Sanwu Spiker look-alike, and other products

[Durge]

Hi all,

I'd like to bring to your attention an interesting product that I found while perusing ebay. Many lasers in the range of 1-2 watts are sold on ebay by sellers in China. The majority if not all of these lasers include identical cheap packaging, starcaps, glasses, and laser hosts. Not all of them are absolutely horrible, but lasers in general are very delicate and potentially dangerous pieces of machinery. This is why purchasing them from a sweatshop in China is generally frowned upon.

During all my time browsing through the countless listings for "Military Gatling" and "301 Survival" lasers, I've never seen a host so similar to the Sanwu Spiker series as this:

This is the Ebay Listing.

This is the Sanwu Spiker series page.

The ebay ID for the look-alike seller is smallsuntorch

On the left is the knockoff, and on the right is the Sanwu. There appears to be an uncanny resemblance between this products host, and the hosts used in the Sanwu Spiker series. I admit that they are not identical, but their similarities are striking.

This brings me to my second point. I will admit that based on the unanimous voice of the forum, Sanwu is a reputable company that produces some very quality products and customer service. That being said, I'd like to suggest any newer buyers steer clear of the safety glasses offered on their site. I do not mean to diminish the credibility that they possess, I admit that they have a very nice selection of beautiful lasers on their site. An indepth look into their protective glasses has brought me to this conclusion:

Listing for the cheap laser glasses.

Listing for Sanwu laser glasses.

Cheap on the left, Sanwu on the right. The Sanwu laser glasses appear to be identical to these very cheap $1.00 Chinese glasses sold on ebay. Such glasses would be rendered absolutely useless, for example, in the face of a 7w Sanwu Spiker. If any users have any doubts about my claim, I suppose you could test the reliance and OD of both a set of Sanwu glasses and an identical looking set of Ebay Chinese glasses, but since the Sanwu are retailed at only $8.00, I don't think that would be necessary. This all comes down to Sanwu's specific proficiencies; they assemble some very nice lasers, but they outsource their laser glasses. This fact is not a fault of the company, simply an observation I've made and shared with you willing readers.

Anyways, let me know your thoughts, and thanks for reading :beer:

Durge

 

[Gazen]

Re: Sanwu Spike look-alike, and other products

When I first purchased a laser, I used Sanwu's glasses for my first laser. After I acquired some better quality ones from Survival lasers, I did some testing on them. While they may be ok for lower power lasers, they allowed some light to pass through with higher power(1W+) lasers, unlike with the Eagle Pair. As with a few of their accessories, like the star caps and their charger, they are most likely sourced from elsewhere, and are not of the same quality as their lasers. (I own their charger and starcaps).

I would trust their goggles for <500mW, but nothing too far above that.

Glad to see that you're active so soon after joining :gj:

 

[Durge]

Re: Sanwu Spike look-alike, and other products

When I first purchased a laser, I used Sanwu's glasses for my first laser. After I acquired some better quality ones from Survival lasers, I did some testing on them. While they may be ok for lower power lasers, they allowed some light to pass through with higher power(1W+) lasers, unlike with the Eagle Pair. As with a few of their accessories, like the star caps and their charger, they are most likely sourced from elsewhere, and are not of the same quality as their lasers. (I own their charger and starcaps).

I would trust their goggles for <500mW, but nothing too far above that.

Glad to see that you're active so soon after joining :gj:

Thank you for the reaffirmation. I noticed you mentioned that you owned a pair of the Sanwu glasses to protect your seeing balls, and figured I might write a post about them in hopes of keeping people safe I own several pairs in different colors (wavelengths) of the cheap Chinese glasses that I've been doing testing on, and I have to agree that they are usually adequate for anything below 500mw pertaining to their specific wavelengths.

I've seen two pretty telling videos of the capabilities of these Chinese glasses:
How good they are.
How bad they are.

 

[Gazen]

Re: Sanwu Spike look-alike, and other products

Thank you for the reaffirmation. I noticed you mentioned that you owned a pair of the Sanwu glasses to protect your seeing balls, and figured I might write a post about them in hopes of keeping people safe I own several pairs in different colors (wavelengths) of the cheap Chinese glasses that I've been doing testing on, and I have to agree that they are usually adequate for anything below 500mw pertaining to their specific wavelengths.

I've seen two pretty telling videos of the capabilities of these Chinese glasses:
How good they are.
How bad they are.

