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Do lightsabers have an on/off switch. i thought they were suppossed to, but then i realised that in the films, whenever somebody loses their lightsaber, it switches off as soon as it leaves their hand.
It cant be a jedi only thing, as han solo uses one, and luke uses one before he learns his force powers.

Oh blimey, not AGAIN, Eleven!

Yes they have an on/off switch!

they switch off automaticaly when not held. Its security.
When vader throws his aber in ROTJ, its either becuase their's a setting on his saber that takes that security off, or because he used the force.

My guess is the first suggestion.

There must be some sort of safety catch. I can't imagine anything worse than it going off in your pocket.

so they have an on/off switch, but if theyre on and they leave your hand accidently, they go off, but if you use the force to throw it it stays on? i dont get it.

A non-latching switch would do it.

All you would need to do is also use the Force to keep it on...

I've read in several novels of how a jedi locks the blade on in order to throw it

Or a switch lock for those less talented....

there's also ones that can supposedly be turned on by using the force...that's strictly EU thought...I think in some of the YJK books. MEaning that the on/off switch is internal.

All sabers have an on/off switch, when Vader threw his in Jedi, he locked it on. This heature was built into a lot of sabers to prevent them accidentally turning off during battle.

feature*

Also, the sabers turned on by the force, for a little more about them, look in the book "The Crystal Star" by Vonda N. McIntyre

Actually, Lightsabers have both features, it's said directly in the Essential guides that Lightsabers can be made with an internal or external switch. Most of the Episodes lightsabers had an on and off switch external, but if you look closely at a few, there was only knobs for focusing. It's said that in a Force throw, either the switch is downpressed manually to stay on or held down with the force. Generally it would be easier for the Jedi with a down press switch. That's why most go for the external.

Actually, Lightsabers have both features, it's said directly in the Essential guides that Lightsabers can be made with an internal or external switch. Most of the Episodes lightsabers had an on and off switch external, but if you look closely at a few, there was only knobs for focusing. It's said that in a Force throw, either the switch is downpressed manually to stay on or held down with the force. Generally it would be easier for the Jedi with a down press switch. That's why most go for the external.

EliminatorJedi's right.

He must be right, he posted it twice.

Im not completly sure But I think that you have to hold the button down to keep the blade on

"Do lightsabers have an on/off switch. i thought they were suppossed to, but then i realised that in the films, whenever somebody loses their lightsaber, it switches off as soon as it leaves their hand."


dont know, why does indiana jones' hat never fall off when hes being chased/punched/kicked/dragged/tortured/kissed/shot


its an impossible question

Good point XD.
EJ is right.
But back in the old times, when they had sabers made out of wood... you know, the time of Exar Kun... the Force was the "Energy Cell" of their sabers.

Well, Corran Horn's lightsaber that he gets in The Krytos Trap has a switch that you have to press twice in order to turn off the lightsaber. Maybe it's the same with some others.

Maybe it depends on how they build them.

I mean, Vader is the only one who throws his saber in the movies. We also know the Sith use unorthodox techniques - such as throwing their saber. Maybe he modified the saber so that it would be useful for throwing.

Also, if Sidious throws his saber in the same way in ROTS, then we know how Vader learns it in the first place.

The Jedi have so far never thrown their lightsabers (fully ignited), and they seem to turn off very soon after leaving ones grasp.

Because lightsabers would be extremely dangerous out of a wielders hand, the Jedi designs probably had a safety feature like this. Makes sense. Could you see a Jedi using their lightsaber like that? Jedi's are defensive, so they have no use for the saber throw, and also it is a very aggressive, reckless ability, and could hurt someone innocent in the process. Like Force Lightning, throwing the saber is probably frowned upon by Jedi. Therefore - why would their lightsabers be designed to incorporate it?

Maybe Vader put a delayed "safety catch" on his lightsaber so that it would stay on a little while longer, long enough to throw it, but not long enough for it to lie on the floor burning a hole in the Death Star or such very important place.