WickedLasers Unveils Lightsaber Powerful Enough to Set People on Fire

Hi all,

This is my first thread, so please be gentle with me if I do something wrong! I've been a long time lurker, reading various replies but wanted to see what people had to say about this. I searched the forum but didn't found anything and due to the nature of the laser being able to set skin in fire and from what I read, be able to blind you just by looking at the dot on the wall, I believe this forum is the right place for it.

I found the following article tonight and read some people reply about it and was amazed at some of them.

With recent advances in lasers, many have fantasized about creating "real life lightsabers". Many military commanders have fantasized about creating portable blasters along the lines of those portrayed in fictional workers like Star Trek and Star Wars. The Spyder III Pro Arctic laser from WickedLasers can be seen perhaps as the culmination of those efforts and perhaps the first consumer laser weapon.

The laser is built with a diode from Casio's new mercury-free Green Slim projectors which ironically have a somewhat blue tint. The laser is rated at 1 watt of power and retails for a mere $200 USD. [...]

Source

Personally, I think that this is extremely dangerous and at the price of only 200$, there are risks that unreasonable people buy this just to have fun with it without realizing the risks and harm this can cause to people, animals, things around him.

I remember one story of a guy using a green laser on a plane passing by above him.
Nothing happened to the plane but the guy who did it was found because the pilots saw the laser.

Imagine if this was this laser instead. The consequences would be disastrous if the pilots were blinded.

If they want to sell it to the public, I would like this being controlled, pretty much like the firearms in Canada. I know that some of you will disagree, but that's another debate that I don't want to start.

On another note, in an apocalypse scenario, when everything is destroyed and you have to survive, I wouldn't mind having one of these, but that's the only scenario that I think would be worth it for regular people like us.

[edit on 13-6-2010 by DavidOBE]

[edit on 13-6-2010 by DavidOBE]

thats cool as a weapon. i will buy one. it has rechargeable batteries. i could see it being useful in the wilderness were silence and precision is necessary. it would be even better for wilderness applications if it was waterproof.

I am so buying one of these ... right now.
Second line.

The implications and applications are endless...

great post i have never heard of it and find it very very interesting.

~meathead

This sounds wicked fun, yeah, but it sounds pretty freaking dangerous like the OP said. It shouldn't be available to the public, no matter how much of a killjoy that might be.

If this is released unregulated and gains some word-of-mouth publicity, just wait till some hoods start melting freeway drivers' faces or target a Congressman or celebrity with one of these.

Than the cries for banning stuff like this will come pretty quickly.

I have been on the WickedLasers website, and some of those items DO cost a few thousand dollars... I haven't been on the website for a while now. I like one of those products called: TheTorch, because the torch is powerful enough to light just about anything. I don't see why people would complain, becauase that IS how the future is about, useing lasers and other new products like that. Great thread.

reply to post by Sink the Bismarck!


Yes, I'm with you.

The day someone will get blinded by one of these, there will be a big outcry on why it has not been banned.

Some people will compare it to guns, which you can get without regulations in some countries, but with a gun, if you shoot one time, people will know from where the shot was shot or have an idea and they will just hide.

With a laser, it's silent, the beam is constant and someone could do lots of damage in a really short amount of time. That's what I would be afraid.

Imagine if we would be forced to wear goggles like in the movie Book of Eli, just to protect our eyes from some foolish guy when we go out in the street or to a music show.

[edit on 2010/6/13 by DavidOBE]

I know of ocean fisherman, hikers, and military pilots that are buying the high power red lasers from Wickedlasers for emergency beacons

One of the high power red lasers aimed strait up at night can be seen by a rescue pilot for over 30 miles.

If there is high cloud cover they can sometimes can be seen for over 80 miles at night with night-vision goggles.

reply to post by ANNED


Thanks for sharing. I never thought of an application like that.

What are the power of these laser used as beacons? Are they less dangerous than a 1W laser?

you guys dont live in the country. where i live if i take a "good" walk and navigate swamps theres all types of life that is not always friendly; a laser is more apt at communication between wilderness than any other method i am aware of. it would be great if it can be waterproof and be used at different temperatures.it would be an all purpose swiss army knife. anyone who does not see the proper use of something so awesome is immature.

Oh great.. here we go. Class IV hand cannon lasers in common use by pricing drop. We've had 500mw green hand cannons for quite some time now however nothing this dangerous for so cheap. Most idiots won't and can't afford a $1000+ 500mw laser, now they can.
Blue lasers for general public have been nearly impossible to afford. As prices dropped blue lasers were no longer $3000 and have gone down, however not hugely. Professional blue lasers (457-475nm non UV blues) are still prohibitively expensive if you are not making a living from it. They cost more than almost any pro other laser show module and are the most damaging burn wise.
However when sony launched blu-ray.. they launched a mass produced blue laser source of 405nm which is UV. UV at this frequency is highly energetic and damages your eyes, it is what your sunglasses are designed to remove. However you see them in clubs from time to time here.. I shake my head. At 445nm and 1.5mrad this 1w blue laser is a beast. A module like this in the professional industry a few months ago would have cost upwards of $6000USD and more. 445nm lasers are shunned by many in the industry as we simply don't have enough testing on them to confirm wether they are too close to UV to be safe or not for laser shows. This is all $200usd means - proliferation and high chance of problems caused by inexperienced users.

