Spyder III Pro Arctic Laser

[Inquisitor]

Having read that (albeit a bit briefly), it seems more aimed at selling imitation firearms, but mentions defending the sale of Airsoft guns?

Doesn't seem to be any issues ordering one online though, unless they are under this exemption? Or will they all be bright orange or something?

Anyway aside from that, as someone else said, what use/enjoyment do you get from one personally? (Purely out of interest, I'm not looking to judge )

The VCR bill made it necessary to be a registered member of an airsoft site (and participate in games) in order to buy realistic airsoft guns.

 

[-Colli$ion-]

Robbo has pretty much said everything I could say.

You're comparing a sport that has been around for years with tens of thousands of matches and million of spectators attending every year to an object bought for personal use which has only really become more popular recently, in fact this is the biggest ruckus I've ever noticed regarding laser pointers apart from when they were new, vastly underpowered and still considered a danger.

You've also reaffirmed my point that at football matches or public events where there is potential danger safety measures are put in place to minimise any risk. In fact I also wouldn't be surprised if at certain football matches you'd have to have an adult with you if you're under a certain age (I am not a football fan so cannot give accurate examples), does anything like this exist for minors who purchase these laser pens? As far as I'm aware there are no safety measures involved with ordering a laser off the internet, anyone with a debit card (how old do you have to be to get one now?) and enough money can order one and have it delivered.

Okay so football is popular, and has been around for a long time. I did not know that had any bearing on it being acceptable for MANY people to die as a DIRECT result of the sport; however, I don’t see any organisations or newspapers pushing for a ban. High powered Laser pointers have been around for about 5 years, a handful of people have been blinded as the result of lasers (mostly through light shows http://www.geekologie.com/2008/07/russian_ravers_go_blind_from_l.php), and not 1 person has died from the result of a portable laser. I m basing my arguments on facts, figures and statistics, where as all your arguments are based on presumptions of what COULD happen IF an idiot got hold of one of these.

How can minors get hold of this laser, firstly; they would have to find out about it or know about it, secondly; they would have to have a debit/credit card and thirdly; they would have to have a spare £150, so how many ‘kids’ do you know have all those?? A minor I would classify as <17, anybody 17 or over is responsible enough, well if there responsible enough to drive a vehicle at 70 mph on a public road, then they are responsible enough to possess a 1W laser.

The laser comes standard with safety glasses and safety mechanisms, not to mention there are warnings plastered all over the website, and you have to fill out a survey before you buy it, and even when you get the laser there are warnings in the box and labels glued to the laser.

Besides; if some chav wanted to create a laser weapon they need no more than a DVD RW, some wire and batteries. They are very simple to create and the instructions can be found from thousands of places on the internet. As I have already said; they cannot ban lasers even if they wanted to. They are too main stream; the average household probably has at least 5 laser diodes in various electronic devices.

 

[Inquisitor]

License’s; now there a bad idea, you cannot license everything that can potentially be dangerous; otherwise it’s just going to get ridiculous. We already need a licence to drive a car, a licence to watch TV and a licence (registration) to buy a BB gun. How about just common sense! Just prosecute the individuals that do hurt people, instead of punishing EVERYONE because they MAY hurt someone.

As much as I'm against needless prohibitive legislation, I think in this case it may be justified (or at least regulation of some form). A laser like this doesn't have the kind of stigma that a gun has and does not command the same respect. Even the lowest chav wouldn't dream of getting hold of a gun and driving around shooting people indiscriminately (I suppose he may use it to mug people but that's something else, as it's in itself unlikely, and it'd be even more unlikely for the gun actually to be fired).

I can certainly imagine a group of chavs buying one of these, though, and driving around "harassing" people with it. There is significant potential for abuse if these become widely known of/available.

 

[-Colli$ion-]

As much as I'm against needless prohibitive legislation, I think in this case it may be justified (or at least regulation of some form). A laser like this doesn't have the kind of stigma that a gun has and does not command the same respect. Even the lowest chav wouldn't dream of getting hold of a gun and driving around shooting people indiscriminately (I suppose he may use it to mug people but that's something else, as it's in itself unlikely, and it'd be even more unlikely for the gun actually to be fired).

I can certainly imagine a group of chavs buying one of these, though, and driving around "harassing" people with it. There is significant potential for abuse if these become widely known of/available.

