Not wearing goggles

[Kuhari]

My cousin recently bought a 1w 445nm from someone on this forum and as much as I here about the importance of safety and the use of goggles. I would expect him to use them. But when we met up on vacation, the whole time we were there playing with his laser, he never used any goggles. As smart as he is I would think he would use them. When I confronted him about it, he told me that he wouldn't do anything stupid like aim it at his eyes or fuck himself over by staring at the beam for hours. Although, he admitted that he gets blind spots every once in a while but they only last for 20 min. or so. My question to you guys is, "Is it really necessary to wear goggles, even if you're not doing anything stupid or harmful?" If so what are the risks?"

P.S. - He has had the laser ever since, December 30, 2010.

 

[JohnTheRipper]

He's most likely already ruined his eyes.

MAKE him wear goggles, no exceptions!

 

[bennett326]

My cousin recently bought a 1w 445nm from someone on this forum and as much as I here about the importance of safety and the use of goggles. I would expect him to use them. But when we met up on vacation, the whole time we were there playing with his laser, he never used any goggles. As smart as he is I would think he would use them. When I confronted him about it, he told me that he wouldn't do anything stupid like aim it at his eyes or fuck himself over by staring at the beam for hours. Although, he admitted that he gets blind spots every once in a while but they only last for 20 min. or so. My question to you guys is, "Is it really necessary to wear goggles, even if you're not doing anything stupid or harmful?" If so what are the risks?"

P.S. - He has had the laser ever since, December 30, 2010.

while burning you must use goggles if he burns anything with it yes it absolutely necessary also you shouldn't look at the dot at close distances without goggles

 

[Pontiacg5]

If he is using the laser in a way that gives him blind spots he should be using goggles.

 

[ARG]

"Is it really necessary to wear goggles, even if you're not doing anything stupid or harmful?"

Yes. If the laser by accident hits a reflective material, it could reflect back into his eyes, or worse, an innocent bystander.

 

[Biostone]

He gets the blind spots just from slight reflection from objects. how ever, if it were a direct reflection from a mirror or a crystal of sorts, that 20min blind spot could very easily become permanent blind spot, or complete blindness. And I'm a novice at this, just started my first build.

 

[joshshermannn1]

hopefully he hasnt ruined his eyes, i dont think he has if he cant tell anything by now
you dont have to where glasses when: pointing it at the sky (be careful ) or just looking at the beam. if you stare at the dot too long or burn stuff its possible it might cause damage; such as blind spots, burned retinas (kinda the same thing), complete blindness, and insensitivity to blue light IIRC. a friend of mine has a permanent blind spot because of 50mw green laser.

 

[Elektrotechniker]

hopefully he hasnt ruined his eyes, i dont think he has if he cant tell anything by now
you dont have to where glasses when: pointing it at the sky (be careful ) or just looking at the beam. if you stare at the dot too long or burn stuff its possible it might cause damage; such as blind spots, burned retinas (kinda the same thing), complete blindness, and insensitivity to blue light IIRC. a friend of mine has a permanent blind spot because of 50mw green laser.

50 mW of green can cause a permanent spot? was not aware of this. I knew they are dangerous but not upt to apoint where i could cause permanent damage :O

 

[InfinitusEquitas]

Goggles aren't really a prerequisite imho if you're outside pointing at trees or at the sky. The other scenario is if the laser is perfectly fixed and cannot move at all.

They are absolutely a must for burning, setup or experimenting though.

Was actually playing around with the guts of a laser I bought recently yesterday... and it lased rather unexpectedly hitting a can of soda. If I wasn't wearing goggles I'd be sporting a nice blind spot right about now.

50 mW of green can cause a permanent spot? was not aware of this. I knew they are dangerous but not upt to apoint where i could cause permanent damage :O

Really depends on divergence more than anything else afaik. IIRC one of the vets who shall remains nameless, has a blind spot from a relatively weak green laser.

 

[joshshermannn1]

i know who it is! 20mw IIRC.
and the laser beam had an extremely small beam diameter

 

[Bionic-Badger]

Let him know that what separates a Class 3b laser from a Class 4 (which his 1W laser is) is that the Class 4 laser can cause eye damage from non-specular reflections. So unless he knows that he will not be hitting anything close by (as in within 30-50ft) he should get some goggles.

 

[Tech_Junkie]

If he is getting spots for 20 minute then the Blue Light Hazard might be in play. I know it has changed the way some of the visual artifacts look in my vision.

 

[hydrogenman15]

If you still see an after image for more than a few minutes than it could be permanent.

Those words were taken directly from my eye doctor. As others in this thread have stated, he may already have eye damage. Make him get them checked out right away, there are things you can do right now that can help.

--Hydro15

 

[LaZeRz]

I've had a 445 reflect into my eyes from a distance... I saw yellow for about 20 minutes.

Luckily it didn't give me any blindspots.

 

[Benm]

My question to you guys is, "Is it really necessary to wear goggles, even if you're not doing anything stupid or harmful?" If so what are the risks?"

Well, the obvious answer would be 'no': as long as you dont do anything stupid or harmful, there is no need for glasses are you're not at risk. But this is the same logic as "you don't need to wear a seatbelt, as long as you dont crash into anything or get rammed".

The problem with these things is that accidents happen when you do not expect them to. If you're shining into trees, its not very likely to give a reflection, unless someone put up a mirror on a tree at the exact wrong angle - unlikely, not impossible.

 

[LaZeRz]

Well, the obvious answer would be 'no': as long as you dont do anything stupid or harmful, there is no need for glasses are you're not at risk. But this is the same logic as "you don't need to wear a seatbelt, as long as you dont crash into anything or get rammed".

The problem with these things is that accidents happen when you do not expect them to. If you're shining into trees, its not very likely to give a reflection, unless someone put up a mirror on a tree at the exact wrong angle - unlikely, not impossible.

Speaking of random reflctions...

A car was driving past about 50m away from me and the suns reflection off its windscreen managed to get me right in the face :shhh: