The first thing that I really have to say about this laser is in regards to the company, Survival Laser. This transaction was smooth, and all of my questions were answered prior to purchasing. I had a lot of confidence ordering from someone based in the US. I ordered this laser last Thursday, July 28th and received on Monday. :yh: If I would have ordered on Wednesday, would have probably gotten it on Friday. Gary is great to work with, and will be getting more of my money in the future, I'm certain. :thanks:
Anyway...on to the actual review.
Shipping:
No fault there. Items arrived well packaged in a standard, "if it fits, it ships" USPS priority mail package. Plenty of bubble wrap used to shield the goods.
Unpacking the laser:
On unboxing the laser, my initial fears of purchasing a kit were immediately put to rest. I've seen toys for my 5-year-old that were harder to put together.
The unit went together very easily. Separated the individual parts in the host assembly, popped in the pill and diode, heat sink...etc. Easy. The host feels really good in the hand. Solid. It somehow feels disturbing having that much power in a package smaller than my hand.
I followed the instructions, including writing the specs for the unit on the laser warning decal, and then plugged in the charger and batteries. Now, the hardest part....waiting for the batteries to charge.
I killed the time by reading the instructions and warnings about the laser. Standard stuff, really: Don't shine it in the eyes, don't shine it at animals, don't shine it into planes, cars, automobiles, etc. One great thing, though, is that the instructions have finally helped me answer the question, "So, what would you use it for?" Answer: "control of venomous invertebrates." Roasting spiders.... :gun:
Finally, the light on the batteries went from red to green...
Testing:
There were two things that I immediately noticed when I turned the laser on (oh, by the way, I was at WORK doing this...) and focused it, and tried to get my phone to take a pic of the first beam. The first thought, "Damn...that's bright!" The second thought, "Is that making the wall smoke?" Yeah...Oops. I put a burn mark on my office wall. It's OK. I fixed it.
After seeing the scorch mark I figured I should wait until I got home.
Note: There was one slight issue with the laser at this point: I'd had it on for about 15-30 seconds, and then shut it off to adjust a target. I tried to turn it back on, and nothing...I tried it a few more times, and it was still not turning on. I gave the tail cap a half turn, and the beam came on strong...Hmmm. I looked at the rubber cover on the click switch, and there was a small hole. I sent a note Gary with Survival Laser, and he got right back to me. I had a replacement tail cap on the way to me that day. Awesome service again. :wave:
So, back to the first day with the laser. Got the beam home, and had some fun taking images of the laser. I've noticed that when it's on, it's the star of the show. It can wash out images, leave areas over exposed...etc.
Learning from my experience with the walls at the office, I made sure that I had something to shine the beam into to disperse it first, hence the glowing water. In that pic, I've got my Nova Alpha 125, the DX 200mW red, and the Survival Laser 445 all hitting the water bottle.
There's also a shot in here of the three lasers from as close to directly in the beam path as comfortable for me. And, a comparison of the image distortions of green vs blue. OK, green has virtually NO distortion on the image. The blue...washed it out.
I've burned paper, cut plastic, boiled coffee, burned a couple ants instantly, melted through a few old sunglasses, lit a candle...yeah. Good times.
Summary:
Best laser I've ever owned. Period.
Anyway...on to the actual review.
Shipping:
No fault there. Items arrived well packaged in a standard, "if it fits, it ships" USPS priority mail package. Plenty of bubble wrap used to shield the goods.
Unpacking the laser:
On unboxing the laser, my initial fears of purchasing a kit were immediately put to rest. I've seen toys for my 5-year-old that were harder to put together.
The unit went together very easily. Separated the individual parts in the host assembly, popped in the pill and diode, heat sink...etc. Easy. The host feels really good in the hand. Solid. It somehow feels disturbing having that much power in a package smaller than my hand.
I followed the instructions, including writing the specs for the unit on the laser warning decal, and then plugged in the charger and batteries. Now, the hardest part....waiting for the batteries to charge.
I killed the time by reading the instructions and warnings about the laser. Standard stuff, really: Don't shine it in the eyes, don't shine it at animals, don't shine it into planes, cars, automobiles, etc. One great thing, though, is that the instructions have finally helped me answer the question, "So, what would you use it for?" Answer: "control of venomous invertebrates." Roasting spiders.... :gun:
Finally, the light on the batteries went from red to green...
Testing:
There were two things that I immediately noticed when I turned the laser on (oh, by the way, I was at WORK doing this...) and focused it, and tried to get my phone to take a pic of the first beam. The first thought, "Damn...that's bright!" The second thought, "Is that making the wall smoke?" Yeah...Oops. I put a burn mark on my office wall. It's OK. I fixed it.
After seeing the scorch mark I figured I should wait until I got home.
Note: There was one slight issue with the laser at this point: I'd had it on for about 15-30 seconds, and then shut it off to adjust a target. I tried to turn it back on, and nothing...I tried it a few more times, and it was still not turning on. I gave the tail cap a half turn, and the beam came on strong...Hmmm. I looked at the rubber cover on the click switch, and there was a small hole. I sent a note Gary with Survival Laser, and he got right back to me. I had a replacement tail cap on the way to me that day. Awesome service again. :wave:
So, back to the first day with the laser. Got the beam home, and had some fun taking images of the laser. I've noticed that when it's on, it's the star of the show. It can wash out images, leave areas over exposed...etc.
Learning from my experience with the walls at the office, I made sure that I had something to shine the beam into to disperse it first, hence the glowing water. In that pic, I've got my Nova Alpha 125, the DX 200mW red, and the Survival Laser 445 all hitting the water bottle.
There's also a shot in here of the three lasers from as close to directly in the beam path as comfortable for me. And, a comparison of the image distortions of green vs blue. OK, green has virtually NO distortion on the image. The blue...washed it out.
I've burned paper, cut plastic, boiled coffee, burned a couple ants instantly, melted through a few old sunglasses, lit a candle...yeah. Good times.
Summary:
Best laser I've ever owned. Period.