Do I really need goggles for my 200mw 405nm?

I have a 200mw purple laser and im wondering if goggles is a must. It burns good and the beam is nice, but the color purple just isn't bright at all. When I take off my goggles and use my laser in close range it hurts alittle when staring at the dot but I dont feel any damage done at all.

Don't be fooled by the brightness of the laser. You can have an invisible laser that will easily burn anything. Do yourself a favor and use the goggles whever you burn anything and when using it indoors. You would not want to be blind for the rest of your life.

But I really dont feel any damage at all its such a hassle to wear and bring the goggles with me all the time. Correct me if I'm wrong, but when a laser burns it's the heat and it doesn't matter what wavelength is. When you get eye damage from looking at the dot its the brightness of the laser that does that. So an invisible laser or a laser that isn't that bright wouldn't cause damage if not shined directly into eyes. Right?

I hate to be a d**k but are you dumb? You just said it burns good in your first post. If it burns good that means it burns good, even eyeballs, brightness is not a factor, an invisible infrared laser can still blind you.

yes goggles are must, infrared are the deadilest lasers to own due to the fact they can blind you with out you knowing cause you cant see it

EDIT: WOW this is my 400th post right here glad it was to do with safety! :drool:

Goggles are there to protect you against accidents. If you're somehow immune to accidents, and can guarantee that under no circumstances that you will ever manage to hit your eye with the laser, then you don't need goggles. But I don't think you're one of those magical people.

Take a look at what happened to this guy's (Xoul) eyes from an accidental direct hit. Think goggles are expensive? Xoul had to pay $1000 just for the ER visit -- that didn't even cover the surgery. Feel lucky if you get to have surgery, rather than lose your sight.

Ok, I wasn't going to weigh in here, but I feel I must.

You WONT feel any burning. Your retinas do not contain pain sensing neurons. I've burned my eyes while welding repeatedly, and even had to have my corneas all but scraped off, so they could heal again, and I NEVER felt any pain...until waking in the middle of the night with scorched corneas!

Near UV light will cause more oxidation of retinal cone cells than ANY other visible laser! You are continuously oxidizing (rapidly) the cells in your retinas. Your brain will make up for some blind spots in your vision; That's what its job is. But, at this rate, you will likely build up much scar tissue.

You may not be blind yet, but macular degeneration will take your sight before its time. This is not a guess, nor hypothesis. Keep subjecting your eyes to 405nm light, and you will lose your sight.

So, ignore all the safety protocols if you like. We'll just laugh and point like we would some asshole, truck surfing and becoming an organ donor. (though donating your eyes will be pointless)

Thanks for the information guys will put on goggles from now on

Please don't feel like we are ganging up on you. I will say that for the most part not many of the Vets here use eyeware at ALL times-

Our goggles may be hanging on our necks or on our foreheads =so the times when you DO know that we MUST use them they are handy. So but not all times when they are a MUST are when measuring beams to calculate divergence- or when alinging mirrors or dichros ( special mirrors that reflect one color while passing another) I always use them when taking a power reading to put the beam on the center of the sensor. When I do show for my friends I pass out the eyeware and let them know that they can only take them off when they are in a 'safe zone' like when they are seated.

Of all the *visible* wave lenghts 405 is the hardest to see the beams with out a fogger while being one of the fastest burners. 200mW is a lot more powerful than most imagine. It is for sure one laser that no children should ever be allowed to handle- you cannot close your eyes fast enough to avoid damage. Even viewing the spot on a white surface will cause you to see after images and those are one good way to judge it a laser is too powerful- the afterimages cause you eye to adjust and this makes watching a laser show much less enjoyable.

so the advice in the above posts is all very important and correct.. Hope this answers your question..

hak

Don't forget that besides wearing goggles, ALWAYS treat a high power laser like a gun. Getting too comfortable, and not wearing safety goggles, is asking for it. Respect the power, and develop habits that minimize the chances that an accident will happen. You will be thankful for the goggles when an accident occurs.

hakzaw1 said:

Please don't feel like we are ganging up on you. I will say that for the most part not many of the Vets here use eyeware at ALL times-

Our goggles may be hanging on our necks or on our foreheads =so theen you DO know that we MUST use them they are handy. So but not all times when they are a MUST are when measuring beams to calculate divergence- or when alinging mirrors or dichros ( special mirrors that reflect one color while passing another) I always use them when taking a power reading to put the beam on the center of the sensor. When I do show for my friends I pass out the eyeware and let them know that they can only take them off when they are in a 'safe zone' like when they are seated.

Of all the *visible* wave lenghts 405 is the hardest to see the beams with out a fogger while being one of the fastest burners. 200mW is a lot more powerful than most imagine. It is for sure one laser that no children should ever be allowed to handle- you cannot close your eyes fast enough to avoid damage. Even viewing the spot on a white surface will cause you to see after images and those are one good way to judge it a laser is too powerful- the afterimages cause you eye to adjust and this makes watching a laser show much less enjoyable.

so the advice in the above posts is all very important and correct.. Hope this answers your question..

hak

Click to expand...

I get the after images from my laser all the time and I thought it wad completely normal as I get them from looking at a lights. So what are the consequences of these? And will distance decrease the damage done to eyes if shone directly from a further distance(e.g. 500m compared to 1m)?

Do you really need your eyes?

Damaged eyes? (31mw)

http://laserpointerforums.com/f53/hit-eye-1000mw-445nm-blue-laser-69469.html

redbean said:

I get the after images from my laser all the time and I thought it wad completely normal as I get them from looking at a lights. So what are the consequences of these? And will distance decrease the damage done to eyes if shone directly from a further distance(e.g. 500m compared to 1m)?

Click to expand...

You are right- after-images are normal- what is NOT normal are the ones that linger longer than 'normal'.
This happen by looking too long or when the laser is to powerful or both.

In order.. direct eye hit -- the worst-

reflected hit ,like from a mirror or other shiny surface bad too,
but not as much, usuallly than a direct hit.

From a white surface not good but less chance of injury than from the above.

ALWAYS err towards being too safe rather than not safe at all.

The opening of average human eye is ~7mm diameter-- so when the beam is small like most 405s ARE- you may get the entire beam in you eye- VERY bad.
When the beam is spread out - by being farther away or other means the danger lessens.

Last bit of info...
Every time someone is injured by a laser besides the eye damage of course they is a lot of harm coming to our 'hobby' .
In many countries all lasers over 5 mW are deemed 'illegal' and a few set the max a 1mW.

This WILL happen in the USA eventually,especially as long as so many are doing the STOOPID with the handhelds-involving aircraft or law enforcement-


-which most police will consider EVERY laser to be one that is mounted on a weapon until they know for sure it is not.. Some day we will read of an idiot who get HIMSELF shot because he thought it would be funny to shine his laser at a cop..

It is now no longer just a felony to lase aircraft intentionally... its now a FEDERAL offence. So if you hand over or sell a laser to one of these fools you are PART of the problem too and not part of the solution.

hak