The Ultimate in Irresponsibility

[n2ize]

I have always been fascinated by lasers. In my teen years I wanted to make one and eventually a friend and I put together a 0.5 Mw Helium-Neon laser. Flash forward to many years later when solid state lasers and optics became available I have played around with various types of diode and diode pumped lasers of varying power levels from around 1 milliwatts to over 100 milliwatts. Like myself there are many others who find these types of things interesting and enjoy experimenting with lasers and applications.

But THIS is the epitome of irresponsibility. Any company that can market a laser like this should be shut down and the owners should be hung. A 2 watt laser that fires simultaneously in 2 directions ?? Are these people crazy ? 2 watts is incredible power. A 200 mw laser can blind a person in 1/100 of a second. A 2 watt laser can start a fire, burn skin, blind numerous people over a great distance. .. And this company is advertising it as if it were a cool toy. A laser of this power level is very dangerous. It shouldn't ever be operated while being held in ones hand or carried about. It must be used only when mounted on an appropriate optical bench with proper shielding and interlocking and extensive safeguards. And it fires in 2 directions ? Its people like this that give serious experimenters a bad name,.

http://www.wickedlasers.com/lasers/Sith_Series-112-63.html?utm_source=website&utm_medium=banner&utm_campaign=sith-may4 (http://www.wickedlasers.com/lasers/Sith_Series-112-63.html?utm_source=website&utm_medium=banner&utm_campaign=sith-may4)

[PA5COR]

I bought a 12 watt pulsed laser some time back, came from murky sources but was new and data sheet incorporated.

That on every page was printed that looking in, or even sideways into the beam would permanently blind you was the reason i never build the circuit to let the laser work.

Damn....

[n2ize]

12 watts is quite a bit of power. Any laser > 5 milliwatts is potentially dangerous and should not be used by persons unfamiliar with proper laser safety procedures.

[KG4CGC]

They're selling these things because is helps add fear and panic to the doomsday scenario that the Republicans are selling.

[W5RB]

I have always been fascinated by lasers. In my teen years I wanted to make one and eventually a friend and I put together a 0.5 Mw Helium-Neon laser. Flash forward to many years later when solid state lasers and optics became available I have played around with various types of diode and diode pumped lasers of varying power levels from around 1 milliwatts to over 100 milliwatts. Like myself there are many others who find these types of things interesting and enjoy experimenting with lasers and applications.

But THIS is the epitome of irresponsibility. Any company that can market a laser like this should be shut down and the owners should be hung. A 2 watt laser that fires simultaneously in 2 directions ?? Are these people crazy ? 2 watts is incredible power. A 200 mw laser can blind a person in 1/100 of a second. A 2 watt laser can start a fire, burn skin, blind numerous people over a great distance. .. And this company is advertising it as if it were a cool toy. A laser of this power level is very dangerous. It shouldn't ever be operated while being held in ones hand or carried about. It must be used only when mounted on an appropriate optical bench with proper shielding and interlocking and extensive safeguards. And it fires in 2 directions ? Its people like this that give serious experimenters a bad name,.

http://www.wickedlasers.com/lasers/Sith_Series-112-63.html?utm_source=website&utm_medium=banner&utm_campaign=sith-may4 (http://www.wickedlasers.com/lasers/Sith_Series-112-63.html?utm_source=website&utm_medium=banner&utm_campaign=sith-may4)

Pales in comparison to your half megawatt unit .

[n2ize]

Pales in comparison to your half megawatt unit .

Hah, when I fire off my half megawatt unit half the city blacks out. I used to use it to vapourize asteroids millions of miles away in space. Right now I'm renting it to the US military for weapons research.

In my dreams,... My bad... I meant mW not Mw.

[Chris]

Cars can mow down whole crowds, should they be banned?

[KC2UGV]

Cars can mow down whole crowds, should they be banned?

Cars are not designed to function in an inherently unsafe fashion. This "double sided" laser is...

[n2ize]

Cars can mow down whole crowds, should they be banned?

No, neither should lasers or guns. I certainly would not like to see lasers banned. But the manner in which this company is selling this particular unit is irresponsible. People who sell products like this will help to get them banned.. Like selling a rifle that can shoot forwards and backwards at the same time. The only good part is the price factor ($600.00) may help keep it out of the hands of idiots who buy shit like this just to impress their friends.

[n2ize]

Cars are not designed to function in an inherently unsafe fashion. This "double sided" laser is...

Exactly my point. It is an irresponsible way to make a laser work and it increases the probability of serious accidents. A 2 watt laser can set fire to skin, clothing and cause total blindness in 1/100 of a second !! A product like this prompts lawmakers to make blanket laws that make things hard for legitimate laser experimenters who practice safety and responsible usage.

[Chris]

Hands and feet kill a lot of folks around the world too. Better ban em.

