Hello from the UK

[Blackb1ob]

My Name is Luke Malcolm, and I am a fairly young laser enthusiast. I was given my first laser for winning the flight compertition at RAF summer camp with the rest of my RAF Cadet corp (to the Americans around that is the airforce version of ROTC) and it was a very low-power green laser with a starfield effect head. I will be a low-budget laser enthusiast, and will probably buy off Lazerer. My first remotley powerful laser will probably be a 200mw red laser (one of these:LZCS - Classic 650nm 200mW Focusable Red Laser Pointer or LZMN - Mini 650nm 200mW Focusable Red Laser Pointer. Which one do you think will be better at cutting bags and tape, popping baloons and burning holes in stuff? The first one seems to be good quality and over-spec in all of the reviews that involved a LPM.
:thanks:
Blackb1ob

 

[Kookapeli]

Hi Luke, Welcome to LPF, good to see another fellow Brit, take a look at all the stickies and click on the links in my Sig. Look at the companies section as there are a few good low end companies to buy from giving you more of a choice

 

[KapHn8d]

Luke, welcome to the forums! Be safe and have a good time!

If you start looking into higher powered lasers, you might want to invest in some safety glasses just to have handy when using your laser around potentially shiney or reflective stuff... I recommend the Eagle Pair set at the appropriate wavelength protection from Survival Laser, but there are less expensive options out there like the ones from Lazerer. Since you mentioned you were on a budget, I wouldn't recommend OEM Laser Systems, but they are some of the best safety goggles you can buy today (you know, for down the road).

Have fun!!

c