That's the reason I've heard a lot of for it to exist, yet that still comes across as a justification after the fact for shoehorning the crossguard imagery in there (Although to be fair you could described 97% of the production design for Star Wars as "Cool looking shit first, reasons later?", which does make it fun/funny to see people try to break down the hard science of how a TIE fighter can possibly fly, or why sound exists in the vacuum of space). If they do have someone acknowledge it during the film as a plot point or have Finn/someone slice off the ends during a battle then I could let it slide, but at this time there's no real reason why it couldn't just be a normal hilt with a funky looking beam. If they wanted to go with Kylo's first DIY saber there are more elegant ways of doing it. For instance, there's always some good ol' McQuarrie artwork to consult.
The bowl shape of the top of those hilts looks pretty exhaust-y, and the base being significantly brighter gives it that unstable look to boot.
