Lightsaber Blade Length

Hey guys, what is the length of the Jedi's Lightsaber blade? I know the blades are about 3/4" wide, but the length is getting to me and I would like to know. I propose it to be about 35". What do you think?

 

Approx 1 meter. (39")

 

Thanks for the reply. Your help is greatly appreciated.

 

I think it depends somewhat on your preferred fighting style. I do Live Action stuff and I prefer two handed fighting over 1 handed.

If you prefer to fight with 1 hand or two hands on a traditional sized hilt, so they have to be placed right against each other, then a 1 meter blade is a good length. You'll have to get in closer to fight effectively and you will have more blade maneuvering room in very close situations.

I prefer a two handed grip on a longer hilt (my saber is 12 inches for this) so I don't have to have my hands sitting next to each other, I have my top grip, then a couple of inches before I place my other hand on the grip. You can go up to a meter and a half, but I wouldn't suggest any more than that. You are at a bit of a disadvantage if you're locking blades and standing chin to chin with the other guy. But I'm tall, so this works for me.

Just a few more thoughts to take into consideration to design one that's best for you. I'd really suggest getting a 10 ft length of pvc for a couple of bucks and cut it into 2 or 3 different lengths to see what you like working with best.

 

It would also depend on your hight. A shorter person would want a shorter blade than a tall person.

I totally agree with VoidDancer, Play around with different sizes and see what feels the best for you.

 

Welll,
I'm very short (5' tall) and I use a standard Light saber sized blade(1 meter) and proper sized hilt. I did fine. Could even flip or twirl it w/o any problems. The tall people playing my me weapon had more trouble flipping and twirling it then I.<G> When ignited, the saber stands from the floor to my shoulders. Yes a VERY tiny Jedi.<G> We'er the most dangerous though.
GOodluck with saber blade sizing. Best part is playing around just don't cut your arm off.ok? :-D

Jauhzmynn

 

LOL Mynn,

I'd say pick a length that is comfortable. Yoda had regualr 3 feet blade

 

Alright! Thank you all for your replys. I am 5'7" and after hearing from all of you, went out to buy pvc pipe and tried the meter sized blades. Worked like a charm! It's great to hear from another real swordsman voiddancer. I took about 2 1/2 years in stage combat with all types of swords. Broadsword, rapier, and smallsword were the main ones. So, when you said you enjoyed two sword fighting, I couldn't believe that you had written that, because that was exactly what my intentions were. A ten feet pvc pipe works very well for two blades. Although, to make my personal hilt fit with the prospects of fighting with two lightsabers, I wanted to show my hilt was not the important part to look at during the fight, but rather my blades. That's why I went off the path and created an eight inch hilt by 3/4". Then added my blades to that. What does everyone think? By the way, thank you Mynn, Doright, and Primrodo for your comments too. Short people rule, Mynn!

 

8 inches...hmm...thats small, well for me anyway.

It also depends on your style of prefered fighting...Broad swords had a relitive sort hilt, as it was for one handed hacking swinging. The Japanese were more fluid and grace ful, and had a longer hilt....more like a dance.
Fencing is a lighter more fluid one handed fighting style as well.

Count Dooku in AOTC I think used fencing...right? His saber grip wasn't big as all...the saber as shorter.

So size and syle would say how long a sber is.

Mine is 12", but for a 6'2 guy, its just right

 

I read somewhere that the proper length of a lightsaber blade is, when holding the hilt out diagonal at your side, the tip should just barely touch the ground. That way it is proportional to your height.

 

You'er welcome Leechan,
Thanks again for psoting the RObe link on the other board. I saw the site. Her stuff is Kickin.

Yeah usually us short people are THE msot dangerous when it comes to clsoe up and sword fighting. The BIG guys have to get clsoer jsut to take a whack at one of us.<G> Didja' know Darth Maul is a very small man?? Size matters, not! Boyah!!.<G>

Jauhzmynn

 

Leechan,

Glad I could help, have fun. We've also done some full contact stuff, for that we use PVC cores and wrap them in pipe insulation, then wrap it around with duct tape. We found you can do incredible things with different colored duct tape. The only catch is you'll want to put something in the pommels to counterbalance the added weight.