[NQ6U]

When lasers are outlawed, only outlaws will have lasers. They'll take my laser when they pry it from my cold, dead hands. Register communists, not lasers. God, lasers, and guts made America great.

Etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.

[ab1ga]

No, neither should lasers or guns. I certainly would not like to see lasers banned. But the manner in which this company is selling this particular unit is irresponsible. People who sell products like this will help to get them banned.. Like selling a rifle that can shoot forwards and backwards at the same time. The only good part is the price factor ($600.00) may help keep it out of the hands of idiots who buy shit like this just to impress their friends.

One could argue that since these items could be used to ward off attackers that they are arms, and also constitutionally protected. Perhaps the best way to sell them would be to place them on the grocery store shelf, next to the gum.

After all, lasers don't hurt people, people hurt people. :)

[n2ize]

The difference is that a gun manufacturer would be acting irresponsibly if they made and sold a gun that is designed to operate in a manner that is inherently dangerous and encouraged people to buy it because it is dangerous and or operates in a manner that is opposed to all the tenets of gun safety.. I am sure most pro gunners , like myself, would be opposed to such a plan . Thuis is a product that operates in a manner that goes against the grain of safety. it is deliberately designed to be risky. All lasers over a certain power level are dangerous. All guns are dangerous. However, there is a difference between the normal dangers and safety measures and a gun (or laser) specially designed to defy safety.

[ab1ga]

So you would abridge the right to bear arms at the point of manufacture because some fool -might- use it improperly, rather than at the point of sale or use, where the ability to assess the judgement of the prospective purchaser is greater?

Also, you'll note that the laser in question is in fact two separate lasers joined end to end rather than a single laser with two opposed output windows (which would be interesting to see). Should the sale of the individual lasers be banned because they could be joined end to end, with duct tape if not with a mechanical device, or should only the mechanical clip be banned?

[n2ize]

I have a change of opinion on this. I think its a pretty cool device. Just because there is a potential for injury using this doesn;t mean that it is irresponsible to make or sell anymore than guns or drugs should be illegal because there is a potential for misuse. Matter of fact I wouldn't mind buying one for myself but unfortunately it is already banned in the USA. Complete laser devices over 5 mW are illegal to import into the USA unless they meet FDA specs and are certified. $600.00 is a bit too much money to risk losing to customs.

[N8YX]

...Like selling a rifle that can shoot forwards and backwards at the same time.
John...buddy...around here we call that a "self-limiting problem".

[N8YX]

Matter of fact I wouldn't mind buying one for myself but unfortunately it is already banned in the USA.
As is this:

4137

And this:

4138

Etc:

4139

Care to hazard a guess as to how easily one can purchase any of the above on-line?

[n2ize]

As is this:

4137

And this:

4138

Etc:

4139

Care to hazard a guess as to how easily one can purchase any of the above on-line?

Oh of course. You can get "illegal" "high powered" (> 5 mW) "laser pointers" shipped to the USA and the odds they'll be seized by customs is small. You can also legally buy all the components to assemble your own laser device. Perfectly legal to do so, No bans or restrictions. And you can import, purchase or possess lab grade lasers, or any higher powered unit or pointer that meets FDA specs.

The thing is that the solid state lasers people are experimenting with these days are considerably more powerful than the He-Ne lasers we were playing with decades ago. They are also much much cheaper. That is not all that bad but nowadays many companies are selling high powered lasers > 200 mW as "pointers" and since they are cheap a lot of people see them as harmless "toys". That is until the beam damages their eyes in a millisecond or until they point it at an aircraft or car and they wind up getting arrested.

Another danger with some of the cheap higher powered laser pointers is that they sometimes lack proper infrared filtering. Since infrared is invisible you won;t know if it's destroying your eyes until the damage is done. Nobody should ever operate a (> 5 mW) laser device of any type without wearing safety glasses.

[KC2UGV]

The difference is that a gun manufacturer would be acting irresponsibly if they made and sold a gun that is designed to operate in a manner that is inherently dangerous and encouraged people to buy it because it is dangerous and or operates in a manner that is opposed to all the tenets of gun safety.. I am sure most pro gunners , like myself, would be opposed to such a plan . Thuis is a product that operates in a manner that goes against the grain of safety. it is deliberately designed to be risky. All lasers over a certain power level are dangerous. All guns are dangerous. However, there is a difference between the normal dangers and safety measures and a gun (or laser) specially designed to defy safety.

We have manufacturers that do just that. They sell weapons (Guns) that are inherently unsafe, and are designed to kill something.

[WØTKX]

http://www.rako.com/Software/Microsoft_Handgun/Software-Gun2.jpg

[ki4itv]

...long and short taps configure all functionality and register variables
At least Microsoft Handguns still sees the value of a quick code test.