O.C, CA Orange County Saber Academy [formerly The Lightsaber Training Class]

havent personally used one but i know custom saber shop has a modular hilt system to them thats pretty good

 

<the rest is snipped for briefness>

Actually, I didn't even know there was a difference (aside from the moisture pack) in quality. As far as I knew, a shinai is a shinai is a shinai. The only reason I echoed Rion's comments is because I don't consider the shinai at Musashi to be cheap crap. Since I've never used a "cadillac style" I don't know anything else. I'm sure there must be something better, I just never bothered to check. I also don't know anyone in Japan, so getting one from there would be prohibitively expensive.

As far as the Ultrasabers go, they look decent enough, but I've never used one. They look pretty cool and if I had an extra couple of hundred dollars lying around, I'd pick one up.

 

Anyone got the link to custom saber shop?

 

Oh, I also wouldn't fight with a MR unless you paid me $100 per battle (that's enough to replace it for each time it breaks). I don't think I'd carry one of those around unless either unless it was Halloween. To tempting to want to fight with. Unfortunately, there really isn't a cheap way out of fighting with a good solid saber. You can build one yourself, but then you also have to factor in your time and all that.

Is this the link you wanted? http://thecustomsabershop.com/sabers/Scripts/default.asp Google is your friend

 

www.thecustomsabershop.com

 

If you really want to use an MR saber, I would either have it converted by Alex [ULTRASABER] or Tim [THECUSTOMSABERSHOP]. You can also buy one that is already converted. You won't be disappointed by it. Of course some of us want our own personalize saber, which you can get from Tim [unassembled] or Alex [assembled]. Either one can be personalized for a minimum of effort and money. They are way better than MR or Parks. For that matter they are brighter than any saber I have seen, except for an experimental one at COMICON. You can even get sound for them if you want.

 

Excellent, all great ideas and advice, thanks very much.

 

What these guys forgot to tell you is how they taped up theirs are (shinia's). You've seen the pic is this thread, if you taken care of it properly- hey they should look like the original with some darkening on the tsuka from repeated use. But everybody has a preference. It took me a year before I bought my first shinai (not at this group), and I didn't buy a Cadillac, I bought a Bentley. That Bentley has been replaced (due to theft) and I also have a Toyota, and a Taiwan model (I'm still speaking metaphorically about shinai's). My Bentley is virtually maintenance free, and that's why I bought it! The others are spares for friend and are very unique.

Smudge will vouch for me that within the past "YEAR (1 year)" musashi shinai's have become worthless. And my experience is virtually the 3 that answered you (Sith) combined. I also do my research, Japanese imports don't have a high tariff on them. Crap does come out of Japan. But there are places to get Japanese shinai's of great quality. I say this from experience because I purchased a very unique shinai over e-bay thinking it was a bargain, only to find it lack luster and from Taiwan, couldn't compare it to it's Japanese counterpart. You have the option of never oiling, or maintaining your shinai, but not single person (with at least 3 years experience with various groups) can say they?ve never seen a cracked or broken shinai.

If anything, it is true that average quality last's (F--- it, just replace it), but do not- DO NOT BUY FROM A CONVENTION, EXPO, OR CHINATOWN! They are (mostly) not bamboo but something else, the leather is like thick paper, and the string will snap!!

Last bit is that I know I'm making my own FX saber, but since it will be so expensive I plan to use it when it counts. I leave practice to my quality shinai's, and definitely here in the OCSA, we practice first with shinai, before we hop into plastic/carbon-fiber/poly tubes (I could be wrong because of exceptions)!

and also tape makes it more of a hassle to tear down and maintain, thus you're 99 times out of 100 not likely to do any maintenance if you have taped up yours.

"May the force be with you on your purchasing order."

 

First, chill. Second, you should be starring (*) or hyphening (-) out the whole word, not just the last 3 letters (I know I'm not a mod, just trying to be helpful). Third, my shinai has no tape The tsuka is pretty dark (it's not black, but it's far from white) from all the use I put into it. I probably used it for about a year, maybe a year and a half, and it's still in good condition.

What's the average lifespan of a shinai? I think I've seen one or two cracked at the saber class. I can't remember who was using it at the time, but I think it was one of Smudges. Of course, it was also modified and had already been repaired once. I haven't made any modifications to mine.

I usually save the hard fighting for my Parks since I know the breaking point of those blades. I don't think I could ever hit the breaking point though. After doing some heavy duty choreography with Rion, I no longer worry about breaking my Parks blade. Shawn's the only I know that was able to break one and he had to swing it at a concrete pillar in his house as hard as he could to do it.

