[Liberator]

Didn't know if you guys had seen this thing.  I'm of two minds, yeah it's freaking cool as hell, but it's also incredibly dangerous and I have no idea why it's so easily available.  Unless they are trying to arm us against the upcoming alien invasion in 2012?

[StarSlayer]

Enjoy it while it lasts, Lucas has already threatened to litigate

[achtung]

I'm going to try to pick one up I think. Just for kicks.

[chief1983]

I still say I have no idea why it's so cheap.  Several mW lasers in that spectrum cost upwards of $1000 so why is this one so affordable now?

[Titan]

Cuz' it's just a flashlight 

Or it requires plutonium batteries*

*Batteries not included

[qazwsx]

Freaking cool as hell, if I had the money, I'd buy one, as I trust myself with it.

shouldn't be that easily avaliable though :\

[BloodEagle]

Vigilante justice is going to get an amazing boost in activity.  So is random murder.

But, you know.  Whichever.

[Mongoose]

The fact that stuff like this even exists for public consumption fundamentally scares me.

[Liberator]

If they've upped the power that much and lowered the production costs enough to cause it to be that much less than the previous model, there will be some kind of restriction on it eventually.  I found this on HardOCP today, but I doubt the general public knows much, if anything, about it's existence.

[Kosh]

The fact that stuff like this even exists for public consumption fundamentally scares me.

I dont see how it can be any worse than those black market AK-47's the gangbangers love so much.

[watsisname]

Um, wat?  How the hell do they sell a *blue* laser of one THOUSAND milliwatts power for that cheap?  (Claims to be <$200).  Usually even a 100mW blue laser goes for thousands of dollars.

* watsisname is confused

Edit:  Oooh, I see, it's some new type of blue laser diode.  Iiinteresting.  And this is pretty scary stuff:

Prolonged exposure to blue laser light can alter and have a diminishing effect on a person's perception of the color green.Patients who were treated for being exposed too long to intense blue laser light in the milliwatt range were only able to perceive the green color in a period of about 4-6 months.

The blue wavelength can cause a distinct biochemical action in the release of free radicals which are then effectively absorbed by red blood cells in the capillaries. Blue laser light, 445nm or 470nm is absorbed more effectively by retinal tissue compared to 532nm green or 650nm red laser light.

 

[Colonol Dekker]

Batteries not included
 
 
Where are the restrictions on this thing?
 
Although a magnifying glass angled just right can cause comparable if not more damage in retrospect.
 
****ING ANTS

[Mongoose]

The fact that stuff like this even exists for public consumption fundamentally scares me.

I dont see how it can be any worse than those black market AK-47's the gangbangers love so much.

It's a lot worse in that your average idiot suburbanite teen probably has no idea how to get his hands on a black-market AK-47, yet could purchase this laser without any issues and start shining it in his neighbor's windows just for kicks.  I mean, you could be sitting in your own house, happen to look outside in the wrong direction at the wrong time, and wind up with permanent eye damage.  That's ****ed up.

[Shade]

For that matter, with a 1W laser you may not even need to turn your head - reflections could well be enough to do damage. 1W is a very, very serious amount of power in the context of lasers, and is really not something you should be able to get your hands on without a permit.

[Flipside]

I agree with those in this post that are concerned about this, as has been pointed out, most people really don't understand the damage of simply pointing one of these things at other people. I'm not even certain would such a laser could used for other than leaving scars on people you don't like. It's called an arctic laser, and I can see the use of something like that in the arctic, where it would be better than a chain-saw if you are trapped in a boulder field, but you don't see chain-saws being passed off as kids toys.

[Snail]

burning people is a-1 supar and every kid should have the opportunity to do so

[Flipside]

Seeing as I still have a scar on the back of my hand where someone in the metalwork class decided to hold an iron rod under an oxy-acetylene burner and then put the hot end on my hand as I worked over 20 years ago, I'm inclined to disagree

[chief1983]

I would almost consider getting one, except I don't have a gun safe to lock it up in yet.  And I don't think they sell trigger guards for lasers yet.

[jr2]

New forms of Chinese torture are being invented as we speak!    But seriously... if you have one of these in the house and your kids' friends come over and think it would be fun to blind the cat...   Well... then again... it's not like pencil torches aren't readily available and they can do just as much damage.  And they only cost $10...

[Snail]

New forms of Chinese torture are being invented as we speak!    But seriously... if you have one of these in the house and your kids' friends come over and think it would be fun to blind the cat...   Well... then again... it's not like pencil torches aren't readily available and they can do just as much damage.  And they only cost $10...

AFAIK, pen lasers don't really burn skin or set things on fire.