Crazy scullers scared of my laser

[Lascannon]

I live on a lake. There is a rowing team wich practices every night. I was out tonight shining a 1w 445nm handheld in two directions: straight up, and straight down. I was on my roof. The rowing team went by, and one of them shouted "holy ___ dude, look at that laser!" to which his friend replied "what you doing buddy?" I said "can I help you?" He said "you are making a big mistake if you shine that thing in my eye!" in an extremely threatening tone. Not wishing to excalate things, I imediatly turned the laser off, and replied "Will it make you more comfortable if I turn it off?" He yelled "just keep that ____ thing away from me!" I was, at this point, a little peeved. Here I was, on my roof, enjoying a beautiful new build in a non-harmful way (there were no airplanes around, I listended for a good 5 minutes before turning it on) and this idiot was making a thing out of it. He was at this point getting prety far down the lake, but sound carries well over water, and I have good lungs. I shouted "I have 3 things to say to that. 1: You realy think I am that stupid?" 2: That would be ilegal! 3: Your first response to something beautifull is fear" and I wrapped up with, much to my shame, "Realy dude... realy?"

Before going inside and writing this thread. What had him so woried? I was clearly pointing it in safe directions, and only safe directions. He was about 50 feet from the house, and I was keeping it in the upward way while he was going by. He could have, at any point, shouted "can you turn that thing off please?" And I would have imediatly complied.

I do not understand his response. Will I find this a constant reaction whenever I use it in a visible area? The safest area to use a laser is (in my opinion) outside, since there are no reflective objects in the clouds. That we know of, anyway. If I hit UFO I dont think I can be blamed.

Anyway, just thought I would share my story. See if anyone was interested.

 

[BShanahan14rulz]

Try walking down a dark street with a flashlight and see how many crazy looks you get. People don't like light.

 

[ARG]

Try walking down a dark street with a flashlight and see how many crazy looks you get. People don't like light.

Really? I've never noticed... I LOVE light, that's why I like lasers, the coherent beams of light

 

[Pontiacg5]

He was well within his right, he has no idea if you are some dumb kid that plans on lighting the canoe up next.

You were also breaking the law, your laser was breaking FAA airspace without a permit.

If you must use a laser outside use it when nobody else is around. If someone moves into your area turn it off till they leave. It's really that simple.

 

[Benm]

Don't worry too much about it - people can react aggresively towards things they hardly understand, or cannot estimate the risk off. It seems like one of them was really affraid you'd hit him in the eye with the laser, and perhaps rightfully so. Perhaps they are just a bunch of loudmouths, but keeping the laser beam away from them would be a good idea regardless.

 

[Lascannon]

Thank you for simplifying it for me. I agree that he was within his rights to be worried, and I did turn it off as soon as he made his pressence known. I just dont think he needed to be such a jerk about it... I mean realy... threatening me?

 

[Flaminpyro]

Maybe he himself or some one he personal knows was hit by a laser beam and had an unpleasant encounter ?

 

[uns]

As long as you were handling your laser in a relativity safe fashion, he really had no more right to warn you about your laser being dangerous as you did to warn him about ramming another boat with his. In fact, if i was in your position, I would have brought up the dangers of boating while distracted and maybe he should worry about his own incompetence leading to him being injured.

It would be the same as telling the guy driving next to you to be careful and not ram into you when the guy has shown no inclination to do so. Or the guy shooting next to you at the gun range to watch where he points his gun when he has not pointed it anywhere dangerous.

Although yes, after all I have said, he is well within his rights to say what he said. In the same way as you would be well within your rights to tell him to have coitus with his own body and imbibe semen from his rowing partners phallus.

But then you'd both look like tools instead of just him.

 

[scopeguy20]

I was carefully shining my new 2W 445 at the sky and at some far away rock faces at night on a nearby mountain, there were many people hiking in the light of the full moon there, and whenever I would turn off my laser, a call from the dark would often ask, Would you please turn that back on? LOL! it was pretty fun! -Glenn

 

[InfinitusEquitas]

I was carefully shining my new 2W 445 at the sky and at some far away rock faces at night on a nearby mountain, there were many people hiking in the light of the full moon there, and whenever I would turn off my laser, a call from the dark would often ask, Would you please turn that back on? LOL! it was pretty fun! -Glenn

:crackup: I've had similar experiences.

Unfortunately some people automatically default from "I don't understand" to "It must be bad and dangerous"

 

[jimdt7]

Maybe, an idiot had shined his laser on him so maybe, thats why he doesnt like lasers !

 

[Eudaimonium]

It's the feeling of insecurity. You've got a laser, he does not. He's at a disadvantage from his point of view.

There's just such an incredible amount of douchetards in this world that it's ridiculous. I've also gotten a few "Don't you shine that in anybody's eyes, you know?!", in spite of me and buddies around me carrying a few high powered lasers - is it so hard to connect a few dots and realise that if I already have a few lasers, I know a bit about them?

But by far the most frequent reply is the lack of thereof, people just glance at the laser through the sky and return to whatever it is they're doing. "Meh, one out of only 4 blue 445nm Class IV lasers in entire country? So what, this beer is great".

 

[Ibuprofen200mg]

Ever been on the receiving end of a class IV laser at night? Pretty damn startling, especially for someone who doesn't deal with lasers everyday. Now granted you weren't pointing it at him, I still feel that he had the right to make his presence known to avoid getting hit by something like that (he doesn't know your intentions).

On the other hand, I live in a southern college town and the amount of douchebags and idiots I have to deal with on a daily basis is astonishing. You have to remember though, that by keeping your cool while these bros and meatheads get all revved up, you always have the upper hand and the intellectual high ground. :beer:

 

[Lascannon]

He was right to tell me where he was there. Just like I am right to shout "look out" if I think someone might walk into me. Particularly where lasers are concerned, since it would only take one fumble to flash his eyes. He was right to make his presence known. I just think he could have done it better. Something like "please be carefull with that" or even "hey mate, nice night, eh?" would have been better. I would even have been ok with "now dont go shining that in anyones eyes". If it makes him feel better, why worry about it? But if I had been a different person, I might have taken that as an invitation. If he had just politely asked me to turn the laser off, I probably would have! It had the same effect the way he put it, but not everyone is as willing to please as I am! Anyway, thanks for sharing all the storys guys!