Question About Lightsabers

I have a question about the ignition and turning off of lightsabers. I know there is a button thing that you press to ignite the lightsaber, but does Luke, for example, hold that button down the entire time he fights to keep the lightsaber ignited? If I remember correctly, in ESB he drops his lightsaber, and the lightsaber turns off upon hitting the floor. This would lead me to believe that Luke would have to keep holding the button to keep the lightsaber ignited. However in RotJ, Darth Vader throws his lightsaber at Luke and the lightsaber remains ignited as it flies through the air. So yeah, I'm a bit confused and would appreciate any knowledge any of you have on this subject. Thanks

 

I think lightsabers have a "dead man switch," which deactivates the blade when the user's thumb is removed from the activation lever. However, I guess it's possible there's a way to lock the lever in place, or maybe Vader was just using the Force to keep the lever in place so that blade wouldn't deactivate.

 

All lightsabers turn off if their handle is released. However, there is a way to "lock it on" so it stays ignited even if you drop it.

 

just an idea

back when episode one came out, there were the interactive yodas that had the lightsabres. The lightsabers only stay on when the thumbhold was pressed. this hole was fairly recessed in the handle so it would be comfortable to hold it down for extended periods of time. and that was a electric circut or something with two metal strips. the thumb connected the circut and the lightsaber turned on.

Just a thought on it...

 

The official explanation, is that some lightsabers have dead man's switches and some don't. However, the explanation Bib and the others gave is just as plausible and makes just as much sense, about the special lock on mechanism.

 

IIRC in Heir to the Empire it describes Luke locking his lightsaber on before he throws it at one point. So, at the very least, Luke's ROTJ saber could be locked on.

I always thought Vader used the Force to keep his saber ignited when he threw it at Luke in ROTJ but that's just because Vader's that cool.

 

Just as the hilt themselves are unique to each user, so can the ignition of such. I have read where they have to be constantly held on, which would make all those twirls and parries quite difficult...

They can be locked on...
They can have a dead man's switch...
The activation can actually be INSIDE the hilt requiring the user to have the Force to even turn it on.

There is no one set way, it depends on the user. However, with the exception of Vader throwing his (Force use, probably) all lightsabers have deignited when leaving the user, even if the hand was still attached.

Mace's turned off when he dropped his.
Luke's turned off when Vader cut his hand.
Anakin's turned off when he lost his in the sky of coruscant and in the Geonosian droid factory and when he got his arm chopped off.
Obi-Wan's turned off when Dooku defeated him.
That punk Jedi that leaped up to kill Dooku had his saber turn off when Jango pumped him full of holes...not to mention all the Jedi that died on the ground.

So all though the movies have strong evidence that they must be held on, it's not true.