A true Survival laser

imagine your going on a trip across the atlantic... you hop on a plane with your luggage and your favorite laser... just in case...
as y our flying along you feel a slight rumble. then a bigger one... that is when you realize your plane is going down...

after the crash you swim to a desert island... with all your goods. you try to start a fire with your laser only to realize its dead... you rub 2 stick s together... then at night you watch all the rescue choppers fly by but you cant flag em down (not by shooting at the with the laser of course, just by shooting into the air to signal them)

now what if we had a solar powered laser...

i took a mini solar powered garden light took the solar powered led off the top, removed the light switch (turns the light on when the sun goes down) and replaced it with a regular push on switch... dremmmiled a hole in the side and put a 445nm laser diode in it and wired in with the led leads, with a lil more midification... i have a beautiful solar powered laser...

im am currently using the 1.2v rechargable that came with it but i will put a 3.7v in it as soon as i get one... its fairly weak i dont have an lpm atm so i cant measure it, but it is weak, hopefully the new batt will bost it up a bit
there is a standard led driver in it... no clu on its output atm.

let me know what yall think

I think we need pictures... ?!?

It's an interesting idea.

Here's where I feel a disconnect though. Since you can rub two sticks together to make a fire (if you've ever done it, you know it's not that easy) the laser is only needed as a signal tool correct?

If that's the case... why is your laser out of power? You didn't use it to light the fire did you?

Did you leave your house without charging it:thinking:

Now if we get past that, and you are only using the laser to signal 445nm is a lousy choice at low power... would require quite a bit of power to produce a decent beam.

The obvious choice would be 532nm... unfortunately there you run into problems as well. Specifically those pesky crystals... I wouldn't trust a green laser to go through a lot of violent movement and still work.

This unfortunately brings us back to the power hungry 445's.

So here's my question... why not carry a separate charger modded to work off of a small solar panel. As well as a charged battery in your laser in the first place

ok...
i lost the big plastic piece over the button... but pushing the white post works fine

^^^Nice. Shame you don't have an LPM. Have you tested total run time after 1 full day of charging?

Also, if we're going down the paranoia highway... I travel on it a lot... why not just invest in an emergency beacon?

InfinitusEquitas said:

It's an interesting idea.

Here's where I feel a disconnect though. Since you can rub two sticks together to make a fire (if you've ever done it, you know it's not that easy) the laser is only needed as a signal tool correct?

If that's the case... why is your laser out of power? You didn't use it to light the fire did you?

Did you leave your house without charging it:thinking:

Now if we get past that, and you are only using the laser to signal 445nm is a lousy choice at low power... would require quite a bit of power to produce a decent beam.

The obvious choice would be 532nm... unfortunately there you run into problems as well. Specifically those pesky crystals... I wouldn't trust a green laser to go through a lot of violent movement and still work.

This unfortunately brings us back to the power hungry 445's.

So here's my question... why not carry a separate charger modded to work off of a small solar panel. As well as a charged battery in your laser in the first place

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you sir are overthinking my amusing anakdote...

im hoping the stonger battary will pump it up to a regular 1w output or close to it... but who knows what will happen.
i do indeed want to turn one of these beauties into universal charger... put a power outlet on it and you can plug anything in it... granted it will take forever to harge anything of this thing... but for survival circumstances it would work... but whatever the case... this thing is awsome

InfinitusEquitas said:

^^^Nice. Shame you don't have an LPM. Have you tested total run time after 1 full day of charging?

Also, if we're going down the paranoia highway... I travel on it a lot... why not just invest in an emergency beacon?

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i cant wait to see what itll do after fully charging it... i finished it at abt 10pm... its not been charged since its conception. im pretty excited

What, is the police laser I sold you not good enough? :na:

lol no sir it is AMAZING my favorite infact... but... is there such a thins as too many...

LocksmithArmy said:

you sir are overthinking my amusing anakdote...

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:crackup::crackup::crackup:LMFAO!!! - Guilty as charged.

I do have a tendency to get carried away don't I? My friends know that their lives are forfeit for one hour at least if they start to talk about politics or religion

While what you got there is nifty... I do suggest googling "solar charger":yh:

Actually it's a fascinating topic... the efficiency of solar panels has been increasing with astonishing speed.

InfinitusEquitas said:

:crackup::crackup::crackup:LMFAO!!! - Guilty as charged.

I do have a tendency to get carried away don't I? My friends know that their lives are forfeit for one hour at least if they start to talk about politics or religion

While what you got there is nifty... I do suggest googling "solar charger":yh:

Actually it's a fascinating topic... the efficiency of solar panels has been increasing with astonishing speed.

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i have done my fair share of research on solar panels... and i own several solar devices... but i did not own a solar laser... and my wifes dog was chewing up her parents solar lights in their yard... i thought id recycle one or 4...

InfinitusEquitas said:

The obvious choice would be 532nm... unfortunately there you run into problems as well. Specifically those pesky crystals... I wouldn't trust a green laser to go through a lot of violent movement and still work.

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I disagree. Though it's true that 532 appears brighter than 445, it is also true that 532 takes a lot more energy per mW of optical output to create. Remember, the DPSS process is not very efficient.

What you should really be using, is an array of 4 or 5 of the 515nm diodes from Soraa / Nichia / Osram. With 250mW of green requiring (probably) around 250mA of input power, your idea might actually fly I'm sure you could charge up enough juice to run that long enough to signal the plane. Heck, you could probably use one of those hand-crank generators to produce 250mA and 3 or 4V.

@LocksmithArmy - Not sure if too many people own a true solar laser yet. You might be a pioneer in this:beer:

@rhd - CRAP. Can't believe I didn't think of using a hand crank or other kinetic approach... I only own two shakelights and 1 light with a crank already:yabbem:

rhd said:

Heck, you could probably use one of those hand-crank generators to produce 250mA and 3 or 4V.

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you @$$hat... now i have to build a crank laser... i have several crank generators (as i work many side projects based on creating energy) and can easily make a laser array into one...

InfinitusEquitas said:

^^^Not sure if too many people own a true solar laser yet. You might be a pioneer in this:beer:

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well have to see the output after the battary upgrade aswell as fully charged output... id be happy to make hosts for some of you... (not right now so dont fill my inbox plz) but thats a whole nother thread lol

LocksmithArmy said:

well have to see the output after the battary upgrade aswell as fully charged output... id be happy to make hosts for some of you... (not right now so dont fill my inbox plz) but thats a whole nother thread lol

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Uhm. Yeah.... I do think it's pretty cool... but I don't think I'll be buying a solar powered laser anytime soon, I'm just not patient enough.