Lightsaber accidents

A lightsaber's fairly easy to activate by just pressing that little red button. A Jedi with a lightsaber hanging from his belt could get badly hurt if it was activated by accident. I imagine this could happen as much as they bounce about. Why doesnt it happen? Does the red button have a lock of some kind. It looks to me like it's activated by merely a slight push!

 

movie logic.

 

I could easily imagine a lightsaber shorting out and trying to get it to re-ignite. A lightsaber should be handled in the same manner one would handle a blaster. And like a blaster, you do not want to have a lightsaber emitter aimed in your direction. I was very surprised to see Lukes saber ignite in ANH after being in storage for nearly 20 years.

 

Yeah, I know. And Vader's hangs by the top so the emitter is pointing directly at his body...

 

While it may seem overly simple to activiate, there is no way the sabers could be made any more protective without causing some delay in activation. If a Jedi is attacked he needs insant access to the activation button. Most sabers do include a protective ring around the button, though. This protects the button from being pressed by most things. A person actually has to press the center in to activate it. So it's as safe as would be practical.

In face, the only saber I've seen to not have the protective ring is Qui-Gon Gin.

 

All it would take is some sort of additional "pressure switch" built into the grip, or some sort of safety built into the belt clip so that when it's hanging it doesn't activate by accident or without someone holding in their hand.

 

Yeah, I can see Skywalker pushing the button frantically like someone trying fire a jammed .45...

"Come on you stupid sabre..."

These people are professionals. Jedi are pretty good at what they do. This is probably why we don't see more clumsy displays of "swordmanship".

Something that you make yourself to sustain your life in battle is something that you probably invest great care in to begin with.

 

I always had a little idea of the Jedi having the "power" switch located inside the hilt altogether, that would require the use of the Force to ignite it seeing how the switch couldn't be physically touched. That would take care of any accidents and also prevent a Jedi's saber being used against him if it should fall into another's hands. The only downfall to this idea though is Han wouldn't have been able to use it for Luke's sake in ESB. I still like the idea though!! That's how I would build MY saber if ......well, you know.

 

While it may seem overly simple to activiate, there is no way the sabers could be made any more protective without causing some delay in activation. If a Jedi is attacked he needs insant access to the activation button. Most sabers do include a protective ring around the button, though. This protects the button from being pressed by most things. A person actually has to press the center in to activate it. So it's as safe as would be practical.

You mean the black circle near the bottom of the toys? Sorry, in the movies, that's what they attach the sabers to their belts with.

Also, they're just toys and aren't canon.

 

When the Ewoks take Luke's lightsaber and brandish it like a baton they neither seem to know what it is nor do they accidentally activate it. However, Han being able to activate Luke's other lightsaber on purpose in ESB shows that one does not have to be a Jedi or use the Force to turn one on. Therefore we can deduce that they have a mechanical safety of some kind.

 

Why doesn?t it happen?

Oy! It doesn?t happen because our heroes (and villains) would look like complete idiots if they accidentally chopped off their own leg. This is not a Three Stooges movie!

 

One theory is that there is a safety switch that is really hard to deactivate. When Jedi draw their lightsabers, they are trained to use the Force to quickly turn the safety off, so they can easily hit the button and ignite the saber. But for someone like Han Solo, he can easily eyeball the saber and figure out how to switch off the safety.

Just a thought.

 

I always assumed the button was built in such a manner that it was partially shielded by a metal covering (think miniature overhang) so that only a figure applying significant pressure could activate it. That way, if it were to smack against something, it wouldn't turn on.


I always had a little idea of the Jedi having the "power" switch located inside the hilt altogether, that would require the use of the Force to ignite it seeing how the switch couldn't be physically touched. That would take care of any accidents and also prevent a Jedi's saber being used against him if it should fall into another's hands. The only downfall to this idea though is Han wouldn't have been able to use it for Luke's sake in ESB. I still like the idea though!! That's how I would build MY saber if ......well, you know.

Those do exist in the EU. The character Gantoris built one in the Jedi Academy trilogy, and Hethrir had one in The Crystal Star. Similarly, in The Approaching Storm, it was suggested at one point that some lightsabers may actually be programmed to connect only to a Jedi's personal, unique "force" signature, making it impossible (and possibly even dangerous) for others to use it.

 

what if it had two buttons that should be pressed at the same time? That would solve a lot of problems...just guessing. I don't read EU and I just like their pretty colors. I'm not an expert.

 

hmm...I guess I always simply assumed the button was flush with the surrounding metal, thereby making it quite difficult to activate unintentionally.

 

Honestly, it's all about the suspension of disbelief. Also I dont think it would be quite as funny to see a Jedi ignite his lightsaber by accident and cut off his foot as it is seeing a guy shoot himself in the foot.

 

Like Wesyeed said, movie logic.

It's a space opera, weapos malfuctions don't happen. Flash Gordon never shot himself in the foot while holstering his ray gun.

 

I can't remember which one but i read in an EU book that said you need to use the force to activate your lightsabre. But then Han turned Luke's on in ESB. But like Weyseed said, movie logic. The directors and writers decide what happens.

 

I guess it's the same reason why lightsabers don't need a sign on them that say "this side up".

 

Speaking of accidents: When Luke ignites his saber for the first time in ANH, he almost hits Obi-Wan in the face... lol!

 

in The Approaching Storm, it was suggested at one point that some lightsabers may actually be programmed to connect only to a Jedi's personal, unique "force" signature, making it impossible (and possibly even dangerous) for others to use it.

It's a good thing Han Solo disproved that in ESB.

Not all the lightsabers have round buttons. Activation switches I believe they're called. Luke's in ROTJ is a rectangle, as is Obi-Wans. In TPM and AOTC the activation switch is round and red. Difference in movie prop design I suppose.

 

It's your father's lightsaber......

make sure you click off the safety first....

no, hold the green button first, then push the red one........

 

Well, it used to happen to the stunt-doubles all the time. The dang things were so sensitive they'd cut off their arms and legs all the time.

They lost a lot of good stunt-doubles that way, so the prop masters devised ways to prevent the button from being pressed until at least four fingers were grasping the lightsaber at all times.

This seemed to prevent most injuries and the safety ratings for the weapons went up.

Jedi training and safety courses combined with the product manuals further reduced the accidental self-amputation of a major appendage, even though 2-1B was on set to attatch mechanical hands and feet for the unlucky ones.

 

Anyone see the lightsaber accident on the OT DVD. I think it's during the credits for the lightsaber documentary (proper title??) I think a kid gets it for Christmas and slices up an adult by accident, very funny!

 

A light saber is a pretty cool weapon for a movie...but in real life it would be extremely dangerous...even more so than a sword.