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I was gifted a powerful blue laser pointer from a laser enthusiast friend of mine, when I was in my 40s. It was powerful enough to light things on fire. It was
by leptons 2y ago
I was gifted a powerful blue laser pointer from a laser enthusiast friend of mine, when I was in my 40s. It was powerful enough to light things on fire. It was far too dangerous. If that thing reflected off anything and hit my eye, I'd be at least partially blind. I also lived near an airport, so if it got pointed towards the sky, I'd be asking for trouble. I gave the laser pointer back to my friend.
I kind of doubt the laser pointer you had was capable of blinding anyone, most laser pointers years ago were very low power. I just bought a couple hundred red diode lasers (around 5mw, or less) and they won't blind anyone. But today there are also extremely powerful laser pointers available to anyone that will blind someone in an instant.
- tombert 2y agoYeah, I have one of those things too, and they're terrifying. I wear special goggles when I use it to pop balloons or light matches. That's fair enough, this was a pretty typical "office" laser pointer you could buy in the late 90s, not terribly bright.
- leptons 2y agoPoint is (pertaining to the article) that 8-year old me would have kept that thing and I would be blind in at least one eye by now, but 40 year old me made a reasoned decision and gave it back.
- tombert 2y agoMeh, I'm not actually sure I agree. My laser pointer wasn't too lethal, but I did have a basic woodworking kit as well, I even had some a hand-me-down circular saw from my grandfather. My parents forced me to wear safety goggles, and I managed to avoid chopping off any of my fingers.
- leptons 2y agoCircular saws and lasers are vastly different in terms of safety. You don't have to worry about the reflection of a table saw in a mirror chopping your finger off, you just need to worry about the actual physical spinning blade, which makes a lot of noise and seems very dangerous - it makes you more cautious just by its nature. A high-power laser pointer (that is available today, not when you were a kid) is very dangerous, in that it operates silently, it's so compact it fits in your shirt pocket, and if it reflects off a surface and hits someone in the eye - which is easy to do - it can cause irreparable damage and the damage may not even be immediately realized. In the worst cases blindness is instant. There's no re-attaching a fingertip, there's no stopping the bleeding. Your eye is just forever damaged.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]