Alright so here's what's up:
Ten years ago I was a kid in high school and thought it was cool as hell that you could get green lasers. I bought a number of el cheapo 5mw green lasers that sold for like $14 each but were of really shoddy quality. I sort of wanted one that could burn stuff, but that was out of my price range.
Fast forward to last week. I was drunk and talking to my girlfriend about getting lasers to play with our cats. We have a dinky $2 walmart red laser of crappy quality so I decided on a drunken whim to buy a green and blue/violet laser. Found two on ebay, roughly $10 a piece, and thought they'd be perfect. Only 5mw (I wasn't looking to burn anything with these), and the build quality seemed a lot nicer than the ones I owned in the past.
These are the lasers I bought:
Military Burning 405nm Blue Purple Laser Pointer Lazer Pen Beam 18650 Charger | eBay
Military 532nm 5mW 303 Green Laser Pointer Lazer Pen Burning Beam 18650 Charger | eBay
Well they came in the mail today, and up until now I neglected to do any proper research on them. Well it turns out these things are a lot more than 5mw, most people online have been saying they're anywhere from 35-100mw but I've also read people claiming they can be 150-200mw (albeit rarely). Apparently they're advertised as 5mw lasers to avoid conflict with laws regarding lasers but due to poor quality control vary wildly in actual performance.
I did verify (out of morbid curiosity) that the 250nm laser will ignite a green match when the focus is adjusted for it. At that point I became too scared of using the lasers any further and hopped online to look into them.
So, what did I get myself into? I feel pretty safe in assuming these should NOT be used as cat toys, but realistically how dangerous are they otherwise? If I avoid obvious things like looking directly at the laser or reflecting it at my eye, can I shine them at stuff around my house without fear? If not, can I use them outside at least? I don't own any safety goggles as I didn't think I'd be needing them, are these things a legitimate risk without them?
Any help is appreciated.
Ten years ago I was a kid in high school and thought it was cool as hell that you could get green lasers. I bought a number of el cheapo 5mw green lasers that sold for like $14 each but were of really shoddy quality. I sort of wanted one that could burn stuff, but that was out of my price range.
Fast forward to last week. I was drunk and talking to my girlfriend about getting lasers to play with our cats. We have a dinky $2 walmart red laser of crappy quality so I decided on a drunken whim to buy a green and blue/violet laser. Found two on ebay, roughly $10 a piece, and thought they'd be perfect. Only 5mw (I wasn't looking to burn anything with these), and the build quality seemed a lot nicer than the ones I owned in the past.
These are the lasers I bought:
Military Burning 405nm Blue Purple Laser Pointer Lazer Pen Beam 18650 Charger | eBay
Military 532nm 5mW 303 Green Laser Pointer Lazer Pen Burning Beam 18650 Charger | eBay
Well they came in the mail today, and up until now I neglected to do any proper research on them. Well it turns out these things are a lot more than 5mw, most people online have been saying they're anywhere from 35-100mw but I've also read people claiming they can be 150-200mw (albeit rarely). Apparently they're advertised as 5mw lasers to avoid conflict with laws regarding lasers but due to poor quality control vary wildly in actual performance.
I did verify (out of morbid curiosity) that the 250nm laser will ignite a green match when the focus is adjusted for it. At that point I became too scared of using the lasers any further and hopped online to look into them.
So, what did I get myself into? I feel pretty safe in assuming these should NOT be used as cat toys, but realistically how dangerous are they otherwise? If I avoid obvious things like looking directly at the laser or reflecting it at my eye, can I shine them at stuff around my house without fear? If not, can I use them outside at least? I don't own any safety goggles as I didn't think I'd be needing them, are these things a legitimate risk without them?
Any help is appreciated.