couple of them personally.

I actually kind of feel for folks like that, who refuse to let themselves enjoy the cool geekiness that is owning a saber, learning how to use it (to whatever extent makes you happy), and perhaps even building a cosplay costume around it. Someone like that would see it as being an adult, and not being silly. I prefer to think of myself, and likely most of the folks here as fans who allow themselves to unabashedly enjoy something they love, and opinions be damned!

Did not mean to steal your thread, but it kind of touched on an old thorn in my side when it comes to fandom.

Now, back to your regularly scheduled accolades for a saber well done!

Brax wrote:
I happen to be one of these closet geeks. Although I think I'm getting better at showing my fandom, I still tend to downplay it a lot. For instance, I act like I'm ashamed of spending $400+ on a lightsaber, in the hope that people around me won't judge me as harshly for it.

Hopefully, when my saber gets here and my cosplay is complete, I will let my fandom shine forth in all its glory! The nonbelievers will be blinded by its might, and I will finally feel free! Hopefully.

Though we may wish for something to change, unless we are willing to throw the first rock the wall will never crumble.

You sir, are striking a mighty blow for the cause! I salute you! Now, go out and represent!

nice pick for your first saber and a very good revew can't wait too see what else you have to say about after you play...er test more