Guinness World Records

[Grix]

I have the Guinness Book Of Records 2009, and it says that The world's most powerful handheld laser is a Hercules 500, with a peak at over 1W.

But what about IR lasers? Romeo sells portable IR lasers that's 5x that power. Does only visible wavelenghts count? What about a portable 632nm c-mount? I don't understand.

 

[Jaseth]

The Guinness Book Of Records is filled with mistakes and unresearched records every year. The people who write it are not experts on lasers for example, and they probably just take the highest reading that someone sends in and put it up as the most powerful handheld laser.
Sure the Herc is a brilliant and very powerful laser, but as you said yourself there are several of higher power, especially outside the visible spectrum.

You can rarely trust these popular fact collections. Just think of WL's feature on Future Weapons with their pathetic "photonic disruptor". Think of how many mistakes Mythbusters make when testing myths.
You have to remain sceptical to all this stuff.

Seb

 

[ElektroFreak]

In this case I'm sure Guinness is looking at commercially available lasers from well-known suppliers. Also, FDA compliance may be involved as well, and most of the handhelds we see from folks here aren't.

 

[Switch]

Yea well it's not called "The world's most powerful commercially available FDA compliant handheld laser". Btw, it's the WORLD record.What does the FDA have to do with the rest of the world?

Btw, you have to pay a lot of money to them to take your record into account.So if you are the true record holder but don't have enough money no one is going to listen to you.The other thing is maybe you're the record holder and you just don't care in which case they'll never know as I bet they don't really search for records....

 

[ElektroFreak]

First off, that's just speculation.

Second, obviously Guiness wouldn't approve of listing a laser that is illegal in several countries. That's where the FDA\CDRH compliance comes in since most of the other countries that have laser laws have similar laws to the US. I could say that I made a machine gun with the worlds highest cyclic rate, but if I haven't followed the laws and codes surrounding firearm manufacture, and I don't have the proper licenses Guiness isn't going to give me the time of day. They can't condone ANY illegal activities and to do so would be just stupid on their part.

I mean really, if it's that important to you, call up Guiness and tell them you have what you believe to be the worlds most powerful handheld laser. Maybe they'll care, maybe they won't. The whole things pretty frivolous.

 

[Jaseth]

Either way it boils down to most of the records listed being worthless.

I stopped buying the stupid book several years ago for this reason.

Seb

 

[chipdouglas]

first and foremost Guiness is a compition!!! if you have proof of a higher laser and want to pay the fee they will gladly put it in. like if i paid them to come watch me spin 100 times in 30 seconds. it will be the record but it doesn't mean somebody else can't do double.

edit. actually i am not sure if the person trying to break the record or add a new skill to the book have to pay at all. but my point reamains that it is a competition.[/rant]

 

[nikokapo]

You can rarely trust these popular fact collections. Just think of WL's feature on Future Weapons with their pathetic "photonic disruptor". Think of how many mistakes Mythbusters make when testing myths.
You have to remain sceptical to all this stuff.

Listen to this man.

 

[k1kb0t]

Why pay, submit your record to the Universal Record Database.

The Universal Record Database - The definitive site for human achievement

Jon

 

[Justin]

Thanks for noticing our record! We worked really hard to get that title and the laser that we submitted was unbelievably powerful. In short, Guinness does not run around the world looking for new records. You have to submit a product and pay a lot of money to be considered, and for us this is obviously an investment that comes from our advertising budget. On Guinness' part, they did inquire whether the product is legal, commercially available to general public, and whether it was a regular production item or if it was custom-made to beat the existing record. They had a physicist test it in a universtity lab and provided us with a report on the results and testing methodology.

In the end, perhaps the record should specify "green" laser, but it doesn't, and our Guinness certificate says "World's Most Powerful Handheld Laser". I'm pretty damn happy about that regardless.

 

[samsomiler]

hahah spin around 100 times in 30 secs... I saw that on Nitro Circus when the Guiness guy came..

 

[Grix]

Haha oh wow, WL fails: In the Media

 

[Deleted member 8382]

Thanks for noticing our record! We worked really hard to get that title and the laser that we submitted was unbelievably powerful. In short, Guinness does not run around the world looking for new records. You have to submit a product and pay a lot of money to be considered, and for us this is obviously an investment that comes from our advertising budget. On Guinness' part, they did inquire whether the product is legal, commercially available to general public, and whether it was a regular production item or if it was custom-made to beat the existing record. They had a physicist test it in a universtity lab and provided us with a report on the results and testing methodology.

In the end, perhaps the record should specify "green" laser, but it doesn't, and our Guinness certificate says "World's Most Powerful Handheld Laser". I'm pretty damn happy about that regardless.

Could you tell us how much did you paid?

 

[Justin]

I'm sorry, but that would violate our agreement with Guinness. You can inquire with them directly if you want to find out the rates.

 

[DimeSlime]

How much would that 1w laser hurt on skin, etc?

 

[billg519]

"How much would that 1w laser hurt on skin, etc?"

I have a 1/2 watt green and it hurts immediately if the beam (even unfocused, not a tiny dot) is placed on the hand. You can't hold it there barely a second. A 1 watt green would probably burn the hand instantly.