Hit in the eye with 2.35 Watts. Had goggles on ...

Wow … I just got hit in the left eye with 2352mW of 445nm laser light from about a half meter away. The reason I am here writing this and not getting eye surgery is because I had a good pair of goggles on. I am still really freaked out. If I did not have those goggles on I would be blind ... its that simple! Forever blind faster then the blink of and eye.

As I was reaching over this lab laser



to do an adjustment it fell backward on the table. My face was right next to it. Instinctively I pulled away and shut my eyes with my head in hands. Even with the CE certified EP-1's with an OD of about 5 on 445nm the light looked like a wielding arc.





I was a bit scared to open my eyes since I could still see the flash with closed eye lids. Slowly I took my goggles off and looked around the room. My heart was beating like hell. The burn on my face did not help. I did a quick eye test. Everything check out OK. No blind/fuzzy spots. Sharp focus etc....just a fading spot of light as if a normal camera flash had gone off. Its gone now.

I walked into the other room with my goggles in hand and told my girlfriend that they were the best investment I had ever made.

Moral of the story is buy the best goggles you can afford. A hundred bucks is nothing compared to permanent blindness!

All the best
Onryo

Good thing that you have taken precaution. A laser safety goggle is a MUST with all lasers.

Yeah really. I have always seen myself as meticulous when it comes to details … and still this happened. Like you said goggles really are a must. Normally with the EP-1 goggles I can not see anything from that 2.3W laser except for a dot. A nice soft glowing orange spot that I can focus. Still a direct hit in the eye was like a flash of lighting! From now on Ill be using my ARG OEM's (OD 7) with 445nm diodes. The reason I was using the EP-1 was because I was also setting up a green DPSS laser with a lot if IR in it.

Nice set up... Glad it worked out.

Link to the goggles you had on please
-Greg

This is also why I don't have a 445nm yet. If you don't have it, and you aren't around one, you can't really get hurt by one. Glad to hear you are okay. It always makes me cringe when I see these stories. It also makes me feel guilty about not always using safety glasses outside with my 50mW 532nm handheld. I do point the laser at objects 100ft+ away though.

Extremeshade said:

Link to the goggles you had on please
-Greg

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These are often called “Eagle Pair”. There are a lot of fakes floating around but you can order real ones form Survivallaser

SurvivalLaser

or from ZoneStealth. The pair that I am using at the moment are from ZoneStealth. They are the real deal.

Zonestealth

You get exactly the same stuff from both of the above companies. The Eagle Pair case etc. ZoneStealth was really fast. Took only about 6 days to get them.

This is what ZoneStealth sent me. That ebay picture sucks.



Eagle Pair are made in China but are CE Marked and meet the GJB1762-93 standard as well as the European Standard EN207A1:2002

I like the EP-1 because I can also use them with green dpss lasers that spit out a lot IR. As far as a direct hit in the eye from a 2.3W 445nm laser ... well I can vouch for them =)

If you really want a super nice pair of goggles and you got the money.
DBD OEMlasersystems . The EP-1 and the DBDs are not for red lasers!

All the best

I am glad your fine.
Let this be a lesson to you and to all the others, I hope one day people understand how important goggles are.

hoo7h said:

I am glad your fine.
Let this be a lesson to you and to all the others, I hope one day people understand how important goggles are.

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Did you see the thread about the guy who got hit in the eye with a 1W 445nm and did not have goggles on. He posted a picture of his retina.

Onryo said:

Moral of the story is buy the best goggles you can afford.

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Or... just buy goggles with adequate protection. You don't see people going out and spending ten grand on seat belts, do you? That's because the cheap ones can still offer adequate protection.

You are one lucky guy to have had proper goggles on. So many people imagine themselves as immune from the reality of lasers and do not waer goggles.

Laser accidents are just that ---accidents---- something happens that is not expected ot anticipated nor subject to human intervention before it is too late.

Some people have strange imaginings that if there is a problem they will use their gogggles but do not want until then----when "then" happens it is too late-- the damage has been done and so fast like you say faster than your blink reflex that under ordinary circumstances does a pretty good job of protecting your eyes ---1/4 second or less exposure can leave you completely blind you forever in the case of very powerful handhelds like yours.

People need to learn from the experiences of others that powerful lasers can be extremely dangerous unless handled with proper protection in place.

Cyparagon said:

Or... just buy goggles with adequate protection. You don't see people going out and spending ten grand on seat belts, do you? That's because the cheap ones can still offer adequate protection.

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I mean afford as in afford. Not sell your house. Alright ... well specified then. It might be a good idea to know what your goggles are blocking at least. 1064nm from that cheap DPSS? Or if then can take a hit from a 2.35W 445nm. Generally I don't trust advertising. Here is a picture of a green laser I bought when I was in Thailand. Its in my hand now. WOW does <3000mW @ 532nm! Look at the sticker. So right under 3W then?



My Ophir and LaserBee tell me that its only 72-78mW. Sure that is less then 3000mW but 72mW .... really...lol?! I wonder just how many unspecified laser goggles out there have the same mentality. :can:

All the best
Onryo

Glad to hear it wasn't anything worse!!!

96,49@,8d^,wd3,697,n92,783,463 close calls with safety goggles > 1 accident

:beer:

Well, this is a perfect example of goggles saving your vision. At OD4 around 445 nm, your exposure got reduced from a blinding 2 watts to a safe 0.2 mW. A much cheaper pair of OD3 glasses would have limited the exposure to a level where the blink reflex is fast enough too.

Something like 0.2 mW of 445 will still look insanely bright though, so i can understand your reaction of trying to get out of harms way ASAP - i'd do the same.

The difference is that with goggles you had ample time to do so, while without it the damage would have been done before you'd have even seen the bright light.

As far as the 70 mW-ish laser from thailand goes: surely these things are no where near that 3 watts on the label considering the price. The downside is that they sell them on the streets all over bangkok, and people shine them around for fun, often having no idea about how dangerous they really are. A straight it in the eye with 70 mW will still result in damage, possibly irreversible and sometimes pretty severe. Selling these things like they were glowsticks is a worrysome practise - often even the vendors have little idea of the dangers and are more then happy do demonstrate how bright they are by shining one into your face

I sort of became a goggle Nazi after that hit!
I had no idea that a wussy little 0.2 mW could be that bright! Then again a camera flash blinds you for a few moments. Would think that is even less then 0.2mW from a meter or so?

Yup I can tell you been there! I picked up that 532nm on Khao San Road for 300 baht. I brought it down to Koh Tao with us. There were tons of ppl who had been to the full moon party over on Koh Phangan. Most of them sporting lasers like the one in the picture. Even worse a lot of them had 402nm lasers that could burn. Makes the body UV paint glow. Most of these kids were drunk and dancing around shining lasers all over the place. Oh yeah ... I did not see any goggles that I can remember!

Well if you go back I am sure your goggles can double as shades

I like those broad spectrum Eagle Pair goggles from survival lasers. I have two pairs of them.