People don't really understand that you don't need to be hit by the beam to go blind from lasers like this. Class III and up (100mw) is enough to cause permanent blinding from diffuse reflection in the wrong circumstances. I operate a 2W RGB laser, getting burned by a 300mw 2mm beam green on low power is bad enough. When you see it [all 2W] popping balloons and melting chairs at 10 meters with a much less focused beam than a laser pointer, you truely understand why laser safety is paramount. It's all about power exposure over time, just like glimpsing the sun. Imagine what class IV lasers can do to your eye, which focuses incoming light many times again.

New Zealand govt is heading to restrict sales of green DPSS lasers and are currently approaching Auckland university for reccomendation, guess these wicked lasers will be on the list in no time too...

Originally posted by DavidOBE
reply to post by ANNED

 

Thanks for sharing. I never thought of an application like that.

What are the power of these laser used as beacons? Are they less dangerous than a 1W laser?

Our 2W laser is a whitelight beam. With low light we can hit the upper atmosphere, the beam actually ends then it draws on the high altitude stratus clouds... so you can make shapes in mid air, like a smoke machine.
The reds are likely 1000-500mw or so, red is about 5-9x less bright to the eye than a green laser however much cheaper. They won't be much less dangerous as anything over 1mw direct into the eye can cause damage over time if long enough.... A 100mw, >1.5mrad divergance laser will cause flash blindness at 300m, which is enough to take someone out for 10minutes at the most.

Originally posted by ANNED
I know of ocean fisherman, hikers, and military pilots that are buying the high power red lasers from Wickedlasers for emergency beacons

One of the high power red lasers aimed strait up at night can be seen by a rescue pilot for over 30 miles.

If there is high cloud cover they can sometimes can be seen for over 80 miles at night with night-vision goggles.

Our record so far is farmers 2km away seeing it shooting side on without night vision and turning up at the rave ;D If you angle it towards a viewer it is many many times more visible than angled away or paralell. Rayleigh scattering helps you see the beam.

[edit on 13/6/10 by GhostR1der]

[edit on 13/6/10 by GhostR1der]

[edit on 13/6/10 by GhostR1der]

This would be like my new flyswatter

No but really this should not be released to the general public, who knows what some drunk idiot could do with this!

Time to shoot down the next chemtrailer that goes over my house.

reply to post by GhostR1der


You said you operate a 2W RGB laser. Tell me what kind of cutting power would this 1 Watt laser they are talking about have? Cut it cut lets say 10 gauge steal? I am looking for some this could cut things like car body panels and such. A plasma cutter would work for what I want but this sounds cheaper and more portable.

Thanks for the tip.
I just bought one!

Originally posted by TheComedian
Thanks for the tip.
I just bought one!

Really, no joke? OK when you get it do some test and let us know just what it can do. Maybe post a video. If this thing will cut sheet metal I may just have to buy one my self. It sure would be the heck out of tin snaps even if I did have to ware a welders shield to use it.

[edit on 6/14/2010 by fixer1967]

Originally posted by Ausar
you guys dont live in the country. where i live if i take a "good" walk and navigate swamps theres all types of life that is not always friendly; a laser is more apt at communication between wilderness than any other method i am aware of. it would be great if it can be waterproof and be used at different temperatures.it would be an all purpose swiss army knife. anyone who does not see the proper use of something so awesome is immature.

Agreed, something like this would be great for self-defense on the trail. Imagine you get attacked by a bear or a mountain lion or something, having the laser would be ideal for protecting yourself. Plus anything else, like starting a campfire. It could be a handy tool for people who like to be outside a lot.

1watt of power will not "set a person on fire", maybe dark hair and damage clothes but the most danger is to the eyes. Its comparable to a match or lighter flame. It may cut aluminium foil if focused but nothing more. The secondary effects could be alot more deadly then the beam its self and I won't say much more then that.

Just using a simple line generating optic on it would make it able to blind a whole crowd at one time.

reply to post by fixer1967


The lasers we're talking about here will only cut cardboard and thin plastic sheets with some speed. CO2 lasers might be what you're looking for, look it up on youtube.

[edit on 14-6-2010 by thaknobodi]

I can finally complete my laser gun

I started it when I was 14 with a Nintendo zapper gun, nokia battery and a cd player. Never got it working tho and my mom found it and tossed it.

Now I can look forward to laser gun v.2

Oh how far technology has come in 15 years.