Quote from: Grix on December 19, 2013, 08:27:24 PM

Quote from: kfruit on December 19, 2013, 06:50:09 PM

Quote from: adamas on December 19, 2013, 05:56:25 PM

Quote from: kfruit on December 19, 2013, 05:29:37 PM

Great! Apparently I read wrong, I thought that laser was the cheapest one that could burn stuff, apparently it's the cheapest red one. I really want the violet one for the uniqueness but I'm not sure since it seems to have the worst visibility, although it is waterproof! Decisions, decisions. Also, are the glasses 100% needed? Even when pointing at the sky?

The green ones are the brightest. Second the blue ones. The glasses are your own decision. Never point it to someones eyes, not even a cat or a mouse. The eyes will be damaged!

Thanks for the info! Green ones are everywhere now a days so nothing really special, unfortunately the cheapest blue one is $140. I understand never to point it at anyones eyes, I wouldn't even do that with those cheap pen lasers. I guess the better question is: Will my eyes get damaged if I use the laser without glasses assuming I never point it anywhere near my eyes? Or are the glasses more for accidents?

The glasses protect against accidental direct hits to your eyes. It's not harmful to look at the beam or dot without glasses.

I just wanted to add on to this, that this advice should really only be for the 50mW violet laser that they are talking about here. If you're looking at one of the higher power ones or the green ones (especially the 1W+ ones) I would say that glasses are needed all the time. With my 1800mW blue one, just the spot on a flat matte wall is dazzling, and the chance of damage from even a brief specular reflection is too high to risk.