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FrozenGate by Avery

Wicked Lasers products not FDA approved

twhite828 said:
Well, the reason I've been more concerned with WL is the fact that they've used viral marketing tactics to reach a very large, very ignorant market in terms of lasers.

I have no problem with you, ElektroFreak, owning a 1W handheld laser.

I have a problem with the Average Joe here on campus owning one and dicking around with it outside without understanding what's at stake.

-Trevor
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Very valid concerns.. but out of all the class 4 445nm handheld lasers out right now I think that the Arctic might be the safest all around. The fact that you can kick the other ones on with a simple push of a switch has always made me cringe.. What if one gets left within reach of a small child? I'd rather have one with the smartswitch myself..
 
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twhite828 said:
Well, the reason I've been more concerned with WL is the fact that they've used viral marketing tactics to reach a very large, very ignorant market in terms of lasers.

I have no problem with you, ElektroFreak, owning a 1W handheld laser.

I have a problem with the Average Joe here on campus owning one and dicking around with it outside without understanding what's at stake.

-Trevor
Click to expand...

I think this would be the case for educating the consumer and the general public. For instance, a knife can be double edge depending on the user. If the user has bad or unhealthy intentions, then it will become a weapon. IF the User use it for value creation, then it become's a chef's best friend, or a carpenter's.


Personally, I think even the smart switch on the Artic is a little too safe to operate. How about those DIYs with 1.8W and side clicky, are those even more dangerous.

For Wicked Advertisements, I will agree, I think it is quite dramatic, like a group of caucasian youths exploding a car merely by just shining the Artic (in broad day light some more), which is totally impossible, not even a 2Watts DIY could explode a car at night, let alone an Artic with one-third of the power. China way of perspective may be different from the rest of the world, I agree their advertisements aren't too healthy for the general public.

Some countries, the government thinks that chewing gum is bad for public cleanliness, where educating makes too much effort, they simply ban it. Take for example Singapore. If FDA ban Wicked, they will have to take all lasers manufacturers into considerations.
 
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As others have stated, the main problem with WickedLasers is that they have reached a very large and uneducated market, and combined it with creating a false sense of safety through claiming that their lasers are FDA approved and providing laser goggles along with any Arctic purchase.
The lasers are NOT FDA approved and (EDIT: some of) the laser goggles are completely worthless, not even bringing the laser to a safe level on the low power mode of the Arctic.

In my opinion, it is far worse to sell something which is close to legal and claim is it completely legal, than to sell something illegal and never claim otherwise. Would you rather have a bunch of toys with lead-based paint sold by small street vendors, or a bunch of toys with a smaller amount of lead in the paint but still above allowed limits, sold in Toys R Us?

About the goggles.. I do hope that someone files a class action lawsuit against WL for personal damage.

Seb
 
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^Can't argue with that..

It's a shame though.. I really do like the Arctic. I have a small daughter, and it's the only class 4 portable in the house.. by a long shot. The only other portable I've got is a 25mW blu-ray that I keep in my work area. To me portable lasers are exactly like guns, minus the lethality.
 
Jaseth said:
The lasers are NOT FDA approved and the laser goggles are completely worthless, not even bringing the laser to a safe level on the low power mode of the Arctic.

About the goggles.. I do hope that someone files a class action lawsuit against WL for personal damage.

Seb
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Let's not go overboard. I measured the WL googles, read the G2 review in my sig. They let through about 2.5% of the beam on high power - 18mW. On lower power mode the Arctic puts out about 150mW. 2.5% is 3.75mW, hardly going to damage anyones eyes.

At 18mW someone would have to point the laser at their eye and stare at it for it to be dangerous. How many people even wear goggles holding a 18mW laser?
 
I agree ElektroFreak - I would love to have a coded activation switch on all my lasers similar to the one on the Arctic. Instead, I keep my lasers in a dual lock briefcase with the batteries stored separately. I have far too many people at my apartment every week to want to risk storing them less securely.

Seb

EDIT: Perhaps you were lucky with your goggles, ZapU. Several members have reported being able to light a match through their goggles, and easily seeing the beam on low power mode with the goggles on.
 
I can second what ZapU said. The goggles supplied with my laser are fairly effective. They do melt after some seconds of direct contact with the full-powered beam, but I measured 21mW after the goggles on full power, and a tiny fraction of that on low. That's quite a bit of energy being absorbed, but still the fact that the goggles melt is no good IMO and I don't think that they could ever be considered a true "professional" piece of safety gear.
 
The one lacking safety measure are the included glasses that WL provides. I have two Spyder 3's, and both came with the orange-lens glasses that show the dot as a dull blue/violet color. I finally got some real OD 4+ glasses, and they make the dot appear like a dim yellow. I'm glad I didn't take a reflected beam with the old glasses.
 
I agree the Laser Shades WL provides seems inadequate. Even with my OD+7 from Laser GLow, I still excercise extra caution with a Class IV.

The only reason why I think FDA would go so far out could probably as what you said, Wicked Lasers attempt to use FDA as a 'reason' to sell it as a 'safety' product to the US, which FDA didn't claim they have given any approval, or maybe they did before, but retracted the approval now due to some conflict in manufacturing agreement.

As far as I see, the safety features on the Artic is far over-whelming, just compare with Spartan 1W, I already find the Smart Switch a hassle to operate. I would love to have a side clicky that can give me the reaction time to burn what I want to burn, rather than to meddle with some code in order to turn it on, by the time, maybe the thing I wanted to burn could have already flown away.
 
Am I the only one who says who cares about the legal issue? I'm just glad that I got my lasers into the states! I got my 250mw but am still waiting on my 1w 445 :(

If it doesint get in the country, do you get a letter or a notice saying your item was destroyed? Or do you just wait forever?
 
Stephen j gilman said:
Am I the only one who says who cares about the legal issue? I'm just glad that I got my lasers into the states! I got my 250mw but am still waiting on my 1w 445 :(

If it doesint get in the country, do you get a letter or a notice saying your item was destroyed? Or do you just wait forever?
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If you don't receive it, file a dispute with your credit card company for a refund. You can say that you never received the product you ordered, and the company selling it never issued a refund as per its advertising.
 
drgrant1 said:
Gizmodo.com had an article regarding this topic also.

The FDA Does Not Approve of How Wicked Lasers Is Making Their Lasers
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This warning letter from the FDA (dated Nov 3) should probably end the discussion about whether ANY of WL's lasers are "legal" or not

Yes. Lots of other sellers are also selling illegal lasers. WL just got caught (again). They will probably come back later with yet another "business" name. However, it is just a game of "Whack-a-Mole" between them and the FDA. As I said before, buy them if you want them. Just do not be surprised when they get confiscated by customs

Peace,
dave
 
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