It's a tough call, no doubt. Ordinarily I'm all for free sharing of information, but this development has grown to very large proportions, and certain Chinese manufacturers are selling class 4 lasers to any and everyone dirt cheap with labels such as "weapon" and "light saber" etc. This is irresponsible and does present a real threat to the hobby.. these companies act without regard for the hobbyist. It would be best if the only way one could obtain a class 4 pointer was if they build it themselves.
What do Chinese manufacturers selling high powered lasers for cheap have to do with information hiding on the forum? Does it somehow make the problem go away? Does it
really disassociate this site from high powered lasers?
Statements like "it would be best if the only way one could obtain a class 4 pointer was if they build it themselves" are hypocritical in this context. On one hand you want this information hidden, on the other you want it to be the only means to make these lasers. What is it then? And does it have any bearing at all on whether 3rd party manufacturers from China make these lasers available?
A teenager who spent their allowance money and is now waving a class 4 laser around is a recipe for disaster since they will likely not have any real grasp of the danger involved. I can't tell you how many times I've been at the club and I see people waving high-powered pointers around hitting people in the head, eyes, etc. It's only a matter of time before these 1W blues make it to nightclubs, concerts, etc.
But again, what does this have to do with hiding the forum? Does a DIY laser community bear the blame for idiots using pre-made lasers in clubs or whatnot? Wouldn't that blame rest on the sources that provided them with the lasers? Even if blame is placed on this DIY community, would it even matter if this forum were "hidden"? I don't think it defers responsibility, and if anything, it only validates the idea that were doing something illegal and dangerous.
So many people here believe that there is no significant increase in danger from class 3b to class 4, but that's incorrect. The amount of time that it takes to do damage decreases significantly as power increases. Therein lies the danger. A quick flash from a reflection and damage is done.
Is that really any different than with a Class 3b laser? I don't think so. We're just talking numbers here, small differences. It's like arguing that a smaller caliber gun is less dangerous in the hands of an idiot than a higher caliber gun. They're both dangerous, and the same regulations would/should be applied to both.
Likewise, it would be naive to believe that only because there are
class 4 lasers available instead of class 3b lasers, that the danger threshold has been surpassed. Any laser > Class 3a should not be used in public without goggles or certified safety standards (like with laser shows). It doesn't matter if the laser is class 3 or class 4; they're both going to cause permanent eye damage and burns if abused. Even worse is if people are lured into the false notion that their Class 3b is somehow "safer" to be used in public without safety measures. It's certainly not.
So I just don't buy this whole argument that only now things have changed. The only thing that has really changed is that Wicked Lasers has generated a lot of publicity about their laser. If that is the real problem, the only real solution is to stop the sale of such complete lasers on this site (ads, shops, etc.) until things have died down, but even that really isn't going to change things.
