Well, as many of these stories begin, I have been reading up a bit (and even using the search function some!) for a little while now but I figure I should introduce myself. My name is Dave and here's a little back story on my current desire to build a saber:

My situation is a little unique. My 9 year old son has Asperger's syndrome and one of the things that he has been obsessed with in the last couple years is Star Wars. This has never shown itself more fully than when we have found ourselves at an amusement park with all the kids running around with $10 mock lightsabers that will likely only last the one night before breaking completely. Knowing how exuberantly he can play with his toys and how upset he would be when it broke, I have always denied the purchase of those inferior novelties which inevitably has given rise to major emotional meltdowns on his part. I have consistently promised him that I would find something better that would last for the two of us thinking specifically of the economy laser-saber that I would eventually build my own hilt for. I had to save up to do so however. Now I find myself with a good portion of the necessary available cash to purchase him a decent lightsaber to have fun with and I even went ahead and purchased a relatively low powered green laser pointer to power it, and I discover two things. First the price is not the what I thought I remembered and secondly (and more importantly) they are out of stock and discontinued.

In speaking with Cheyenne over there she recommended that I head over here to learn a little more and specifically pointed me to the EL style sabers. I believe that she was saying such because they are supposedly "safer" for children to handle, however when it comes to safety concerns he is of the type that is a real stickler for the rules. I have no concerns about him looking directly into the LED if I were to go that route since I have a few high powered LED flashlights laying around (I run a flashlight review blog) that he is one of the first to tell others not to look into. I even had no real concerns about handing him a laser powered saber to have fun with because of the understanding I have imparted to him about safety concerning laser pointers.

Now that I am here though I have begun seeing that nearly everyone here is denouncing the use of EL blades due to their inherent inferiority. I truly like the capacity to easily remove or swap the blade for basic hilt carry or color changes, but I want something that will be fun and most importantly, look cool.

My first question (in multiple parts): What is the brightest color of EL wire that I can get my hands on (likely through TCSS) to make a decent blade, or should I truly abandon all thoughts in that direction and head toward LED instead? This gift for him (and me ) is getting more expensive every time I ask these questions so I am almost afraid of what the answer might be! My spare cash is very limited at the moment, and I don't really foresee a change in the immediate future.