Practical uses for handheld lasers - What do you use your Laser for?

cipherfx

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Hello Friends!

I'm doing a news story about the practical uses for high powered handheld lasers. Example Wicked Laser's Arctic & Krypton. So if I can get your help to brainstorm of some practical uses of 100mw-1000mw lasers that would be great!


P.S If you want to post some other fun or creative uses that's fine too, but try to keep it on topic. Thanks!
 

JacobJones

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I don't have any lasers myself but one practical use is astronomy, pointing out stars and stuff to other astronomers if you are in a group.
 

FRITZHID

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i have 1 mounted to my tripod handle and use it for rough aiming my camera for stellar photography, i have 2 line lasers i use for leveling around rooms, i use my 1w for heatshrink in tight spaces, use my uv for alota stupid lil things, and my EDC green i use as a flashlight on occasion.
 

susanawalkly

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I have just used low power green laser pointer to play with cat. I am eager to own a high power one.
 

subwoofer

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I have a 5mW and 50mW green laser.

I am afraid there are very few if any practical uses for these, and when the output power gets even greater, then there is even less chance of a practical use.

For pointing things out such as in presentations, even the 5mW is often too bright, but is OK. This is also perfectly sufficient for astronomy and star pointing.

The 50mW I have used to light matches and burst balloons, and had to wear safety goggles when doing so as the spot is so bright. Even this 50mW laser is not practical and is capable of quickly and permanently damaging someone's (or some animal's) vision. (I hope the cat owner won't use a higher power laser to play with his cat).

Higher power lasers are very hazardous and only when used correctly are they safe for making light shows like in night clubs when the exposure is limited to safe levels should the light fall into someone's eye.

Although I am tempted to buy a more powerful laser than the 50mW I have, apart from shining into the sky (making sure to avoid any aircraft) there are almost no other safe uses for it. It is just not worth the potential accident causing partial blindness.

They should really be licensed or banned. Would you really want all the troublemakers in the world having a hand held laser they could use to blind you and then rob you, or worse?
 

cipherfx

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Yea I've always wondered how laser devices used to light shows are safe. Some of them are 1 watt or 2 watt lasers
even though they are refracted into multiple lasers I still can't imagine how safe these can be if they hit your eye.

I used to work as a wireless Engineer for Wireless ISP's the only practical use I can think of is checking line of sight for back haul
point to point applications between antennas. That or any other line of sight application. Though now that the practical applications seem limited I wonder what some of the fun or creative ways people have used high powered lasers for?
 

Harold_B

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Subwoofer - If CPF were a site where we awarded each other "up votes" you would have mine. Well said.
 

bnemmie

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+! Cat Entertainment.

But in all seriousness I have a high powered green one I use for pointing out stars and a low power green and red one for mounting on firearms to assist training new shooters. I find it to be very helpful.
 

Zeruel

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I carry a small 200mW (claimed) green laser in my first aid/survival kit. In an emergency, it can help to pinpoint your location from miles away, or to send a SOS beacon (only at night unfortunately). And of course, the side benefit is the "oooooh" I got from fellow hikers. ;)
 

egrep

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I have had several high powered hand held lasers. I have a 100mw green and a 1W blue laser currently. Both of these are insane, unsafe, dangerous and outright inappropriate for anyone to own and operate, including me.

What subwoofer says should be taken to heart. You simply have no idea how dangerous these are and how incredibly easy (and seemingly unavoidable) it is to cause permanent injury in an instant. These devices should only be used in properly supervised and operated laboratory environments.

Period, End Of Discussion. These.Are.Not.Toys!

Heed these words of caution before you do something that can not be undone.
 

jspeybro

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Yea I've always wondered how laser devices used to light shows are safe. Some of them are 1 watt or 2 watt lasers
even though they are refracted into multiple lasers I still can't imagine how safe these can be if they hit your eye.

I used to work as a wireless Engineer for Wireless ISP's the only practical use I can think of is checking line of sight for back haul
point to point applications between antennas. That or any other line of sight application. Though now that the practical applications seem limited I wonder what some of the fun or creative ways people have used high powered lasers for?

both your examples are not handheld, but to give a little insight on your first example, safety is not only given by the power of the laser.

sorry, I might go a little offtopic but couldn't resist and suppose some people need to know...

manufacturers of equipment for lasershows (and any laser product) have to classify their product in a certain laser class based on the best known available information. In the US, you have the CDRH and their chapter 1040, and internationally people use IEC 60825 to classify their product in the correct laser class. To an observer of a lasershow, the light only briefly at a time shines in the eye due to the high speed scanning systems (polygon mirrors or galvanoscanners). if this happens repeatatly, this is treated as a pulsed laser where not the power of the laser but the energy of the single pulse, the energy of a certain pulse train (depending on the wavelength(s) ) and the average power are the things to consider. The amount of energy hitting your eye will start heating up the lens, cornea, retina etc, and some tissues are more or less sensitive than other tissues. depending on wavelengths a certain amount of energy in a certain situation can be seen as safe to use.
Anoter important factor is the size of the beam. If you've seen a certain show where a laser is fixed in multiple directions, you can see it hitting a wall and see the size of the spot, which will likely be bigger than your head, while your eye has an aperture of only 7mm. since there is a quadratic relation between the amount of power in a beam and the size of the area that it is illuminating, this is an easy way to reduce the risk and increase the chance of you actually seeing the beam (except when using smoke ;-). One can even determine the minimum scanning speed or minimum spot size to make it safe, which I'm guessing is what they do with lasershows.
Since the safety relies on scanning the laser, there should be decent precautions (interlocks, shutters,detection of failure mechanism,...) for when these critical components fail.

as for the question of the OP, I only see handheld high power lasers useful for scientific, industrial or enclosed applications (like printers), I'm a user of the scientific and industrial type. In handheld applications, just too many things can go wrong!

