How to make PVC lightsabers for your little padawan

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#How-To & DIY#big kids

Image courtesy of The Idea Room.
Image courtesy of The Idea Room.
Forgive me while I geek out all over the place, but I saw this craft idea and just about exploded all over the room. Not so much because I’m excited that my baby will want to play with it someday. More because I’m fairly certain that if we had these, my husband and I would probably never watch TV again.

I spotted this craft idea over at The Idea Room. Amy made these for her kids and they look simple enough that even a crafting disaster like me can pull it off, while the finished product is about as safe as any sword-like thing can be for kids.

It sounds like the materials are pretty low maintenance too:

  • Swim noodle in color of your choice
  • 26 inch length of 1/2 inch PVC pipe
  • 1/2 inch PVC end cap
  • Electrical tape
  • Knife or hacksaw for cutting pipe and swim noodle

For very detailed instructions, helpfully demonstrated by her son, click over to her blog!

About the Author: kellbot

@kellbot @the_kellbot

Kelly Maguire, also known as Kellbot, is the Offbeat Empire's web developer.

Comments on How to make PVC lightsabers for your little padawan

  1. Please don't use PVC, in general, but especially around your kids! It's really awful and toxic stuff!

    PVC (polyvinyl chloride) plastic, commonly referred to as vinyl, is one of the most hazardous consumer products ever created. PVC is dangerous to human health and the environment throughout its entire life cycle, at the factory, in our homes, and in the trash. Our bodies are contaminated with poisonous chemicals released during the PVC lifecycle, such as mercury, dioxins, and phthalates, which may pose irreversible life-long health threats. When produced or burned, PVC plastic releases dioxins, a group of the most potent synthetic chemicals ever tested, which can cause cancer and harm the immune and reproductive systems.
    Read more: http://www.besafenet.com/pvc/about.htm

  3. My brothers have been making these for years (they're grown up now and still use them to beat on each other). I think that my brother used a bamboo pole he found somewhere instead of the PVC. Also, they would wrap the noodle in duct tape or packing tape to keep the foam from breaking and exposing the pole underneath.

  4. Easy alternative. Leather (or fake leather) stuffed with padding sewn loosely around the stick would do it. I'm a reenactor and it's how we make 'kid' safe weapons. They'll last longer, won't get as tatty, look 'more real' than the plastic or foam ones and also don't hurt when one kid bops another over the noggin'.

  5. There used to be this weird 30-ish dude around here (keep in mind I was 14 at the time) that would bring his weapons to the local park and we would fight…the dudes name was Nick, and therefore they were dubbed Nicky-swords. There weren’t just swords though, we had allllll kinds of weapons, PVC and pipefoam and ducttape. One of my friends now co-hosts LARPing weekends with her man and the work that goes into her weapons is unthinkable.

  6. Rattan is a safe alternative to PVC. PVC pipe can splinter (not good for children!) Using rattan as the center piece, and then some alternative padding for the outside (bubble wrap, furniture padding) would be safer for children. Any good LARPer knows that PVC is not a safe skeleton for anything you’re actually hitting with.

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