Are Lightsabers ever used outside of combat?

Question

I found this question which asks if there were ever any other technologies based on lightsabers.

What I would like to know is if there's any instances in canon or Legends where an actual saber is being used for anything other than combat or combat-related actions, such as "hacking" a control panel to a door during a chase.

What comes to mind are industrial and medical type uses, like:

• Melting metals together to mend a ship or,
• Amputating a limb

We've seen both of these examples in the movies (When Qui-Gon cuts through the blast doors in Ep1, and Luke losing his hand in Ep5, respectively), so the proof of concept is there. I'm sure there could be other uses for desperate enough Knights, like starting a campfire or carving makeshift housing out of a tree, or for the Younglings, maybe extreme arts and crafts.

So are lightsabers ever used for anything other than fighting? It doesn't have to be handled by a Jedi or Sith to count.

Answer 1

Cutting tool

In Episode V, Han Solo used Luke's lightsaber to cut open a tauntaun on Hoth.

_{Image taken from a Youtube video}

Han's tauntaun had just died from the extreme cold, so Han cut it open to put the injured Luke inside for warmth.

The canon Star Wars Rebels episode "The Wynkahthu Job" (S03E07) includes an instance in which Ezra Bridger cut through a door with his lightsaber (H/T @NKCampbell):

_{Image taken from a Youtube video}

This is similar to Qui-Gon's use of his lightsaber to cut through a blast door in Episode I, but this is a non-combat situation.

Light source

Lightsabers have been used as light sources, both in canon and Legends. Another answer on this site mentions that they were used as light sources in the canon Star Wars: The Clone Wars episode "Legacy of Terror" (S02E07):

The Jedi were with clone troopers in this situation, but were not in combat at the time.

Another answer quotes the canon novel Heir to the Jedi describing Luke using his lightsaber as a light source after his lamp was destroyed (though this may be considered combat):

“Stay back!” I warned Drusil as I heard the creature choke and spit up the lamp. It wasn’t working anymore—maybe it was simply in the off position rather than broken, but I wasn’t about to search in the dark for it in the bottom of a sewer with something hungry nearby. We needed to see, so I pulled my lightsaber from my belt and hoped it would give off enough ambient light to spot the creature before it attacked again. Holding it in front of me in a defensive stance, I turned it on as I heard the creature snarl and thrash in the filth. The blue plasma blade bloomed up and my eyes, dilated in the darkness, saw the thing open its mouth and bunch its powerful back legs for a spring at my throat.

The "Betrayed" trailer for the Legends game Star Wars: The Old Republic - Knights of the Eternal Throne has a non-combat example (H/T @Ivan Kolmychek):

_{Image taken from a Youtube video}

Player characters in various video games can use their lightsaber as a light source. For example, in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (H/T @Robotnik):

_{Image taken from a Youtube video}

Also Star Wars: Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy:

_{Image taken from a Youtube video}

(This image is a combat example, but only because that was the best I could find showing it as a light source. Having played this game, I can attest that the player is able to activate the lightsaber when not in combat.)

Answer 2

Episode V:

• Luke uses saber to cut himself free of ice stalactite.
• Han uses saber to turn a tauntaun into a sleeping bag for Luke.
• Luke uses saber to cut a hole in the belly of an AT-AT walker so he can toss in an explosive.

Episode VI:

• Vader throws his saber to bring down a platform.

Episode I:

• Qui-Gon uses his saber to slowly burn through a blast door.

Episode III:

• Anakin uses saber to cut a hole in an elevator roof.

• (In a deleted scene) Anakin and Kenobi cut a circle in the floor around themselves to escape down.

Answer 3

Identification
Prior to the events of Order 66, the Jedi would wear their Lightsabers proudly and visibly. This would signify to people that they are indeed Jedi.

^{Look at that badass!}

Peace Offering
Rey uses Luke's Lightsaber as a sort of peace offering to signify to him that she's there for him.

Instant Messaging Service
Luke's Lightsaber is used, either intentionally or unintentionally as a sort of memory-inducing, mesagging conduit when it flashes a force-memory to Rey when she touches it in Maz Kanata's bar.

Answer 4

Off the top of my head...

There are several instances in the Clone Wars TV series showing Jedi using their sabres as light sources. Technically may not qualify, as they were in combat zones, but it is a non-combat use.

Also in the Clone Wars TV series, Yoda used his lightsaber to fashion a crutch for an injured clone trooper by cutting and welding parts of an unused weapon; again, in a combat zone, but a non-combat use.

HOWEVER...such uses are likely to be limited.

Lightsabers are, it turns out, more than just tools that anyone can slap together which the Jedi happen to have an affinity for. The kyber crystals at the heart of a lightsaber are capable of generating enormous energy, but the crystals themselves are deeply attuned to the Force. The crystals were extremely rare before the rise of the Empire, and nearly all of them were in the keeping of the Jedi, who considered them sacred.

It was also extremely difficult to tap into their full capacity without the Force, as demonstrated in the novel Catalyst. In that novel, a genius spends decades trying to tap into the power of kyber crystals. There's also an incident when an attempt to weaponise that person's research ended up destroying an entire city.

All of which is to say that you're not going to find many non-Force users with lightsabers; and the Force users themselves treat them primarily as weapons, with occasional other uses.

Answer 5

In the non-canon Star Wars: Force Unleashed computer game, Darth Vader 'knights' Starkiller with his lightsaber:

You were weak when I found you. Now your hatred has become your strength. [Vader motions his lightsaber over Starkiller's shoulders in a knighting motion]

Image source: starwars.wikia

Answer 6

It seems like lightsaber technology could be used in practical tools for many purposes, however, it takes a force trained person to build one and maintain it (as is the most common belief and impression given in the Legends), so probably not too pragmatic if doctors need to wait for a Jedi to calibrate their laser scalpels every time they start surgery. Consider the "Preparation" involved when a Jedi makes his lightsaber, but at the same time, consider Orman Tagge commissioned his lightsaber to be built for him, but by whom?

Other answers here seem to be pointing at strange situations and calling that "non-combat use", like Luke freeing himself from the ice (but only so he could use it seconds later to kill the ice wampa) or as a flashlight (but I doubt Jedi use lightsabers for light when they have to make a midnight run to the toilet). These are one-off uses. I'm assuming you mean to ask if lightsaber technology is used as a matter of conventional practice in any non-combative industry/purpose. I would say there is no evidence of that, and considering lightsaber technology may require the force to create, I seriously doubt it.

Answer 7

Disguise

In the "I, Jedi" novel focussing on Corran Horn, a lightsaber is constructed by Horn himself out of either hoverbike remnants or at least parts closely resembling those. If I remember correctly, the part making up the hilt is described as a hoverbike handlebar - I can't find my copy of the book right now.

At one point in the novel, Horn has to pretend to be dead drunk to avoid becoming the suspect in a case of recent Jedi sightings. A friendly character picks him up, comments on the "drunkenness" and expresses disgust on Horn having crashed a hoverbike. The friend presents the "handlebar" as evidence for this claim, thus dispelling any suspicion someone might have had in regard to the metallic tube Horn was carrying around.