Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 15

Thread: Safety Question

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Aug 2010
    Posts
    231

    Default Safety Question

    I was at laser tag last night(no, I wasn't the only 40-something there).....anyway...when the young man was instructing all the "DO's" and "DON'Ts" to the crowd, he shined the RED laser directly into the eyes of the kids standing in front of him. Now, I know that RED isn't the biggest and the baddest.....but isn't this still unsafe?

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jun 2010
    Location
    Australia
    Posts
    3,734

    Default

    40 something answer.

    The real danger depends on power, divergence and the latent "eye time". Considering the human eye is not very sensitive to red, do not under estimate the damage a "dull" red laser can do.

    Either way, shining ANY laser in to peoples eyes is not on. Especially as part of a safety demonstration!!! Dumb ass.
    This space for rent.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Apr 2008
    Location
    Amsterdam, NL
    Posts
    2,098

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Laserchik View Post
    I was at laser tag last night(no, I wasn't the only 40-something there).....anyway...when the young man was instructing all the "DO's" and "DON'Ts" to the crowd, he shined the RED laser directly into the eyes of the kids standing in front of him. Now, I know that RED isn't the biggest and the baddest.....but isn't this still unsafe?
    Red is the baddest!
    1. it's less visible than green or blue, so you need more power for the same brightness
    2. the divergence of red is most of the times better than green or blue.

    but it all depends on the power.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    East Sussex, England
    Posts
    5,248

    Default

    They'll be less than 5mW lasers. I worked in a few LaserQuest sites in my youth and they moved from small HeNe's to diodes around 1991. The diodes were more powerful (iirc) but had worse beam specs than the HeNe's.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    Central Florida
    Posts
    7,067

    Talking

    Quote Originally Posted by norty303 View Post
    They'll be less than 5mW lasers. I worked in a few LaserQuest sites in my youth and they moved from small HeNe's to diodes around 1991. The diodes were more powerful (iirc) but had worse beam specs than the HeNe's.
    So... we'll call it safe per federal regulations but he's still not promoting safe laser handling practices and a dick for shining any laser into any kid's eyes.
    Love, peace, and grease,

    allthat... aka: aaron@pangolin

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Dec 2006
    Location
    Scotland
    Posts
    1,408

    Default

    call em up and ask the power !

    no doubt you will get standard , 100% safe answers but what an idiot

    make them THINK !
    In the beginning there was none. Then came the light - #1 UKLEM - 2007
    BUY UK LEGAL LASER POINTER :: NEW - Blue 460nm Laser Pointers

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    SoCal / San Salvador / NY
    Posts
    4,018

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by allthatwhichis View Post
    ...he's still not promoting safe laser handling practices and a dick for shining any laser into any kid's eyes.
    Yep, cause sooner or later, ONE of those 'dazzled' kids' parents will be rich, and he'll go home, do a little e-searching on everythingBay, kick up a tantrum, till 'Mummy and Daddy come to the rescue', and next thing you know, he'll have a 'Coool 1 Watt Blue 'Iron Man' Laser Glove' in his hands via UPS...and shortly, thereafter, a 1/2 blind cat or dog...

    Laserchik, you outta go get a 5" rubber stamp made-up of this and next time you go to L-Tag, give the genius a 'laser-safety lesson' to remember - on his forehead!

    (kidding...
    j
    ....and armed only with his trusty 21 Zorgawatt KTiOPO4...

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    East Sussex, England
    Posts
    5,248

    Default

    and a dick for shining any laser into any kid's eyes.
    Its no worse than what goes on during play every day of the week, its the nature of the game.

    If it was bad for you, they'd have outlawed it already. I'm sure the manufacturers have to ensure they are of the correct class before they can even sell/franchise them. If someone got injured, the responsibility would fall to them.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    Charleston, SC
    Posts
    2,147,489,446

    Smile

    If this was a Q-zar facility, the lasers are eye-safe. They even have a time-out mechanism built-in to the gun that prevents the laser from firing after you've had a certain number of shots. (The IR LED still fires, of course, so you can still record kills and base hits - just no pretty beam to see.)

    The original Q-zar guns had red and green HeNe tubes in them. This is one reason why the folks at the Q-zar arena were always working on guns; they tended to break fairly easily. The HeNe's were changed out for red diodes at some point - I think in the late 1990's - and now both red and green team guns shoot the same color beam. (boooooooring...)

    I used to be a huge Q-zar junkie (my membership number at the local arena was 47), and a buddy of mine seriously considered buying a franchise at one point. Back then (mid 1990's) you could get started for around $400,000 or so. But even then, the folks at corporate warned you that you needed to develop "other sources of income" (read: video games, concessions, birthday/private party areas, etc) if you wanted to stay afloat.

    Sadly, all the Q-zar arenas that were within driving distance of my home have long since gone out of business and closed. (Closest one now is in Atlanta...) I haven't played in like 10 years. But it was a hell of a lot of fun while it lasted...

    Sometimes you'll find the guns and vests on E-bay.

    Bottom line: the guns are eye-safe, provided they are used as intended and the time-out on the laser is not disabled. (Fun fact: in Europe they disable this feature because the less-stringent laws governing laser exposure allows them to have the gun shoot a beam every time you pull the trigger.)

    Adam

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Aug 2010
    Posts
    231

    Default

    Well , my honey said the lasers were safe too.....I wasn't too sure, especially from all I read on PL. Safe or not, I still think it was a dumbass thing to do.

    Other than that, I had a GREAT time blasting everyone in sight with a laserbeam! Us old folks did some damage to those youngsters! LOL

    I ranked 10th out of 20 or 25 ....something like that.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •