I was an original 1977 Star Wars generation kid, so at first the only lightsabers that were available were the Kenner ones that were basically a flashlight with a yellow inflatable blade. Oddly enough, though, nobody I ever knew seemed to have one! Of course I wanted one too, but I never did get one... seems like they were hard to find, and not around for very long. I finally picked one up at Celebration 3, many years later, and it was cool finally getting to see what they were like. Of course they wouldn't have worked very well for dueling.

I remember using those plastic lightweight Wiffle ball bats as lightsabers. They were yellow, too, so you could imagine they were like the Kenner sabers. But the best sabers my friend and I ever had were actually golf clubs with the club end broken off and the broken end crimped down. They were fantastic for duels, though they hurt like hell when you got hit on the fingers. We had to be covert about them because our parents thought they were potentially dangerous. They cut down thistles and sticker bushes like butter, though!

--SKot