Deadly Weapons

[lasermaker]

Lasers over 5mW can be considered deadly weapons. A 300 mW 532 hitting a driver or pilot at close range, 1000 ft, can put his vision out of service long enough to cause harm to himself or others. It is all fun to see what lasers do from the users end but it is another story from the observers, especially if they do not know what it is. A quick swipe at close range with 200 mW and you will wonder if you will ever be right again. I am in the business of providing Laser products that are used primarily for signaling positional awareness to pilots and other responders. The military is my biggest customer and the product had to be tested for eye safety, it barely passed at 5 mW. and these guys play with loaded guns. Note the Non Ocular Hazard distance, NOHD (naked eye), 2.6 meters. In short if 5mW is hazardous under 10 ft you guys best be careful with the big toys. I hope our friend is OK.

Laser Output Parameters​

Wavelength

532 nm​

Beam Size

1.1 mm circle that grows to an ellipse​

Beam Divergence

31 x 1.1 mrad​

Total Output Power

5 mW​

.​

ANSI Classification

3a Danger​

IEC Classification

3R​

NOHD (unaided)

2.64 m​

NOHD (5-cm aided)

17.8 m​

NOHD (8-cm aided)

28.5 m​

NOHD (12-cm aided)

49.9 m​

NSHD

0 m​

OD (unaided)

0.8​

OD (aided)

0.8​

OD (max)

0.8​

 

[Rexlion]

That's good to know. Can you say what the NOHD would probably be for some other power levels? Like 30mW, 50mW, etc.

I would like to know if there is any danger in shining a green 50mW from shore at a freighter that's a couple of miles out. It would be interesting to me to see if I could see the beam on the side of the ship, but if there's any risk I woudn't want to experiment.

 

[IMSabbel]

I see your point, but also the hyperbole.

By the same notion, everything from a thumbnail to aspirin could be constructed to be a deadly weapon.

Not to mention cars. Think of the billions of people that would be killed everyday if drivers would just steer a tiny bit towards the sidewalk...

 

[KarlH]

That's good to know. Can you say what the NOHD would probably be for some other power levels? Like 30mW, 50mW, etc.

I would like to know if there is any danger in shining a green 50mW from shore at a freighter that's a couple of miles out. It would be interesting to me to see if I could see the beam on the side of the ship, but if there's any risk I woudn't want to experiment.

The NOHD isn't by power level of the laser, it is by the amount of power recieved in a defined area at the distance it falls to a "safe" level. As and example, according to the manual on my new to me IZLID, when focused on low power(45mW), the NOHD is 257 meters for a 10 second exposure. When focused for a wide illumination beam as opposed to a targeting beam, on high power(100mW) the NOHD is 1 meter. I seriously wish there was an easy way to reduce the power on my IZLID significantly. The bloom in night vision on low and focused makes it worthless as an aimer for a rifle, but it is one heck of an illuminator on it's wide focus.

 

[fyrstormer]

I would be fine with a compromise requiring people to get licenses to operate high-power lasers, instead of the current outright ban on owning them. Lasers are certainly more efficient at producing light than other emitters, since the light is coherent, but five thousandths of a watt is still pretty darn weak if you're not pointing it in people's eyes.

Everyone I know gets their guard up when a laser pointer gets turned on near them. I don't know anyone who jokes around with them anymore. I got tagged in the eyes with a laser pointer a couple of times back in school, when some ******* in gym class thought it would be funny to point it at people's faces. The instant my entire field of vision turned red I knew what had happened, and by the end of the day the ******* in question had been suspended for a full year. I think it's safe to say that, provided the user is an adult, if they're using it improperly it's not the laser pointer's fault. Restricting the ownership of laser pointers just makes ____s have to look for something else to use as a weapon -- it's like the bumper stickers say, guns don't kill people, people kill people.

 

[Ragnarok]

I have a bit of a problem with lasers being called deadly weapons.

"Deadly" implies the possibility of direct fatal injury. While lasers can cause damage, I have yet to hear of any laser directly causing death.

Example: if a driver is blinded by a laser and they go over a cliff and are killed, though the laser may have/did precipitate the events leading to the fatal crash, the laser itself was not deadly.

2c/imo, R.

 

[photonwave]

I have a bit of a problem with lasers being called deadly weapons.

"Deadly" implies the possibility of direct fatal injury. While lasers can cause damage, I have yet to hear of any laser directly causing death.

Example: if a driver is blinded by a laser and they go over a cliff and are killed, though the laser may have/did precipitate the events leading to the fatal crash, the laser itself was not deadly.

2c/imo, R.

We've got lasers that can knock missiles out of the sky. I'd be willing to wager one of those aimed at ground personnel could be just as effective, maybe.

 

[Archie Cruz]

All a bit surprising. Laserflares are way more than 5Mw.

 

[Ragnarok]

We've got lasers that can knock missiles out of the sky. I'd be willing to wager one of those aimed at ground personnel could be just as effective, maybe.

I know that :tired: yes - the military has such; they are "unobtainium" to J6P, and unlikely to turn up "on the street". I believe the OP was referring to lasers that are currently available to the public.

R.

 

[photonwave]

I know that :tired: yes - the military has such; they are "unobtainium" to J6P, and unlikely to turn up "on the street". I believe the OP was referring to lasers that are currently available to the public.

R.

Anything is theoretically available to the public. Affording it might be another matter entirely. But thanks to the Militia Act, most anything used in common warfare is to be accessible to the citizen. Sure you might need a license and pass a BG check, but that's about the only stumbling block besides money.

 

[comozo]

That's good to know. Can you say what the NOHD would probably be for some other power levels? Like 30mW, 50mW, etc.

I would like to know if there is any danger in shining a green 50mW from shore at a freighter that's a couple of miles out. It would be interesting to me to see if I could see the beam on the side of the ship, but if there's any risk I woudn't want to experiment.

This should help. Download the free version. @ 2 miles out you'll be below the NOHD
http://www.laservisuals.com/scanguard.htm