An idiot with a laser!

Ahhh...I'm such an idiot! I don't have my NOVA goggles yet, but I can't stand not playing with this thing! Last night I was popping some light colored baloons with sharpied "targets" on them and I caught one heck of a reflection right in my eyes! My blink response probably saved my eyes and the fact that the light was somewhat diffused by the baloons surface. I have tried to be careful with this thing. I definitly respect it. Somebody please smack me in the back of the head and tell me to stop being an idiot and wait on the darn goggles!

You are grounded - send me all your lasers for 6 months time.

yes..sirrr.... :'( I been bad. See boys and girls... don't do dumb things like me and get your toys taken away :'(

Get to bed with no tea!!!! ;D ;D ;D

How's you eye doing???

Hopefully all you got was some flashblindness...and it will go away soon...

How's your vision??

Man..I'm pulling for you and your vision...

LarryQ

Fortunately, you took the reflection off a spherical surface with some of the light also being absorbed by the sharpie ink. I don't know you so I don't feel so bad about having to take you out to the woodshed and beating you with a 2x4.

If you have to operate a laser without eye protection then get out a video camera and film it. I always used an opaque barrier between me and the laser when I had no goggle protection. Average life expectancy of a male is ~76 years or so. This means you can only lose an eye every 38 years.

BAD Monkey!

FrothyChimp said:

Average life expectancy of a male is ~76 years or so. This means you can only lose an eye every 38 years.

BAD Monkey!

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Your Logic, Sir, Is Unassailable :-/

LarryQ

Fortunately, you took the reflection off a spherical surface with some of the light also being absorbed by the sharpie ink.

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Even without the sharpied spot, balloons are far from perfect mirrors. Just look at the spot the reflected beam makes on a wall - not nearly as bright as the direct spot, and spread out over a bigger area.

The good thing about green is that it looks so bright it startles you... doing the same with a high power red is just a dangerous, but not nearly as frightening.

My vision seems to be doing fine. I really thought shining it at the baloon would be safe. I never expected it to reflect so much off of a regular baloon. A good lesson for everyone I suppose. Just goes to show you never know what is going to kick that beam back in your face. I assume any eye damage would be noticed immediately right? I've got one pair of NOVA goggles on order for me and 3 pairs on NES Shades on order for my family so we can be safe. Scary thing I tell you. And thanks for concern guys. This is without a doubt the best forum I have ever had the pleasure to participate in. A real honor!

I assume any eye damage would be noticed immediately right?

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As far as i know, at least when using visible lasers, it will be.

Just getting hit with bright light can cause some dark spots in your vision, but these usually disappear within a few seconds or minutes.. similar to accidently looking directly into the sun for a brief moment. This effect is not due to any actual damage, but has to do with depletion of (molecular) receptors that will be replenished quickly.

Retinal damage is not always obvious. In general damage caused by visible lasers will be noticeable because the damage will have occurred around the fovea, the main focal point when someone is intentionally focusing on an object. If, however, the angle of incidence is high, damage may occur around the periphery of the fovea and would generally only be noticeable during dim conditions or during the intentional use of the peripheral vision.

As mentioned above temporary blindness is a result of bleaching where the retina, in an attempt to recreate the brightness of the light to the brain, dumps its entire complement of neurotransmitter pigments.

Permanent damage occurs when cells are lysed due to focused laser light. The light is absorbed by the cell membrane and ruptures. This occurs at any given point during the exposure. For pulsed operation the damage is generally limited. For CW operation the focused beam can extend across the retina depending on the actions of the victim. Reflexes tend to minimize the damage.

The results of such damage are spots in the visual field that are dark. Far infrared lasers such as CO2 are much less forgiving regarding eye damage. Because 10600 nm is not focused by the lens and cornea the damage occurs on the surface of the eye generally ablating the cornea and lens leaving permanent damage. The amount of damage is also complicated by the fact that CO2 lasers are generally much more powerful than visible lasers (at least for hobbiests). Cataract surgery and corneal transplants have been successful in restoring vision to some damaged eyes.

Moral of the story. Wear your eye protection.

When I don't use goggles, I carry my 5 mW with me. I shine the 5 mW at my target so I can make sure there is not a direct reflection on my target. Then, bust out the x105 and fire !

how many mW was the laser????sry to hear that, but as others have said, hopefully it is just flashblindness!

If you must "cheat", use a digital (NOT optical) video camera. The screen MUST be between your eyes and the dot so no light gets to your eyes. It may not be as cool but is much safer than no goggles. Aim it from behind an opaque screen and use the camera as your eye.

Problem is that you now won't burn out your eyes, but will damage the camera with a direct hit - even at relatively low power levels. A few 10s of mW's can fry the CCD leaving a blow of line of unusable pixels.

Obviously a better thing to waste then your eyeballs, but don't use your brand new $$$$ digicam - use and old one you dont care to damage.

Since it was reflected off a balloon, it would act like a curved mirror or a diverging lens. That way, even though you took a large patch of laser to your eye, it would have been diffuse enough that eye damage isn't as likely. So, you got lucky this time. Next time, WAIT FOR THE GOGGLES! (... or else)