Lightsaber question?

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

Originally posted by Ushgarak
All you would need to do is also use the Force to keep it on...

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.