 

I like that custom saber shop. I think closer to the time I buy one i'd like to take a look at some of the ones you guys have.

 

so yer expirence is as worthless as a musashi shinai? im confused now

 

Ok, my two cents on all this:

The Musashi shinais that I have and have seen are fairly decent. I have not been down there recently but indications are that their quality has gone down of late. Personally I now reccomend www.e-bogu.com for shinai. They have models ranging from the basic style we have been using until now and are a bit higher quality for approximately the same price. They also have much higher quality (and price) shinai for those who want them.

As for lightsabers, I highly reccomend The Custom Saber Shop (Tim) and Ultrasabers (Alex). Ultrasabers are Saber Shop modular hilts that are pre- assembled. Both use the same parts and technology (Luxeon LED) check my lightsaber info thread for more data and I'll get links up there ASAP. MR sabers can be converted to Luxeon which makes them almost as durable as the customs.

I personally have and use: e-bogu shinai, Customized "stunt"(non electronic) lightsaber for practice, and a Custom Saber shop saber for shows.

 

Thanks smudge!

///
I had expected Loreen to be the grammer nazi, but dang my subjects weren't seperated properly.

////

I had my reservations about using single light source LED saber. But after the BBQ in the HB I can see its benefits. Though I still encourage people to practice with a training sword or at least a solid core carbon fiber rods in your saber hilts, if you're going free style. If you do telegraphed choreo, then illumenate the battle field.

Best of luck AboutaSith!

 

That's "Grammar Nazi" and don't forget Spelling and Punctuation Nazi, too.

I don't always do it all the time, it's too much work, especially on some of the other boards I frequent!

 

Just to certain people, right Lori

You'll have to learn to misspell a lot like the rest of us if you want to escape Lori's wrath Alex. Check Rion's posts for an example

 

wat ewwwww meen barri eye doooo none such things

 

Now I just ignore the way Rion writes, and I already know he hates punctuation and capitalization. I guess I've gotten used to it.

And I (almost) never see Barry make mistakes.

Certain people's posts get to me more than other's.

The guys at The Custom Saber Shop's forums are horrible spellers. Spending too much time over there reading their posts "herts my brane".

 

That might be because I understand the importance of the written word as a communication device. If I can't spell, use proper grammar, or use appropriately formatted text and smilies, I cannot hope to convey my meaning to the reader. If I can't convey my meaning, I run the risk of the message being misinterpreted or just completely not understood.

I usually can't stand it when people write with shortened "IM speak" on a messageboard. Depending on how bad they've mangled their message, I just don't read it. It use to be fun to type "l8r" on BBSs in the old days. In fact, that actually showed you had a clue and had been BBSing for quite some time. Nowadays, it just looks nasty.

Sorry to derail your thread Don.

 

I wish more people felt the way you did, Barry, because I am of a like mind.

I am a lot more forgiving when IMing, I take shortcuts sometimes, too.

But when you take time to sit and make a post on a message board, careless, sloppy, incoherent posts are generally inexcusable, in my view.

 

worids is woids =D

 

Where, wear, there, their, they're, witch, which, your, you're, its, it's. I'm sure there's a bunch I'm missing. It's a good thing we have context to tell what you guys are saying. And it's a good thing those words sound the same when spoken.

Of course, in any other language, a misspelling can give a completely different meaning and sometimes context doesn't even help.

 

Now for something entirley on topic.

RandomSabers has these carbon fiber rods that they make into EL lightsaber blades. For dualing, not for glowing.
Smudge got one of these, and so far it looks to be way better for practice than the polycarb + wood combo. Less whipping, less ouch. Apparently these are the same ones used in the movies.

I'm thinking of getting one of these so I have a beater blade, and Smudge suggested that we do a group order, so shipping isn't such a pain.

Now, Random Sabers says they aren't going to have these in stock untill the end of the month. This probably gives us enough time to get people rounded up.

The blades themselves are $32, but you need to buy an accesory kit for it to fit, so its $40 total plus shipping.

So let me know if you're interested. I'll take payment closer to the order date.

EDIT: Heres the link

 

The one I got was $47 with shipping. You need the accessory kit for these to work in a 3/4" blade socket, and the aluminum tip keeps the CF from chipping and cracking at the end. We will still need to pad the tips a bit though. I just modified mine and put some reflective tape on it.

Lizard, put me down for one, though I will have to pay you after the first. If that changes I'll let you know. Thanks for organizing this!

 

Great suggestion! Count me in