Okay lets explorer the regulation part, how do we regulate them? how do we decide who can and who cant have them? what do you suggest we do have a questionnaire, and if they select 'chav' they are refused a licence

The only regulation that can be really done, is a complete ban. Which is simply unacceptable to the many enthusiasts that have been building them, collecting them and using them for YEARS.

 

[Inquisitor]

Okay lets explorer the regulation part, how do we regulate them? how do we decide who can and who cant have them? what do you suggest we do have a questionnaire, and if they select 'chav' they are refused a licence

The only regulation that can be really done, is a complete ban. Which is simply unacceptable to the many enthusiasts that have been building them, collecting them and using them for YEARS.

I'm not proposing any particular solution; indeed I don't really what the best approach is. I do find the idea of these being freely available to the general public worrying, though, since the majority of people will not use them responsibly.

 

[dave1983]

Okay so football is popular, and has been around for a long time. I did not know that had any bearing on it being acceptable for MANY people to die as a DIRECT result of the sport; however, I don’t see any organisations or newspapers pushing for a ban. High powered Laser pointers have been around for about 5 years, a handful of people have been blinded as the result of lasers (mostly through light shows http://www.geekologie.com/2008/07/russian_ravers_go_blind_from_l.php), and not 1 person has died from the result of a portable laser. I m basing my arguments on facts, figures and statistics, where as all your arguments are based on presumptions of what COULD happen IF an idiot got hold of one of these.

How can minors get hold of this laser, firstly; they would have to find out about it or know about it, secondly; they would have to have a debit/credit card and thirdly; they would have to have a spare £150, so how many ‘kids’ do you know have all those?? A minor I would classify as <17, anybody 17 or over is responsible enough, well if there responsible enough to drive a vehicle at 70 mph on a public road, then they are responsible enough to possess a 1W laser.

The laser comes standard with safety glasses and safety mechanisms, not to mention there are warnings plastered all over the website, and you have to fill out a survey before you buy it, and even when you get the laser there are warnings in the box and labels glued to the laser.

Besides; if some chav wanted to create a laser weapon they need no more than a DVD RW, some wire and batteries. They are very simple to create and the instructions can be found from thousands of places on the internet. As I have already said; they cannot ban lasers even if they wanted to. They are too main stream; the average household probably has at least 5 laser diodes in various electronic devices.

The responsibility is also with the parents, all kids have to do nowadays is ask the parents to buy them something.

think about it most modern games that have age restrictions the parents still buy the game for the kid. same applies to things like this, parents are non the wiser even though the site has all these warning parents still buy them for there kids and dont know the consiquences.

 

[Andelusion]

I did not know that had any bearing on it being acceptable for MANY people to die as a DIRECT result of the sport

No one said acceptable. It's just statistically far more likely for deaths to occur if there are a large amount of people getting involved with it, surely that's obvious

not 1 person has died from the result of a portable laser.

So are you saying it's acceptable for deaths to occur before a publicly available object should be banned? Of course if this were to happen then banning the lasers/regulating who can purchase them would be seriously looked at, but surely we should be considering injuries in general? How many people do you think are honestly going to always use the goggles when playing with this laser? How would you feel if you purchased one of these lasers and it got into the hands of someone who did not understand the danger involved and thus got blinded through misuse?

I'm basing my arguments on facts, figures and statistics, where as all your arguments are based on presumptions of what COULD happen IF an idiot got hold of one of these.

That's very nice but the only way to build awareness of the dangers of something like this is to ask questions. If no one ever considered the dangers of an object or activity then the world would be a very dangerous place indeed.

How can minors get hold of this laser, firstly; they would have to find out about it or know about it

Not particularly difficult considering the aforementioned publicity these lasers have received recently.

They would have to have a debit/credit card and thirdly; they would have to have a spare £150, so how many ‘kids’ do you know have all those??

Anyone over the age of 11 can get a solo debit card (which can be used over the internet), using the high cost of the lasers as an example of their safety isn't exactly a concrete argument, it's impossible to assume everyone under the age of 16 for example has not the money necessary to purchase one. Besides the ability of the child to purchase one of these lasers isn't the sole consideration. Don't forget the years of discussions that have taken place regarding certificates on games/films/music, everyone knows that there are many parents out there who don't give a monkeys about what their child is playing/watching/listening to, isn't it reasonable to assume children with these kinds of parents could easily get one from their parents?

A minor I would classify as <17, anybody 17 or over is responsible enough, well if there responsible enough to drive a vehicle at 70 mph on a public road, then they are responsible enough to possess a 1W laser.

