TOPIC: Question about dueling durability

Hello everyone! I am new to the saber community and I am looking to get into building one (albeit not entirely from scratch). One question that I can't seem to find the answer to is: What determines whether or not a saber is durable enough for dueling.

I know that a number of SaberForge's crystal sabers are non-dueling sabers but the site doesn't mention all of the crystal sabers being non-dueling sabers. Are those unmentioned crystal sabers (Descent, Gladiator, Monarch) considered dueling sabers? And if I am going to be threading into the foray of saber construction, what should I know when considering if a saber is durable enough for dueling or not?

I apologize in advance if this has been answered somewhere or if this thread is inappropriately posted. I've been browsing through as much as I can over the past several days and it's considerably overwhelming. Thanks for any helpful replies!

The crystal thin necked sabers aren't duel durable because their hilts pop open in the middle and delicate struts hold it together.

Those other crystal sabers can be dueled with. The Descent's crystal is integrated into the blade plug (honestly I feel like this one is a bit of a cheat), the Gladiator's crystal is machined into the body (no moving parts), and the Monarch's crystal is exposed but the hilt remains structurally intact.

All of SF's other sabers are duel durable. That said your sabers will accrue various dings, dents, scratches, blemishes, injuries, smears, and sundry other battle scars as you duel with it. If you're considering a saber PURELY for dueling purposes I might suggest the Gladius, Reliant (w/o the control box), Arbiter, or Exhalted. The Gladius is what, arguably, made SF's reputation for crafting excellent dueling sabers and has excellent balance, the Reliant (w/o the control box) is a rugged saber that has a long uniform hilt, the Arbiter has been getting some very popular buzz recently after its' design was updated, and the Exhalted is generally considered the best dueling thin neck saber. Other options are perfectly valid but those four are what I generally hear the most positive things about for dueling.

Also w/the blades the 32" are generally considered the best for dueling as the 37" tend to be a bit too heavy for fine control.

How are you planning on constructing one?

That's a good question. Since I'm still new to this, I am going to be experimenting with the electronics first. I figured that's the most complicated part provided I can acquire the hilt pieces.

I at first considered purchasing a completely working saber but then I thought it may be a lot more fulfilling to do much of it myself instead of having it just handed to me. I definitely don't have the tools or know-how to craft high quality hilts but I can, at the very least, learn how to assemble the electronics of a saber and customize its functionality to my liking.

Of course, this is all easier said than done but a soldering iron is far more accessible to me than tools used for cutting metallic tubes. I like a lot of Saber Forge's hilts so one option is purchasing an empty hilt from here and installing the guts myself. I've only started but I'm eager to learn and make this into a really fun hobby. If there are any resources you recommend brushing up on, I'd really appreciate it!

There's quite a few new skills and tools you'll need to acquire before jumping into a saber build. A great place to look for info about electronics etc. is The Custom Saber Shop Forum . I too looked into buying empties (initiate tier) from SF but the cost/benefits/time ratio didn't work out to my benefit. Soundboards for sabers also experience frequent bottlenecks which makes it hard to get all the parts necessary to assemble a "full" saber. I know very little about this topic so I would point you in the direction of youtube where a number of people have posted some how to vids. Good luck!

I got a question. How much force can the sabers take in general. I'm getting a custom venom from A.S.P. , but what about using it intensively? What about the blade? Could the blade break/bend during intense duels?

Moikuato-Darth Gourd wrote:
Looks like they can take some good hits, there are a few stress test videos here:





This is a V3 blade test: