at first I though they used a carabiner or something like the hook a leash uses to hook onto a loop at the butt of the hilt but in rewatching ROTS tonight there was a scene showing that the sabre (I think it was obi wan) attached so that the butt of the hilt, butt end up, was a couple inches above his belt.
the sabres attach securely enough for them to run around yet they can remove them one handed
so what did the prop/wardobe people use?

clip-on

velcro?

The Force

cel phone clip

I think this was the style Luke Skywalker used, I seem to recall the lightsaber swinging around from his belt often. You got me pretty curious about it now. I only have the Visual Dictionary for TPM, but here's a couple shots of the lightsaber attached to the belt. The first is Mace Windu and the second is a female Jedi - dunno her name.




I'm assuming that Obi-Wan has a similar style also. From the pictures above, it looks like both sabers are attached butt-side down. I can't tell how exactly they are attached to the belt. I'm assuming that it's probably something like a magnet.

belt clips

That's what I said before...The magnetic Force.

Magnets

don't apply earth technology/thinking to coruscant physics

First thought was "velcro" but that "magnetic force" is sounding pretty good.

Correct. In the PT the sabers are held on the belts using a cellphone clip of the brand Covertec...


FWIR, Luke's sabers in the OT all had a D-ring and hung from a simple hook on his belt.

cool, thanks

I recently began to wonder why they always turn off when Jedi's drop them.

Doesn't make sense. If you turn them on, they should stay on. You shouldn't have to hold down the on button while you fight.

they probably have a two stage on switch. one setting where you have to hold the button, one where the button locks on.
I'd sure want it to shut off if it got knocked out of my hand and the blade might swing back at me

It obviously has an on button/switch, but I'm sure it has some feature that detects the user's touch once it's on, and if they lose grip of it, it turns off.

Kinda like a push lawnmower.

FWIR, a lightsaber is constructed by a young Padewan as part of his training and testing and includes special features according to his, her, or its desires: standard on/off switches, grip safeties with overrides, and even no external instrumentality at all (activated by Force powers). Also, FWIR, the construction of a lightsaber itself requires force powers to precisely align the primary and focusing crystals.