It's swings and roundabouts really regarding age. An age limit on an item like this would certainly be more acceptable than non at all. However it's risky to say that age alone will dictate how responsibly someone would use one of these lasers.

Besides; if some chav wanted to create a laser weapon they need no more than a DVD RW, some wire and batteries. They are very simple to create and the instructions can be found from thousands of places on the internet.

True. Many things can be constructed by the average Joe, remember the fiasco years ago about there being readily available instructions from constructing pipe bombs floating around on the net?

As I have already said; they cannot ban lasers even if they wanted to. They are too main stream; the average household probably has at least 5 laser diodes in various electronic devices.

There's a big difference in banning laser technology (which is what you are suggesting in the last quote) and banning stand-alone lasers which at least to my knowledge serve no purpose to the average consumer.

 

[Richie]

The biggest isse is muppets pointing it at people, the law should class that as assault with a weapon.

It will be classed as a weapon if it is used in such a way to cause injury much in the same way a book would be classed as a weapon if its thrown at someone.

A weapon (in the eyes of the law) need not just be made specifically as a weapon (sword/knife/nunchuks/taser) or even adapted as a weapon (golf ball with nails in it/bike chain with handle attached) but anything can become a weapon if used in certain ways e.g. baseball bat, tyre wrench etc.


So if someone causes injury to another person using this laser then its classed as being assaulted with a weapon.

 

[sid]

rr

i don't know what you are talking about - laser goggles don't scatter, they absorb. i work with a 2W 665nm laser and have goggles that absorb the specific wavelength from the laser - whats the point of having goggles if they don't protect you from a direct beam?

Yeah, I didn't express myself clearly there.

The laser goggles only protect against scattered light, you can't point that laser in your eyes even with the goggles on.

I suggest you read the safety for your laser and the specs on the goggles. they have high attenuation at certain wavelengths but its not a beam stop and doesn't protect against direct exposure. Its because, whatever gets through is focused on to retina by the cornea and once you start focussing, the power magnifies like crazy (think magnifying glass + sun)

PS - what do you use your laser for? I'm doing a phd in lasers atm so play with what only be described as serious ****. We mainly use high power pulse lasers where you can't blink faster than the pulse. They are also infra red so you can't see them dangerous is an understatment.

sid

 

[matkeys]

so why are 300mw lasers listed at $1297 and 200mw ones $999

 

[sid]

so why are 300mw lasers listed at $1297 and 200mw ones $999

Its a publicity stunt.

The only thing that impresses me is the fact that this is a portable device.

sid

 

[matkeys]

meaning its fake or to knock them out? its not that great of a laser compared to one thats of the right price and has good specs

 

[sid]

I dont think its fake but they were clearly priced it cheap for the attention. Its not hard to buy 1W lasers, just hard at that price point.

 

[sid]

Some of the marketing on the wicked lasers website is laughable

"When it comes to creating the benchmark in luxury and performance, the Sonar Extreme stands alone. Best in it's class luxury design combined with absolutely stunning performance makes for an unforgettable lasing experience"

Defo for chavs lol

sid

 

[Heliospherez]

Exactly...great marketing.

Judging from what I have read and seen of it (very limited considering it's advertised as being The Best) - It looks as though it has the same burning power as the 300-400mW versions of other Solid State hand-held lasers.

Just because it says it operates at 1W, most people assume it is going to be 10 times more powerful than a 100mW laser from 2 or 3 years ago. To be honest, that's just rubbish - and simply the fact it's so cheap and not water, gas or air cooled in any way leads me to think it's a load of rubbish - and probably the same diode-pumped solid state front end as the 250mW ones (just being driven at 1W)

 

[Dr.EM]

It's incredibly irresponsible making anything like this readily accessible to the public. Being able to hack a DVD burner is one thing, but a pre-packaged portable device like this, which, frankly, has no legitimate use whatsoever in the hands of an average person, is outrageously dangerous.

You can't put a price on eyesight and with devices like this available, it'll surely only be a matter of time before someone is blinded. Tougher laws on these would be welcome

 

[z3r0]

Now if this could be placed in a gun.. we'd be in business.

 

[Swifty123]

Don't these cheap really high powerful lasers lie about how strong they are?

 

[The Mad Rapper]

LMAO

 

[Swifty123]

LMAO

lmao if that was real
well it does say it can burn people :/ and set them on fire