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ArcticMyst Security by Avery

Carolina Biological Supply laser series, thoughts & review!

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I recently purchased a 405nm laser pointer from the company listed below, located in N.C, USA:

Link: https://www.carolina.com/physical-science-light-and-optics/class-iiia-violet-laser-pointer/755428.pr?question=405

Below are simply my thoughts and what I think of the device!


At first, when looking for a quality 405 pointer I had a couple options: Get myself a cheap 405 laser that is mass-produced, buy a 405 from Sky-Lasers, get a GLP from CNI or try to find a source hidden on Google that sold some 405 pointers nobody has ever hear about. All the previously listed company would work well, but they either wouldn't be what they are rated at "<5mW", or the shipping is so expensive you might as well fly there to get it ;) So I did more searching and found CBSC. Well, this company, A.K.A Carolina Biological Supply Company was what I was looking for! I debated it for a couple days, then pulled the trigger. I waited a couple days and got this:​


I ordered this via FedEx Ground, and they delivered 1 day early, yay! :thanks: The box is a standard brown box. Kinda looks like CNI ones to give you an idea, with labeling all around it. Getting it open was another story. They REALLY, I mean REALLY want this thing to get to you. They had a layer of tape, over it 2 lasers of labels, and finally 2 staple like presses to keep the tape down, lol :crackup:​

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Upon opening the box you are greeted with plenty of paper as a cushion, some paperwork regarding your order, and finally a mysterious green bag which contains your laser. Inside the bag is another box with labeling "VLP405" :shhh:​

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Upon removing the box with "VLP405" you are greeted with a black box. The texture is not matte, but sort of a glossy, snakelike texture. You know, a rough not perfectly smooth surface. The laser itself is very nice and classy, that's to be expected for a laser in this category. Surprisingly, the little paperwork with the blue marking seems to be the EXACT paperwork you get with certain LaserGlow & Z-Bolt lasers. Meaning a huge company must make all these quality pens, then distribute them to several companies. They seem to come in 635, 532 and 405. This is the only company I've seen sell these 405 pens, cool! 2xAAA's power this laser and go - side facing toward the aperture. Laser label says "LightVision Technologies" so one can guess this is where these pens are coming from?​

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Finally, I tested this little guy on my LPM to have a peak of ~3mW's. You won't be doing any burning with this, but's it's a true Class IIIR violet 405 pointer to shine around and not worry about blinding yourself or a pet. Being 405 it can fluorescence anything with a white color.​

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All in all, for $73 I honestly was expecting something of a *higher-quality* then those 405 pens and I was right. The pen is very classy, feels excellent in the hands, and outputs exactly what's it's rated as. Nothing much but top perfection here. You can't beat this. This company also seems to sell some 532 & 635 pointers. Personally, the 532's are a little pricey. Like $148 pricey. For only a Class IIa pointer. You can find better at other websites, like DragonLasers or SkyLasers. 405 wise, this is probably the best you'll find! :)

Thank you, :beer: :yh:
Alex
 
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Rivem

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Re: Carolina Biological Supply laser series, thoughts!

Very nice Alex! I had no idea Carolina sold lasers, but I've made a few sample orders from them before. Very good company IMO. Lots of cool science education products.

Definitely looking forward to some of your own photos!

Edit: There they are! :D
 
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Re: Carolina Biological Supply laser series, thoughts!

Very nice Alex! I had no idea Carolina sold lasers, but I've made a few sample orders from them before. Very good company IMO. Lots of cool science education products.

Definitely looking forward to some of your own photos!

Edit: There they are! :D

Hey Rivem,

Yeah, they seem to mostly sell random cool science things. The fact they also sell lasers is pretty neat! Yes, the pictures are there :D Thanks!

-Alex
 

BobMc

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Re: Carolina Biological Supply laser series, thoughts!

Not bad at all for an eye safe 405. Your cat's in trouble now! (I taped a pillow on my cat head just as a back up, don't tell peta) :). Enjoy, pleasant read and nice pics. :)
 
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Re: Carolina Biological Supply laser series, thoughts!

Not bad at all for an eye safe 405. Your cat's in trouble now! (I taped a pillow on my cat head just as a back up, don't tell peta) :). Enjoy, pleasant read and nice pics. :)

Hey BobMc,

Lol. Cat pillow now you can call it :crackup: Glad you enjoyed it! :)

-Alex
 

Encap

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I recently purchased a 405nm laser pointer from the company listed below, located in N.C,

Finally, I tested this little guy on my LPM to have a peak of ~3mW's. You won't be doing any burning with this, but's it's a true 5mW
Alex

LPM tested at 3mW but it is a true 5mW??
 
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Very cool.
Nice review. It is nice to have some low power pointers.
 

BobMc

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Very cool.
Nice review. It is nice to have some low power pointers.

RA, on your avatar, where are you going on your road trip. Been wanting to ask you for a while. Kinda a bike fan myself, was hoping you had a great time. :)

Don't mean to derail your thread Hap but curiosity got the best of me. :tinfoil:
 
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Looks to be a very nice quality Chinese mass produced pen.

Can't imagine what 3mW of 405nm looks like or how visible the output is? Does it have a visible beam?
According to the relative brightness calculator a 3mW 532nm dot would be 196 X brighter and the beam 62X brighter than 405nm.
See: Relative Laser Beam Brightness Calculator: (405nm 1mw) vs. (532nm 1mw)

Haven't tried to get a beam out of it yet. I'm sure with a fog machine you'll be able to get a nice little beam out of it.

Thanks! :)

-Alex
 
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yes probably in fog there would be.

I'm sure as well Encap. A fog machine can really do wonders on these end of spectrum wavelengths. Amazingly, I can still barely see 3mW's of 405 across my room in the hallway, at midday, wow! :eek:

-Alex
 




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