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Industrial Designers Not Consulted on Lightsabers, Resulting in Practicality, Ergonomics and Safety Issues
These aren't the designers you're looking forThese aren't the designers you're looking for
You would think the Jedi Order would hire a top-shelf ID firm to design their chief sidearm. Instead, Core77 has learned, Jedi individuals brazenly make them themselves, despite having no design or engineering training whatsoever. According to the Star Wars Wiki, lightsabers are "borne of the Force-user who created it and using whatever materials were at hand; typically... created over a span of months. [The creators] go into deep Meditation, poring over each individual component to be added and thus forging a connection with it through the Force."
The clear limitations of this designer-free approach are obvious to anyone who's viewed the Star Wars documentaries. First off, here's the lightsaber from Episode 4:
It's a pretty simple, single-bladed design. But take a look at Darth Maul's double-bladed lightsaber from Episode 1:
The double-bladed design predates the single, and yet we do not see any examples of a double-bladed model throughout Episodes 4, 5 or 6. It seems obvious the design was discontinued for safety reasons, presumably after a Jedi or Sith accidentally turned it on while holding it in front of them and stabbed themself in the stomach with the lower blade. This would never have happened had a proper design firm been consulted; while such a design was still in the blue-foam phase, even a model-shop intern would have spotted the ergonomic flaw.
The forthcoming Episode 7, meanwhile, shows another lightsaber design "evolution":
The two little Bunsen burners on the side are apparently meant to serve as a crossguard, and were once again conceived without any design oversight. After seeing it, The Washington Post interviewed master bladesmith Kevin Cashen, who deemed the design variant ergonomically poor. "That hilt would just take you apart if you started to do a lot of complex spinning," said Cashen. "...Eighty percent of the time you'd be in grave danger of searing yourself."
Darth Designwannabe's personal safety aside, the real danger in this DIY approach to lightsabers is that it emboldens the general public into thinking that they, too, can design dangerous weapons, while proudly declaring their own design ignorance. The Verge's T.C. Sottek, for instance, wrote an article entitled "I designed a better lightsaber...while I was in line for coffee this morning. And I have zero experience." Here's what he came up with:
At least Sottek's hand sketches are passable. Other would-be designers have used illustration and/or photo manipulation to express their concepts. Here, for example, is Harry Partridge's take:
Redditor BillyElNino offers his Swiss-inspired version:
From Imgur comes this design, where power consumption is apparently not an issue:
Lastly and also from Imgur, a subsequent modification to the above, which now has a handy wood-felling functionality.
We saw what a shotgun can become in the hands of a Marc Newson. So what we'd really like to see next are lightsabers designed by Newson, Yves Behar, Karim Rashid, Philippe Starck, et al.
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Comments
Jep, I'm late.
But there is nothing wrong with the crossguard, except that you can cut through the joint.
Most people probably never had a real sword in their hand, your movement never conflicts with the crossguard, as that would even if it just iron, limit you.
"complex spinning" yeah, if you keep that away for safety reasons you have a superior design AND fighting style, I mean if they had less spinning the jedi would have survived order 66
You can see double blades as far back as the height of the Old Republic. Most notable user is probably Exar Kun.
And based on how lightsabers are "tight loops of contained plasma that are emitted from the saber, then loop back into it". The new designs don't really explain how this is done, or even what logic there is in doing it.
As far as the Sith having double-sided weapons, well, they are the Evil Empire so anything the fat part of them-masses bell curve would find acceptable is probably exactly what the Sith would not want. (those three films were cr*p anyway)