Risk from a moron at a gun show?

[Shadowhawk]

So, I hope that I am worried for nothing, but I would appreciate some insight.

I had taken my daughter to a gun show earlier today (she was riding my shoulders) and was looking at a table with Chinese junk, when I saw an article laser clone. When I noticed it, the guy behind the table said "look at this!" Being the moron I am, I did..

I looked up to see him demonstrate the laser burning a bagle, and I looked for a second or two before I realized what I was looking at and looked away. I am guessing at the power.. they advertise 3w, but it was an obvious clone, poorly done too, so I never believe power ratings. But I still know blue lasers are not to be messed with.

I realize no one can say for sure, but I am just trying to figure out how worried I should be about us both. Neither was shined directly (I would be at the hospital then), but after doing searching here, I am left between I am fine (since I see no issues, nor does my daughter) and I am going blind in a few days...

More than anything, I feel like a bad dad for letting her get exposed to morons like that, and I worry about everyone else walking by (no safety glasses were being used anywhere.

I did try to find the reflection amount of a bagel, but that didn't yield much.... ;-)

 

[Rivem]

If you don't see an afterimage or have some sort of other vision issue, you should be fine. Even people that do get afterimages that last a few days/weeks can still turn out not to have permanent damage.

Definitely a legally questionable and dumb salesperson. Probably not 3W either.

 

[Shadowhawk]

If you don't see an afterimage or have some sort of other vision issue, you should be fine. Even people that do get afterimages that last a few days/weeks can still turn out not to have permanent damage.

Definitely a legally questionable and dumb salesperson. Probably not 3W either.

Appreciate the response. No after image, and my daughter reports no issues either (though at 5, it's a little hard to be sure).

I fully agree about the moron sales person. Having researched the real things years ago, I know the power of one head on (I even have a sticker "Do not look into laser with remaining eye", though I respect that is bad form around here). I was stunned that he was just casually burning bagels and dollar bills, and immediately left when I saw.

The laser.. I don't know if posting a link here is kosher, so I won't. But I did attach an image of it. I also laugh at the description:
30000mW 445nm Blue High Power Laser Pointer Most Powerful Comprehensive Lazer Flashlight
I know it's not a 30w Lazer, but I doubt it is even a 3w. But I still respect even a 500mw blue, so..

 

[paul1598419]

Looking at the beam or the dot from a high power laser is the same as any point source of light. The intensity drops as the inverse square of the distance you are away from the dot. Laser light is only dangerous when the collimated beam or a part of the collimated beam hits the pupil of your eye. Your eye has a lens that further focuses the beam to a high power density spot on your retina which will burn it instantly. But, looking at a bagel burning from a three watt laser will not cause you eye damage any more than the flash from a camera will.

 

[Shadowhawk]

Appreciate the sanity check. Honestly more worried about the exposure for my daughter, but what you said still holds true (though, I am still curious about the albeido and reflectivity of a bagel.. heh).

Someday I hope to join this forum with a real, quality laser. I almost bought a used Wicked Laser at a pawn shop, but my daughter was 3, and that just seemed like asking for problems. That, and the optics looked burned, so I passed. But one day..... One day....

 

[Gazen]

Good choice passing up that wicked laser. They’re known as a low quality brand. If you ever want something better try jetlasers, sanwu, Laserglow, or optotronics. Some of these companies also have codes and keys for safety around your child.

 

[lasersbee]

I can't see a bagel burning reflecting enough
Laser light to be a safety issue.

Jerry

 

[Benm]

I reckon you'll be fine - the emission from a matte surface is not that dangerous unless you are -realy- close to it. 3 watts burning a bagel at arms length or so should not be that problematic, though uncomfortably bright if you're indoors. If you looked at the same thing outdoors in full sunshine it would not even appear to be all that bright.

I wonder why you'd want a 3 watt blue diode on a gun scope though... that's probably a multimode diode that will produce a line-like pattern at a distance (say over 50 meters) so it wouldn't make a very good sniper shot aid or anything like that.

It also seems to be about the best method to give away your position and alert the target before you take the shot, so i doubt it's useful in any way unless you wanted both a gun and a narrow-beam blue flashlight combined in one

 

[RedCowboy]

So, I hope that I am worried for nothing, but I would appreciate some insight.

I had taken my daughter to a gun show earlier today (she was riding my shoulders) and was looking at a table with Chinese junk, when I saw an article laser clone. When I noticed it, the guy behind the table said "look at this!" Being the moron I am, I did..

I looked up to see him demonstrate the laser burning a bagle, and I looked for a second or two before I realized what I was looking at and looked away. I am guessing at the power.. they advertise 3w, but it was an obvious clone, poorly done too, so I never believe power ratings. But I still know blue lasers are not to be messed with.

I realize no one can say for sure, but I am just trying to figure out how worried I should be about us both. Neither was shined directly (I would be at the hospital then), but after doing searching here, I am left between I am fine (since I see no issues, nor does my daughter) and I am going blind in a few days...

More than anything, I feel like a bad dad for letting her get exposed to morons like that, and I worry about everyone else walking by (no safety glasses were being used anywhere.

I did try to find the reflection amount of a bagel, but that didn't yield much.... ;-)

I have looked at a lot of blue laser spots and done a lot of burning, I do wear the proper laser safety glasses but there have been plenty of bridge of the nose gap oops events and I may have peeked here and there ( not recommended ) I have never had any lasting after images from my multi watt blue lasers.

