How Much Does a Lightsaber Weight? & 5 Heaviest Ranked

For years or even decades, many fans believed that waving a lightsaber around is the same as waving an incredibly light piece of stick due to how the Jedi and Sith seem to make this very easy to do. But the truth is that a lightsaber isn’t actually light as air because it carries a weight that can surprise a lot of different people due to how heavy it can be. So, how much does a lightsaber weigh?

There is no exact number in relation to the weight of a lightsaber. But we do know that a lightsaber can be heavy depending on the thoughts and emotions of a user. That’s because energy constantly travels from the person to the Kyber crystal and into the blade as long as the lightsaber is ignited.

It was incredible to learn that lightsabers aren’t light at all and carry the weight that can surprise a lot of different characters. Of course, the Jedi have been training using lightsabers since childhood, which means they have already gotten used to it. In that regard, that’s probably why Jedi don’t seem to mind the weight of a saber. That said, let’s look at how heavy a lightsaber is.

Are lightsabers heavy?

Ever since we were small, we all dreamed of waving a lightsaber around because of how the Jedi and Sith made it look so easy during the events of the Star Wars movies. But while that may be so, one of the things that we found out about the lightsaber is that this is a weapon that isn’t exactly light, even though most people believe that the blade is simply made out of light, which is essentially weightless.

The lightsaber must be considered because the hilt is usually made of metallic objects that can still be heavy enough but not exactly too heavy. Meanwhile, the blade emitted by the hilt is made out of plasma instead of just light. In that regard, while plasma is still light, it still is heavier than weightless light. And this is where it gets interesting in relation to how heavy a lightsaber can be.

Of course, we are not basing the weight of the lightsaber on what the Jedi and Sith have been able to do. That’s because they can effortlessly wave that thing around like it weighed nothing. For example, Yoda flew everywhere in his duels with Count Dooku and Palpatine.

But the thing that people don’t know is that a lightsaber actually has some weight in it. This isn’t easy to explain, but George Lucas once said that he never meant for a lightsaber to be very light, as this was shown in the fact that Darth Vader and Obi-Wan Kenobi both used two hands in their duel in the Death Star.

Then, in ‘Star Wars: Rebels,’ Sabine Wren acquired the Darksaber in one of the old settlements of the Nightsisters and decided to use the blade for herself. Of course, we know that Sabine is a Mandalorian and is unlikely to be sensitive in the Force. But she still decided to wield the Darksaber because Mandalorians were known to use this blade for centuries.

During the time that Sabine was training with the Darksaber, she noticed that it seemed heavier than she actually expected it to be. Of course, Ezra Bridger never had that kind of problem when he started using his lightsaber. And this makes Sabine’s struggles with the Darksaber interesting.

In response to Sabine’s struggles, Kanan Jarrus said:

“Energy constantly flows through the crystal. You’re not fighting with a simple blade so much as you are directing a current of power.”

What this basically means is that the energy that is constantly flowing through the lightsaber is what makes it feel heavy. In a sense, it doesn’t actually weight the strict sense of the word. Instead, it feels heavy because of the constant flow of energy through the emitted plasma blade.

It can be very hard to explain, but the point is that the energy that flows into the plasma blade of a lightsaber makes it feel quite heavy for the one wielding it, especially when you consider that lightsabers are supposed to have a magnetic effect.

Kanan also told Sabine: “You’re connecting with it; it’s becoming a part of you.”

This means that the lightsaber also reacts to the person wielding it. The energy that flows from the Kyber crystal to the blade also reacts to the energy coming from the person wielding the lightsaber. Because Sabine had her doubts about herself, it was natural for her to struggle to wield a blade that is basically capable of feeding off the person’s inner energies.

This was the same case for Din Djarin after he won the Darksaber from Moff Gideon in ‘The Mandalorian.’ Neither Moff Gideon nor Bo-Katan Kryze ever had their own struggles when wielding the Darksaber.

But for some reason, Din struggled to use it as it felt heavy in his hands. And it was because he couldn’t wield the blade properly that he struggled against enemies that he should have beaten right away.

So, in a sense, lightsabers can feel heavy depending on the person wielding them. We’ve seen quite a few people wielding lightsabers without problems, even though they weren’t sensitive to the Force or even trained to use a lightsaber. As such, there’s a good chance that it might be on a case-to-case basis.

Lightsaber weight explained

Of course, one of the things that we know about the weight of a lightsaber is that there really isn’t an exact number in relation to how heavy it is. Of course, lightsabers can be wielded by people who aren’t necessarily strong in the Force, as we’ve seen the likes of Pre Vizsla, Sabine Wren, Bo-Katan Kryze, and Moff Gideon using the Darksaber without trouble.

But the thing is that we can’t really tell how heavy a lightsaber is because its weight was never really given any exact numbers or explanations. Still, let’s return to what George Lucas said about his intent of making the lightsaber seem like a medieval two-handed sword.

So, if Lucas did indeed create lightsabers to be handled by two hands instead of one, that would mean that these weapons should be around 6 to 11 pounds, depending on the hilt and the additional factors that can affect the saber’s weight. 

But let’s not forget that we’ve seen many characters wielding lightsabers with one hand. One case in point is the elderly Count Dooku, who uses his lightsaber with one hand as the curved hilt makes it easier for him to swing his sword easily like he was using a style similar to fencing. 

That would mean that other factors can affect how heavy a lightsaber is in the hands of a Jedi or Sith. Of course, the hilt can balance the lightsaber’s weight. In Dooku’s case, he might have opted for a curved hilt to make it easier for him to counterbalance the weight of the blade.

And there’s also the fact that some Jedi or Sith are probably aided by the Force whenever they are using their lightsabers, and that’s probably why their weapons feel lighter in their hands.

So, what that means is that there are a lot of factors that go into the weight of a lightsaber. It can be as heavy as it can be. But it can also be as light as it can be. That’s because we can’t be sure what makes a lightsaber heavy and what makes it seem lighter in the hands of a trained Jedi or Sith.

Heaviest lightsabers

5. Crossguard lightsaber

We’ve seen the crossguard lightsaber a few times in the Star Wars continuity. It was relevant during the sequel trilogy because this was the type of lightsaber that Kylo Ren used. Because crossguard lightsabers have three blades, it was heavier than the standard lightsaber. On top of that, Ren’s lightsaber seemed heavy in his hands because it had a very unstable Kyber crystal that emitted an unstable blade.

4. Lightsaber pike

The lightsaber pike is the weapon of the Jedi Temple Guards and is a double-bladed lightsaber with a longer hilt and shorter blades on both ends. Because this lightsaber comes with a longer and larger hilt, it should be heavier than the standard double-bladed lightsaber we often see.

3. Dual-sided lightsaber

Making its debut in ‘Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace’ as Darth Maul’s signature lightsaber, the dual-sided lightsaber comes with a longer hilt seemingly as long as two lightsaber hilts combined. Of course, it also comes with standard-length lightsabers.

This means that this lightsaber type should have double the weight of a standard lightsaber, although it can be lighter in the hands of a trained warrior like Maul because he could balance the weight of his lightsaber using his incredible skills.

2. Darksaber

The lightsaber that has often been portrayed as a heavy weapon in the hands of someone who doesn’t know how to use it properly is the Darksaber, which was the lightsaber forged by Tarre Vizsla a thousand years ago.

A lot of different people have used the Darksaber without any problems whatsoever. However, it was seemingly heavy in the hands of Sabine Wren and Din Djarin as they struggled to use it properly. And it is probably their own mental and emotional states that made it difficult for them to handle the weight that comes with the energy that’s transferred into the blade of the Darksaber.

1. Cal’s crossguard lightsaber

Making its debut in ‘Star Wars Jedi: Survivor,’ Cal Kestis’ crossguard lightsaber modified his usual lightsaber with a longer hilt. The fact that the lightsaber emits a larger blade is why there need to be two vents that emit smaller blades that help stabilize the energy coming from the Kyber crystal.

In the game, the crossguard lightsaber is so heavy that Cal needs to use simple moves instead of his usual flashy and acrobatic moves, as this lightsaber’s length and weight make it harder for him to control it properly.

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