your crowd reactions?

For those of you who have high-powered visible lasers, have you ever tried showing off in public? If so, have you ever gotten any extreme reactions?

Well, I recently took my "Advanced" to my college and used new batteries in it. Many people thought it was really cool, and many of them asked me where I got it, and I happily directed them to wickedlasers.com (even though I won mine in a contest, and that I no longer think of Wicked as the best laser company).

Oh, and I guess being a laser enthusiast has it's upsides as well. I just had a funny experience in a physics lecture today. The professor was doing a demonstration of fiber optics, and she decided to use a laser pointer as a demo prop, but she couldn't get to work. She asked for someone to try to fix it, which I did.

It was a green pointer, but it seemed to be a really old one. The problems were that the button was really hard to push, and that it had a divergence of like 8 mrad. ;D

"Holy crap that thing's crazy!"

I took my DL95 into a welding supplier shop and showed the owner a balloon pop. He crapped his pantz and called everyone in the office for another "show".

Mike

I lit a smoke with my Hercules in front of my neighbour a little while ago, not while it was in my mouth(just held it in the beam), it took about 10-15 seconds to light it all over by moving it around in the beam.  It would have done it almost instantly if I had have been game enough, or stupid enough, to drag on it at the same time it was in the beam. And after I did that I pointed out Jupiter to him with it.  I can't repeat what he exclaimed after seeing that.  Two weeks later he got me to get him an >80mW CNI, which I have yet to test, he loves it. It's wierd to go out the back and not be the only one in my street firing green beams into the night sky, LOL !!!!

mainly people ask where i got it. but some people ask "how powerful" or how is that possible!??

lol i just tell them to go on the internet and search for it.

i often go on really long runs/walks with either one of two friends. i sometimes take my laser along and its hilarious to see peoples reactions to it. i know one time i passed a house at about 8 pm it was pitch black (its dark at that time where i live) anyway there was 6-7 kids who i would guess were about 7-8years old playing outside (birthday party i assume). Well me and my mate could not resist firing the laser into the sky to see what they did.... i really didn't expect them to run SCREAMING into the house wailing their head off.

funny thing is imagine what the parents would hear "a laser dude fired a laser and it was big and green and SCARY!!"

back when the wicked site had the row of videos on there site with the pop up windows i showed my friends at school my 20 balloon pop. After i gave them a go at shining it on there hands they were all terrifyed!!! ;D after my friend anthony gave it a shot he couldt even feel it they were all puzzled as to how it could pop 20 balloons yet not burn a finger! ;D

also at a mates party i got a few surprised reaction after hitting a mac donalds sign about 250m away! then starpointing with it! lasers are always so much more fun with other people exept explaining it to them is always awkward i just say its magic! and leave em guessing!

Hehe it's almost the same questions and comments every time.
Typical person.
Him:Holy $&^% What is that thing?
Me:It's a green laser
Him:Where did you get it?
Me:novalasers.com
Him:How much was it?
Me: $217.50 shipped with discount
Him:I want one!
Then comes the showing off by burning something, and always they ask to use it. If it is someone I trust I give them the whole saftey rundown like "Don't point it near anybody, don't point it at planes or cars, don't point it at anywhere there might be somebody, and DON'T put it in your eye or it will blind you instantly" (It probably wouldn't blind you instanly, but it will leave blind spots so might as well scare the user so they know why not the eyes).