When I was 20 years old or so I bought a stick welder, ran on 240v, so I started teaching myself to weld without protective clothing and too light of a visor filter and in the process gave myself an artificial sunburn and some spots in my vision that lasted a couple of days, but luckily they went away completely.

I seriously doubt that you have any damage, but if you are concerned then go get an eye exam, we are not doctors and cannot give medical advise.

 

[hakzaw1]

DR... 'put cream cheese on it and call me in the morning'

 

[hakzaw1]

Appreciate the response. No after image, and my daughter reports no issues either (though at 5, it's a little hard to be sure).

I fully agree about the moron sales person. Having researched the real things years ago, I know the power of one head on (I even have a sticker "Do not look into laser with remaining eye", though I respect that is bad form around here). I was stunned that he was just casually burning bagels and dollar bills, and immediately left when I saw.

The laser.. I don't know if posting a link here is kosher, so I won't. But I did attach an image of it. I also laugh at the description:
30000mW 445nm Blue High Power Laser Pointer Most Powerful Comprehensive Lazer Flashlight
I know it's not a 30w Lazer, but I doubt it is even a 3w. But I still respect even a 500mw blue, so..

OK I know you are 'new' BUT
its very important that some things are written 'correctly' the diff between 30 W - 30w and 30 mw is HUGE!! W means Watt. mW is mili watt. & mw is micro watt. IIRC

and MW is Mega Watt.. so what is printed on the side of what you posted is NOT even 30 W its 30000 MegaWatt (MG) AND ' 500mw blue' is 5 mW.. very dim for a blue 'lazer' as you spell it..

if you cannot get that straight I would hold off buying any more lasers from 2nd rate sellers..

 

[paul1598419]

I had lasers before I had a daughter. I have more now, but she is in her mid thirties. You can have things that are dangerous. Once my daughter was old enough to know the difference, I showed her a HeNe and told her about the dangers. I have given her more lasers than many people on this forum have in their collection. Every time I build a new one, I make a point of showing it to her when she comes by.

 

[Shadowhawk]

Holy cow.. tons of replies while i slept.

First off - thanks again for all the feedback. Part of why i made my post in the first place, was doing a search of the forum, and seeing a wide array of posts about the risks of any lasers inside, burning things, and how enough light could be reflected. I don't seem to have any lasting effects, so i won't worry about it further, but will of course... keep an eye on it.

Benm That's why i was curious about why they even had them on display; i actually was first attracted to the picture of a wicked laser they had on display (was wondering what was up with that, since they aren't sold in the US anymore). Then i found out it was a very low quality rip off..

Alaskan - I am truly sorry i remind you of a troll; no trolling at all from me. Yes, there are lots of morons in this world, and sadly i ran into one (and hey.. i sure have my days where i qualify too).

hakzaw1 - I am not sure what you mean by 'new', as i have genuinely never been here (again, i am sorry that you have so many trolls that you have to be so suspicious of any new face...). That said, i do know the difference between milliwatts and megawatts. I am sorry when typing on my phone that i took some liberties in my capitalization. Thank you for being insulting though.. it is a very nice welcome to the forum.

 

[Shadowhawk]

I know, it's just the thread subject, not you. We've been fairly free of the eye damage reports for awhile now, I think the dude who kept coming in here stopped using that, moved on to other things.

Ah, i understand. Well, for what its worth, sorry again for the over worry. Look at it this way - at least the only report (so far, the show is still going today) was from concern about reflected light, rather than somebody taking it directly in the eye (i really was amazed when i think back - he was doing it with a huge crowd around, at head level, with no safety gear anywhere. For his sake, i hope the laser really wasn't a 3W laser, should he have any accident with that many people around).

 

[Shadowhawk]

Ugh, don't remind me about the morons who shoot at planes. The kind of person who "gets a kick" out of endangering not just a pilot, but hundreds of passengers, is the kind of person you drag out back and handle quietly... anyway..

Hopefully in the future i can contribute more useful posts around here - i have always been fascinated with the hobby, but between a lack of free money and time (among other things), i never got into it. But, from what i gather, i am at least half way there in terms of power sources; thanks to my flashlight addiction, i have a ready supply of protected and unprotected 18650 cells (not to mention RCR123), charging bags and chargers (and unless i am wrong, these are the same kinds of cells used in handheld units here). I know the bags are mostly unneeded, but i have seen enough failures from cells (oh man, when a cell vents with flame... whoooooo) that i am paranoid enough to do it right.

As it is, sorry to hear about the prior troll problems. I respect how much of a problem they can be, and would love to see them gone everywhere.

 

[Benm]

Holy cow.. tons of replies while i slept.
Benm That's why i was curious about why they even had them on display; i actually was first attracted to the picture of a wicked laser they had on display (was wondering what was up with that, since they aren't sold in the US anymore). Then i found out it was a very low quality rip off.

Plenty of clones out there - even from things that were not that well designed to begin with like most wicked laser products.

I'm more surprised that they'd sell this as a laser to use on a gun.

Most targeting lasers on firearms are red and single mode, for good reason: DPSS lasers are too fragile to survive the shock when the gun is fired, so 532 nm green is out. Multimode lasers (like this one) are unsuitable since they don't project a small dot but a fairly large line at distances of say 100 meters or more.

One thing to look out for are, perhaps, single mode blue/cyan diodes that put out up to 100 mW or so, but are mechanically as strong as the red ones. Then again you don't -want- that much power output on a gun mounted laser anyway as it gives away your position instantly even to people relatively far from your target.