cheap sunglasses as 405nm protection: definite yes!

[Krutz]

this topic goes on and on..

here some first-hand experience (from another topic):

[http://www.unitednuclear.com/uvglasses.htm] yes, they will filter out (near) uv, so you only see the fluorescence.

better idea: buy several different yellow sports/biking/protective glasses on ebay, check them with your 405nm laser. the best 2 i have (from now 5 different) filter out violet *completely*, you only see the yellowish dot when shining through the googles onto your wall. they are cheap, and more than enough.
get them for playing with uv-leds too! its where the real fun is, believe me!

my only brand one is 3M 2802, fits over your regular glasses. the filtering is ok, you almost see no UV. just a tiny violet shade from 100mw.

my best ones are these:
http://cgi.ebay.de/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=390054125445
3 for 9€

manuel

For the price you paid for 5 pairs of useless sunglasses, you could have bought a single quality pair of certified laser goggles which were designed specifically for protection from lasers, which have to meet certain standards for safety to be sold as laser protective goggles... If they aren't certified and they aren't meant for laser use they will not protect you from lasers. Does the ability to see matter to you? It's really not worth losing your vision because you were too cheap to buy real laser goggles. My life insurance company values the use of my eyes at $1,000,000, and that's a conservative estimate, think of all the things I could accomplish in the future because I'm able to see, all of that's lost because I can't see. I think it's worth paying $50 to save your eyes. It's like you're trying to make a bulletproof vest out of tinfoil.. If you have any chance of getting shot, why would you risk using cheap and ineffective safety equipment?

appreciated, since this is true for many users here, unfortunately.

for me, personally: i have my oemlasers broadbandgoogles for 200$. i have three from the 405nm googles gb (which are made as lasergoogles). yes, they all are good and certified protection from lasers. and totally useless for watching fluorescence. the broadband ones are way too dark, the 405nm ones filter too little (for my taste). the ones i linked filter *all* 405nm, and i mean all. no violet visible, no fluorescence. they are colored plastic, so you cant scratch off any protective coating. they dont bleach out, i checked that. longer than the mandatory 10s. even when burning one of them, with a 100mw pinpoint-focussed 405nm, they melt, but even then wont pass any more 405nm while actually melting! they are in fact "too good" for burning, since you only see the yellowish "dirt" any 405nm laserdiode produces, which is almost too little to focus properly. to sum up, those are better than both of my certified googles, against 405nm (only!).
but then: i dont "burn" with lasers, and i dont use these googles with lasers at all. i use them with a 3w 405nm LED, to block the violet and see only the fluorescence.

for anyone considering 405nm eyeprotection, and EVERYONE should:

-buy cheap yellow shades
-check if they cover your eyes FULLY, from the sides too!
-check that they are "fully colored", and not just yellow coated (should be the normal case anyway)
-check how much passes when shining the laser at your wall and putting the glasses in the beam (if you see *any* violet, its not worth it, try other ones)
-shine your laser at the same spot for a minute: does the yellow fade? if *any* change, toss it!
-bonus: focus your laser, melt the glasses (while wearing another pair of them!), see if any violet makes it through

if they pass: voila, you now have googles which arent certified, but practically better than certified ones you can buy!

this only works with yellow shades and 405nm lasers. you cant do this for red or green lasers, no matter what color you try.

i would suggest any 405nm laser-seller to do that, and add one, two pairs of 5$ googles to any laser, mandatory. i know i will have more than enough laying around here.

sorry for the OT, i will copy this into a new thread in "safety"..

manuel

if asked, i will make pics of this next days.
oh, and before anyone starts with "is your eyesight worth only 10$?" well, is it worth only 100$ then? and in what point is "your" or any protective googles better than the 10$ ones which pass all tests above?
and finally, do you think everyone will buy 100$ googles, if they even were as good as the 10$ ones (and not even worse, like many are)?

AGAIN: all above ONLY when your glasses are properly checked! by the company who certified them, or by yourself. certified googles arent magic, they do the same stuff. with a big $ stamp saying "certified".
AGAIN: this above is only true for 405nm and yellow shades..

*prepares for flames*

manuel