Primrodo,

Yeah, Christopher Lee is an expert in stage fencing, so they made his saber like a german pistol grip foil. When we were running the lineup out here in AZ for Episode 2, one of the toy stores at AZ Mills Mall gave us several sabers to play with during the 2 weeks. His was FUN. The traditional slashing style of lightsabers I found was REALLY vunerable to the point on classical fencing style as long as I kept my distance from him. One of the projects that we have ahead of us, since the Ep 2 lineup was so successful, is creating our own lighted blades (EL or acrylic) and working up several shinkendo katas for demos. And I totall agree with you, I'm 6'0 and 12" hilts are perfect


JoeSunrider

I haven't heard anything on the proper blade length like that. But it may be similar to determining the proper length of a katana, where you grasp it right against the tsuba (sword guard) and let it hang straight down, then the blade tip should be exactly 2 inches from the ground. I tried out your method with a bamboo staff and I think the hardest part is saying what angle is diagonal exactly. it came out pretty long in my opinion. I happen to like long blades so it worked great for me, but I think somebody in the mid 5 feet range may have problems. Again I'd suggest a length of PVC and a hack saw. Start with your method to get an initial size, try it out, and keep trimming it until you find when it feels right.


Jauhzmynn,

I don't like fighting you short people The lower blocks are the hardest to perform and I've noticed that my shorter opponents have an unhealthy interest in my knees !!! They have quicker reflexes on the average too...it's not fair

 

Wow, it's amazing what every one does for their own lightsaber. It sounds like each blade size is solely depending on what you prefer, because of your size, or how you duel with them. Very interesting. Anyway, mine works very well, thanks to all your help. Thank you all for writing.

 

Hey Mynn,
Actually, I wanted to know what kind of blad you used for your lightsaber. I just saw a picture of it in your "My Costume" forum. It looks metal to me, but can't seem to distinquish what type of metal. Thanks for all your help.

 

She has an EL blade

 

Couple of things to think about on blades. Electroluminescent blades are a little whippy, alot whippy the longer they get...but you only have to connect them to a power supply.

Some of us in AZ are using colored acrylic blades as a much cheaper alternative. But you have to install a light source in the hilt as well as a powersource. And the solid Acrylics hurt more I think in sparring.

I don't know which blade style is more durable, I've not heard or compared them myself. Here is A Link for acrylic blades from our Denver Fan Force that may interest you.

 

VOid Dancer,
Oh the faster reflexes, <VBG> where do you think Jedi come from. Some short people can jump 8' high wooden fences and be half a block away in a second or two. THAT's using the force to your advantage.<VBG>

My saber blade is an EL blade. It couldn't been seen in daylight. :-(( Thank you for the compliment. I WOULD like to stick a sparring blade in there. Maybe the acrylic. I don't want to break the EL one. I tend to use a combo of Ob, Qui and Mace's Forms w/ my own. I don't do their flips or tricks ina duel though. I hit hard and fast. Nothing like saber dueling to wear a person out.


Jauhzmynn

 

36 inches seems to be a good length for just about anybody so I recommend it unless you are very short or very tall then you might want to adjust your length by 3-5 inches either way. Just make sure you have a handle that you are comfortable holding and go for it. The handle is the most important part so make sure it feels right and everything else will fall into place.

Good luck!

 

Hey, thanks for all the replys. I just tested out pvc, with a thin 1/2" copper tube inside the pvc. I was testing to see if I could make the contact of my pvc to another blade to be tougher, so not to break any pieces off. And I can tell you it works wonders! I was surprised to see that about 60% of the bounce from hitting the newly designed 3/4" pvc's together was eliminated. It is slightly, and I mean, slightly a little heavier, but unless you plan to weigh the thing, it doesn't feel any heavier once it's in the battle. I was thinking more of parrying and that took my mind off the little weight setback. Even with two different blades at once! Well, thank you all for your support, and I will tell you which one I prefer a little later. I'm still testing everything. Although, acrylic does seem to be a very good idea, I'm not sure if it will hold longer than a pvc and copper put together, or for that matter, just the pvc, but please tell me if you know. Thanks.

 

I built my full contact saber in the same proportions as my Kung Fu longsword (although I cheated a bit by making the hilt longer). The total length is 38 inches, which is practical for someone of a slighter build, and about 5' 10" in height.

I experimented with smaller 'tanto' sized sabers, but they didn't look very good on camera. Although they were fun to fight with (look up "Capoeira" as a martial art to see what I was up against!)

Hope this helps

Jim-Dan

 

for my fanfilm all lightsaber props are 90cm long (just the blades). it works fine, i think shorter blades wont give the sam effect.

 

Hiya'
Humm copper pipe inside the PVC? How do you anchor it? Can ya' tell how you got it to work. I'm curious. It is a tight fit in the PVC? If so great.

Jauhzmynn