Safety glasses, one for all WL.

There are safety glasses being sold that claim to cover the visible spectrum + UV and IR. :wtf: I am not believing this, even at OD 1.5+ and V.L.T. 10% I don't see how this can work. They are from China so it could be more Chinese BS like we often get with the power of lasers. They aren't real cheap but not expensive either. Has anyone bought them yet? Someone with extra $ and an LPM should test these. Here are some links on Amazon:

IPL Safety Glasses 200-1400nm Laser Protection Glasses Laser Safety Glasses - - Amazon.com

IPL Laser Safety Glasses 200-1400nm Laser Protection Glasses Goggles - - Amazon.com

These claim OD 4+ and are only $20, it seems to me you shouldn't be able to see anything:

OD4+ 190nm-2000nm IPL Laser Lighting Protective Safety Glasses Goggles CE - - Amazon.com

I don't know if there are any others, I just now found them by accident while looking on Amazon.

Alan

Maybe we could start a fundraiser to purchase the glasses and choose someone who can test them extensively. I'd be willing to donate.

VisibleGreen said:

Maybe we could start a fundraiser to purchase the glasses and choose someone who can test them extensively. I'd be willing to donate.

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That's a very good idea, I am all in favor of that, we need more proper testing of safety glasses. I know the Uvex and HDE glasses have been tested, and I remember someone testing at least one of the Eagle Pair, but I also remember two threads with poor testing and incomplete info.

Anyone else interested in testing any of these and maybe other safety glasses?

Alan

I was going to volunteer but then I saw the price. It's too much to do on my own.

well they are IPL goggles which stands for Intense Pulsed Light
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intense_pulsed_light

they look similar in color to these ILP goggles from a more trustworthy source and there a bit cheaper here.
P5IPL3 - Laservision USA

I'm not really sure why there's no OD values for them. but they state VLT: 15.9% wile the Chinese ones are VLT: 10%.

I guess they act more as neutral density goggles.


as far as the OD 1.5 across the visible range that seams legit here's a similar pair from again Laser vision.
T5B02 - Laservision USA


Edit: IPL is a broad spectrum Non coherent light source. this would explain why the goggles are for a wide range of light.

On the Amazon add they say [Used in Glare protection]
Does that mean they will not protect you from a direct hit form a laser? Is that a stupid question or do they all say that?

They are essentially sunglasses, not laser safety goggles.

If they actually COULD BLOCK ALL visible wavelengths you would see NOTHING, because no visible light reached your eyes.

:crackup:


That's why the safety goggles are wavelength specific....so you block the one that would be too intense, but be able to see other wavelengths so its a lens you can see through, and not just a steel plate etc.

Teej said:

They are essentially sunglasses, not laser safety goggles.

If they actually COULD BLOCK ALL visible wavelengths you would see NOTHING, because no visible light reached your eyes.

:crackup:


That's why the safety goggles are wavelength specific....so you block the one that would be too intense, but be able to see other wavelengths so its a lens you can see through, and not just a steel plate etc.

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I was thinking the SAME exact thing XD

Teej said:

They are essentially sunglasses, not laser safety goggles.

If they actually COULD BLOCK ALL visible wavelengths you would see NOTHING, because no visible light reached your eyes.

:crackup:


That's why the safety goggles are wavelength specific....so you block the one that would be too intense, but be able to see other wavelengths so its a lens you can see through, and not just a steel plate etc.

Click to expand...

I need to ask a stupid question here.

Arent sunglasses also blocking like all visible wavelengths + UV light?
I do know, you should never use sunglasses for lasers but it kinda confuses me, especially when everyone agrees, that you can
use laser goggles as sunglasses without a problem, although they only block a small part of the visible wavelengths which would
let all other light through. Wouldn't that also damage your eyes?



Also, wouldnt it be possible to make one for all with like really low OD rating?

I guess i dont get the difference between sunglasses and laser goggles... .

Teej said:

If they actually COULD BLOCK ALL visible wavelengths you would see NOTHING, because no visible light reached your eyes.

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BUt but but... my all wavelengths OD 1 million goggles just arrived.


Sorry for the thread jack I Couldn't resist :crackup:

Ehgemus said:

On the Amazon add they say [Used in Glare protection]
Does that mean they will not protect you from a direct hit form a laser? Is that a stupid question or do they all say that?

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They don't all say that, but you may be on the right track. Maybe they are good enough you can always view the dot but not good enough for a direct hit. Testing is needed. I don't like the idea of glasses that won't protect you from a direct hit. I have been in a few earthquakes over the years, I can just imagine setting up my laser in a tripod on a table and turning it on and then an earthquake hits and it falls over flashing me directly in the eye.

Alan

Sun glasses essentially attenuate all visible wavelengths, but totally block none. Even a laser safety goggle doesn't TOTALLY block any...but, they reduce it by far more than say a pair of sunglasses.

IE: Blocking in the context of a laser safety goggle would be the OD number for that wavelength.

Anything less than an OD of ~ 5 is a bit on the weak side for most of our uses....with 6 or 7 being more common, etc.

The safety versions have VLT numbers too, the visible light transmission...and, typically, this reduction is in line with what you'd see with a pair of sunglasses.

Laser safety glasses let in the OTHER wavelengths at a reduced level, akin to what you'd see with sunglasses on - and that level is your total protection for the OTHER wavelengths.


Your protection therefore would be more akin to what your protection would be, while wearing the WRONG safety glasses.

So, if you own a pair of laser safety glasses for one part of the spectrum, you could use them for other spectrum parts, and be about as protected as if you were just wearing some raybans, etc.



:can:

Pi R Squared said:

I am not believing this, even at OD 1.5+ and V.L.T. 10%

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That's a contradiction. OD 1.5 blocks 97% of light, so that's VLT of 3% at best. VLT of 10% would mean OD <1, which isn't any better than sunglasses, really.

Robert S said:

I need to ask a stupid question here.

Arent sunglasses also blocking like all visible wavelengths + UV light?
I do know, you should never use sunglasses for lasers but it kinda confuses me, especially when everyone agrees, that you can
use laser goggles as sunglasses without a problem, although they only block a small part of the visible wavelengths which would
let all other light through. Wouldn't that also damage your eyes?

Also, wouldnt it be possible to make one for all with like really low OD rating?

I guess i dont get the difference between sunglasses and laser goggles... .

Click to expand...

The thing with sunglasses is that, aside from protecting your eyes from UV, they're really meant to help you see better reducing the amount of light you see by a slight amount. Usually the intensity reduction is pretty low and doesn't help you much with higher powered sources such as lasers.

You can technically use laser goggles for sunglasses because they block a lot of light in specific wavelengths, but allow light through for others. If they blocked a wide spectrum of laser light you wouldn't be able to see stuff very well and it'd be hard to work. That wavelength selectivity is what makes laser goggles expensive, because you need special dyes/materials that can do that. It's easy to make broadband blockers, like smoked glass, but they'd really suck for laser work because you wouldn't be able to see what you're doing.

I've even got some laser goggles that are "multipurpose" and it sucks using them because I can't see very much. Also, the protection isn't actually all that great for most of those wavelengths because it is so broadband and they have to compromise on allowing some light through.

Alright, thanks Teej and Bionic-Badger , that cleared it up a bit.

Who knows.. maybe we will have lasergoggles, like those self darkening sunnglasses one day, that only block the wavelengths if it gets hit by it with a certain amount of power.