Yes, the cheap glasses have been tested with varying results on this forum, but in general I would say that while they should save your eyes from diffuse reflections, they will not protect against a direct reflection, just as shown in the videos.

 

[BobMc]

Imitation is the greatest form of flattery or so I've heard. Sanwu does make some great units so it's not to surprising that someone would want to cash in on there success. Got a couple of Spikers and the 7 watt they are fanatic builds and they feel so solid in your hand. I'm very happy with their work/builds.

 

[GSS]

Re: Sanwu Spike look-alike, and other products

Thank you for the reaffirmation. I noticed you mentioned that you owned a pair of the Sanwu glasses to protect your seeing balls, and figured I might write a post about them in hopes of keeping people safe I own several pairs in different colors (wavelengths) of the cheap Chinese glasses that I've been doing testing on, and I have to agree that they are usually adequate for anything below 500mw pertaining to their specific wavelengths.

I've seen two pretty telling videos of the capabilities of these Chinese glasses:
How good they are.
How bad they are.

Do we really need another cheap safety glasses thread on the forum?
Another reason not to is there are so so so many same look ebay style manufacturers that getting the same pair you might test is not likely to happen.
I bought 8 pairs of red lensed, green lensed and blue lensed ones from $.30 to $5 to test myself and all were different shades in color and thicknesses and markings.
I wish I could tell you they all failed but other than the "blue lensed" all were OK.
Using the proper WL to test they even stood up to 5.5W of 445 for 1 minute. Iv'e yet to have a pair that failed miserably with a 7W "BUT" they are out there and thats why we can't go by what you might post.
Best thing for anyone to do that has a cheap pair is do a quick burn test through the side lens to get an idea, then still get a pair of Eagles that this forum pushes and vouches for.

Edit: I see you posted a test from "Worlds Coolest Lasers", this guy would sell his own mother a 303 laser for $1000 so I wouldn't put any stock to what that moron has to say...

Late edit: maby just ask Sanwu where he sources his glasses..

 

[lasersbee]

Re: Sanwu Spike look-alike, and other products

Do we really need another cheap safety glasses thread on the forum?
Another reason not to is there are so so so many same look ebay style manufacturers that getting the same pair you might test is not likely to happen.
I bought 8 pairs of red lensed, green lensed and blue lensed ones from $.30 to $5 to test myself and all were different shades in color and thicknesses and markings.
I wish I could tell you they all failed but other than the "blue lensed" all were OK.
Using the proper WL to test they even stood up to 5.5W of 445 for 1 minute. Iv'e yet to have a pair that failed miserably with a 7W "BUT" they are out there and thats why we can't go by what you might post.
Best thing for anyone to do that has a cheap pair is do a quick burn test through the side lens to get an idea, then still get a pair of Eagles that this forum pushes and vouches for.

Edit: I see you posted a test from "Worlds Coolest Lasers", this guy would sell his own mother a 303 laser for $1000 so I wouldn't put any stock to what that moron has to say...

^^^ what he said ^^^^

Jerry

 

[Durge]

Re: Sanwu Spike look-alike, and other products

Do we really need another cheap safety glasses thread on the forum?
Another reason not to is there are so so so many same look ebay style manufacturers that getting the same pair you might test is not likely to happen.
I bought 8 pairs of red lensed, green lensed and blue lensed ones from $.30 to $5 to test myself and all were different shades in color and thicknesses and markings.
I wish I could tell you they all failed but other than the "blue lensed" all were OK.
Using the proper WL to test they even stood up to 5.5W of 445 for 1 minute. Iv'e yet to have a pair that failed miserably with a 7W "BUT" they are out there and thats why we can't go by what you might post.
Best thing for anyone to do that has a cheap pair is do a quick burn test through the side lens to get an idea, then still get a pair of Eagles that this forum pushes and vouches for.

Edit: I see you posted a test from "Worlds Coolest Lasers", this guy would sell his own mother a 303 laser for $1000 so I wouldn't put any stock to what that moron has to say...

I'm not particularly pushing for these glasses, just discussing them a bit, since they seem to be quite common on ebay and other websites. They were mainly brought up because I was bringing to light that they are sold on the Sanwu website..

Sure, I'm aware that the "world's coolest lasers" video is a plug for his/her products (It's clear by the shameless walls of text attempting to sell merch), and I don't endorse them. I linked that video just to show what the generic glasses can do with all that residual laser light. The conclusion here is that they are ok for weaker lasers, reflections at best, but leave much to be desired in the way of true eye protection. And you're right, the eagles are definitely recommended!