The water-repellent ROG Scabbard desk mat offers ample room for mousing and munchies

We make a lot of mousepads to meet the varied needs of all types of gamers. Some feature hard or soft surfaces, tall or wide dimensions, and some even boast fancy bells and whistles, like RGB lighting or wireless charging for your phone. The ROG Scabbard focuses on offering a stylish backdrop to your gaming peripherals with some added protection from the elements.

The Scabbard is a veritable carpet with coverage similar to our ROG Sheath desk mat. Desk mats are increasing in popularity among gamers. The additional space means there's more than enough room to fit a mouse, keyboard, and a heap of snacks and beverages. You can dig in for a night of gaming and you don’t have to leave your battle station until the war is won. Having food around your desk can get messy, but the Scabbard is made for clumsy eaters. While the Sheath dominates with wider coverage, its tightly woven, non-slip material is also porous, which isn't great for spills. We made the Scabbard with Cordura Lite fabric for a surface that's near-impervious to most liquids.

This is not your typical material for a mouse pad, so I got down and dirty testing its ability to repel food, beverage spills, and moisture from my sweaty arm dragging back and forth across the surface. Oh yeah, it got ugly. WARNING: copious snacks, a greasy hamburger, and various beverages were devoured in the making of this hands-on article.

Getting biggy with it

The Scabbard's size dominates your first impression during unboxing. Measuring 35.4” x 15.7”, it rolls out to cover most of my desk with more than enough space for keyboard and mouse. The extra real estate lays out plenty of room for mousing without restriction. This is especially important if you're using a mouse that doesn't allow you to adjust lift-off distance, because it limits the need to reposition the mouse as you move around, and the additional room comes in handy in titles that require a lot of mousing, like Diablo and Rocket League. It also benefits gamers who play flight sims, like Star Citizen and Elite Dangerous, with a mouse and keyboard.

There's more to this mat than massive coverage, though. Carving out a unique style with a slick glow-in-the-dark logo that contrasts its pitch black surface, the Scabbard looks great and creates a dapper backdrop for my setup. Dark and stealthy on its own, the RGB lighting from my mouse and keyboard highlighted the textured fabric very nicely. It reflects off the surface and creates a sheen that lends style to my setup. Measuring 0.08", the mat is thick enough to provide ample comfort on your wrist and arms while you play, but it's not spongy.

Track star

I use the ROG Gladius II Origin optical gaming mouse at home. With its companion Armoury II software, I was able to select the pre-programmed Scabbard surface profile from the drop-down menu. Setting up the Gladius for use with the Scabbard took just a of couple clicks, and I didn't have to go through the motions of manual calibration, which takes longer.

With or without calibration, the Scabbard is an ace for tracking accuracy. I was able to lead moving targets with consistent precision in Overwatch and Fortnite. The spot-on tracking also helps with piloting vehicles in Battlefield 1 and Star Citizen, which can be really challenging with a mouse and keyboard. There are a variety of ships in SC, and each handles differently in open space versus atmospheric flight. The added room to glide the mouse where needed really helps.

Making a mess

It's summer in California, which means it's hot. Though I had started to overheat during my testing, there were no tell-tale sweat stains on the Scabbard. I contemplated a break when I realized the extended fragging session had left me sweaty and famished, but the games required my undivided attention, so leaving to grab a bite was not an option. Luckily, the Scabbard instills the confidence to keep sustenance close by. The surface is blanketed in splash-proof and stain-resistant Cordura Lite fabric that easily dismisses liquids and food messes in addition to sweat.

This is the same fabric used in outdoor and military gear, so the Scabbard really is battle-tested for durability. Stitched edges prevent fraying, even when using braided mouse cables, and the Cordura can survive splashes of your favorite beer, sodas, and even red wine. The extra protection brings games and snacks together in delicious harmony. I was able to munch and play without concern for inevitable spills or ground-in cheese dust impacting tracking. The Scabbard took all of my accidentally-on-purpose punishment and bounced back with combat-ready toughness.

Testing was a tough job that involved playing PUBG for a couple hours while snacking. Along with my peripherals, I had a 22 oz of orange soda, a half-eaten burger, and a fistful of fries scattered around the surface. The grease and special sauce dribbles from a burger would typically hurl me into a panic and send me running for paper towels, but the Cordura Lite fabric is an impenetrable force. It resisted nearly everything, showing only a circular ring of condensation from my soda and grease spots from the burger.

The greasy meat juice and sauce that oozed from the burger were easily wiped away, so I ramped things up and deliberately spilled a glass of Merlot, some orange soda, and ketchup on the Scabbard in the name of science. I even dripped on some soy sauce from the best pad see ew in town. For good measure, I turned up the heat and brewed some coffee. Most of the cool liquids remained beaded on the surface, while the hot coffee and sauces that had been worked in just barely penetrated. Regardless, all of it cleaned up in a snap.

Restoring the surface to its original distinguished, jet-black luster is super simple, even with splashes of wine, smeared fast food stains, and sticky soft drinks in the mix. I did not need to scrub or scrape to efficiently clean up the mess from my testing. I used a regular clean towel dipped in some warm water and firmly rubbed the messy areas. That was all it took to get the Scabbard back to its original fighting form, good as new.  

Back in black

The ROG Scabbard blankets your desk in wide, splash-proof fabric that offers top-notch defense against spills and sweat, along with an added layer of comfort that extends beyond just your mouse hand. It's available in North America for $49.99 USD and $69.99 CAD at the retailers listed in the table below. If you are outside North America, check with your local ROG representative for details on regional availability and pricing.

	ROG Scabbard Desk Mat
MSRP	$49.99 USD / $69.99 CAD
Availability (USA)	ASUS Newegg Amazon Micro Center B&H Walmart Adorama
Availability (Canada)	Memory Express Amazon Canada Computers