Help choosing 445nm goggles

Hey guys, I would like to purchase a 1W 445nm soon, so i want to get a feel for how much goggles will cost. safety is my number one concern, so i want to get something good. I saw some Laserglow ones but what they say makes it somewhat complicated for me to choose the right one.
Heres the link: Laserglow Technologies - Handheld Lasers, Alignment Lasers and Lab / OEM Lasers
And can someone explain what "optical density" is and does? I tried searching for most of this but apparently 445nm are fairly new, so i didnt find much. And if you know of some cheaper goggles, but still good quality and, of course, safe, let me know. Thanks guys!

I HEARD that OEM Laser Systems is a good laser protection goggles manufacturer. Cheaper than those in Laserglow, search in forum
(just heard, do not own this goggle)

OEM Laser Systems is widely consider to be the best. All of the goggles they sell are certified, and they post the graphs containing OD rating at specific wavelengths. They have numerous styles that you can order any goggles in, and you can rest assured that the goggles will arrive and be as stated on their site. They are, however, slightly more expensive than many goggles you can find online.

I personally love and trust ZoneStealth. They sell safety goggles that come in an EaglePair case, and I've never had a problem with their quality. They do not provide the spec sheets for most of their goggles on their site, however they do give an OD rating that has always seemed accurate in my experience. They also sell some of the cheapest quality goggles you can find. Their website is here, however they are also on ebay.

Good luck on your decision! I hope you find a pair that suites your needs.

Well its your vision its good to research safety measures, me i not only wanted great protection for my eyes but i did not want to have to wait for something to travel across the ocean before i could use it. Call me impaitent but sent out an email this morning to OEM Laser Systems to inquire about delivery time from order to arrival and i had a response in less than 10 min via email. I was told that each pair of goggles/protective eye ware were made to order but that i should receive the modle i wanted in less than 10 days. I fwas supprised how quickly they responded to my inquiry about 1 pair of goggles. These ARG - UV, Blu Ray, Argon, Blue, KTP Green Protection ARG - UV, Blu Ray, Argon, Blue, KTP Green Protection [NR-ARG-EN207] - $78.20 will be strong enough for any 445 you should be making or buying. Hundeeds of mw+ is harmfull dont be the guy that cant even look at his laser.Make sure to protect yourself. oh yeah 87.30 shipped is what im paying for these goggles model 60. I will see you later ....i hope you'll always be able to say the same.

Thank you for all the replies guys, you're really helpful. One other thing, what does an OD rating mean?

It's a measure of how much light they let through. If I remember right OD2 lets 1% through, OD3 lets 0.1%, OD4 lets 0.01% etc.. You generally want to let less than 5 mW through your goggles so choose an OD rating accordingly for whatever laser you intend to use them with. Too much can be bad as well since you wont be able to see the beam or dot at all and can't see what you're working with.

Addonex said:

It's a measure of how much light they let through. If I remember right OD2 lets 1% through, OD3 lets 0.1%, OD4 lets 0.01% etc.. You generally want to let less than 5 mW through your goggles so choose an OD rating accordingly for whatever laser you intend to use them with. Too much can be bad as well since you wont be able to see the beam or dot at all and can't see what you're working with.

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Exactly, it is one of those logarithmic scale things.
Each OD is a factor 10 reduction at that wavelenght.

A rather annoying thing is that the companies supplying graphs for their glasses are not directed at hobbyist, but labs, telecom, or other irrelevancies.

If they were they would downplay the graphs and concentrate on the relevant diode wavelengths

What would a good OD rating be for a 1W 445nm?

I bought the AL3's which are OD 3+ and bring 1 watt of 445 down to approximately 1mw. This would be adequate protection for diffuse reflections, most specular reflections and even a quick direct hit (which you should be careful enough to prevent). With the OD 7 goggles you will barely be able to see the dot. Bill

Just be careful to go with a trusted brand that does not vastly overstate the specs of their product

WRM said:

I bought the AL3's which are OD 3+ and bring 1 watt of 445 down to approximately 1mw. This would be adequate protection for diffuse reflections, most specular reflections and even a quick direct hit (which you should be careful enough to prevent). With the OD 7 goggles you will barely be able to see the dot. Bill

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You sure? I have the OD7 goggles from LaserGlow, and I can still see my 445 quite well through them. Heck, even my 80mW 532 shows through them relatively well. So either LG's NoIR made goggles are misrepresented, or OD3 will let more light through than that.

jedirock said:

You sure? I have the OD7 goggles from LaserGlow, and I can still see my 445 quite well through them. Heck, even my 80mW 532 shows through them relatively well. So either LG's NoIR made goggles are misrepresented, or OD3 will let more light through than that.

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OD7 if working correctly, would be 1 photon in 10,000,000

At OD6 with a 3 watt argon I see basically nothing.

Steve

LSRFAQ said:

OD7 if working correctly, would be 1 photon in 10,000,000

At OD6 with a 3 watt argon I see basically nothing.

Steve

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So LG's goggles are basically OD2 or OD3, while advertised as OD7? The goggles themselves do say OD7, so they haven't been misplaced. That sucks.

I purchased a YLW from OEM (via a group buy) and could not be happier with my decision. At first, I thought the OD6+ rating would be too strong (1W becomes 1 microwatt), and that the dot would be too hard to see compared to something like the KRY, which has an OD5+ rating.

Ultimately, I chose to go with the YLW because it has such a high VLT (73%) compared to the KRY (10%) or ARG (48%). The VLT is how much light is transmitted through the goggles, i.e. how much you can see while your goggles are on protecting you; it's not fun to not be able to see anything besides the filter color. The YLW is also OD6+ compared to OD7+ with the ARG, a good compromise I thought.

My concerns proved to be without grounding. The 445nm dots are easily seen using YLWs, but not blinding. You can see the difference between the YLWs and my red laser enhancement goggles (I consider roughly equivalent to the KRY) in the pictures I've attached. Notice how much easier it is to see everything else in the photo with the YLW compared to the red. Even the camera had a hard time finding something to autofocus on with the red. The 600mW dot is also clearly visible, but not dangerous. It scares me to think what that kind of power would do to my eyes without goggles.

With 445nm and 532nm the fluoresence nearly always gives away the dot. And I thought a few tens of microwatts is already very visible, so you don't need to have a milliwatt left after the goggles.

That depends on lighting conditions and color as well. In a modestly lit room something like 100 uW of red or 10 uW of green should be visible.

But there is rarely any use for OD >>3 goggles with visible lasers. As stated they bring a full watt of power down to 1 mW, which is more or less eye safe on a direct hit.

Obviously this also means that 99.9% of that 1 watt is absorbed in the goggles, and depending on the material, you could simply burn a hole though on prolongued exposure.

Higher OD has uses, but i suppose that is limited to pulsed lasers mostly, and typically infrared. The high OD is no problem there since that light wasnt (very) visible to begin with.