Johan
 

yrusik

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"They should really be licensed or banned"....."insanely dangerous"....seriously?

Really now....are they any more "insanely" dangerous than a shotgun....sharp knife....baseball bat....your car?

They are what they are....just things....that can hurt you or others if mishandled....

This kind of talk is similar to "the gun went off by itself" stuff.

Always remember and never forget...if you pull the trigger on a loaded Glock it will make a loud noise everytime. This does not mean that it is "insanely" dangerous.

Respectfully
 

subwoofer

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Re: "They should really be licensed or banned"....."insanely dangerous"....seriously?

Really now....are they any more "insanely" dangerous than a shotgun....sharp knife....baseball bat....your car?

They are what they are....just things....that can hurt you or others if mishandled....

This kind of talk is similar to "the gun went off by itself" stuff.

Always remember and never forget...if you pull the trigger on a loaded Glock it will make a loud noise everytime. This does not mean that it is "insanely" dangerous.

Respectfully

Interesting that this should be your first post on CPF.

You make a comparison to a car or a gun, well OK in itself a laser is not lethal, however having your sight damaged by one of these will be permanent. If one is shone into your eyes while driving on a motorway then it could be lethal. You can break a leg, or be shot and it is possible to recover to a point you don't notice it (obviously some injuries are worse and we are not getting into that now). If your sight is damaged by a laser, it can mean partial blindness, losing your driving license and spending the rest of your life unable to see properly, every waking moment will be affected.

One of the reasons they are so dangerous is exactly that most people don't think they are and so don't treat them with respect. They are currently not controlled much by legislation and are silent and small.

If all these lasers were used like guns are used, in a strictly controlled way on designated ranges, supervised and with participants always wearing eye protection, then yes these would not be dangerous. However, guns are not always used on a range and are used by criminals along with all other sorts of offensive weapons. These hand held lasers are now getting to a level of power output that makes them dangerous to the unaware, and the victims of crime or negligence.

Just like gun, cars, baseball bats, knives etc the lasers themselves are not dangerous, it is the way they can be used intentionally or unintentionally and their inherent ability to easily cause permanent eye damage.....silently.

Lasers are not 'insanely dangerous', in fact, you are the only one to use this description. The high power lasers are very dangerous and need to be treated with respect and are getting so powerful they may need to be regulated by law (just as with anything these days with an over populated planet).

It is not the loud noise the Glock makes that is very very dangerous, it is the lump of lead flying at lethal velocity that is. Similarly, it is not the hand held laser that is dangerous, but the highly collimated beam of photons capable of burning through your retina before your blink reflex can protect you.

With proper education we can all be safer, but until we all reach a certain level of enlightenment the authorities often have to step in a legislate. Having been promoted from the 'curiosity' factor of the laser pointer to a device capable of burning, we need to think about how hazardous these really are.

My head is full of flu today so hopefully I have not rambled on incomprehensibly, excuse me if I have.

Also respectfully.
 
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cummins4x4

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I have a 20mw weapon mountable green laser mounted on a tactical carbine, great for shooting coyotes at night. Never turn it on until it's pointed down range. Responsible use of these will happen because of education, not banning, licensing or otherwise having the government TRYING to control their use. Doesn't work for firearms or vehicles, why would it work for lasers??
 

blasterman

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I use my 1watt 445 for nuking nuisance corals in my reef tank. Other than that, it has no practical uses.

I set up lasers for lights shows, and mostly use cheap Chinese versions (I have no sympathy for American laser companies who want their products made in Asia but cry shens if the Chinese sell here), but galvo driven fixed lasers have little in common with high powered pointers.

I also volunteer for several animal shelters, and low wattage greens are excellent stimulation and excercise tools for cats. I'm constantly asked where to get them in the 5mW range with 'click on/off' switches.
 

mikedeason

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I have to agree that there is no practial use...

But they are fun and they are seriously cool and a good conversation item at bbq's and get togethers......... if you are a responsible person.

However, I feel they can be too easily obtained by people who will not use them responsibly.

That being said...I have fun with mine.



Call me Mitt
 

cccpull

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Use a green laser pointer to "point" out/locate wildlife when I go to the swamps at night.
 

subwoofer

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Use a green laser pointer to "point" out/locate wildlife when I go to the swamps at night.

Doing this you will be in danger of shining the laser in the eyes of the poor unsuspecting wildlife.

Wouldn't a good thrower light (aspheric or recoil thrower with or without coloured filter) be better as you won't be in danger of blinding a wild animal?
 
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