Besides that if it also can't be used for anything else, yes, why not? Last I checked there were a couple of legit uses for lighters.
Nope. The thing about lasers, what makes them a laser, their whole laser-ness, so to speak, is that they produce a spatially coherent, narrow low-divergence beam. "Spatially coherent" basically means that all the photons are of the same wavelength and that their wave forms are 'in step' with each other. "Narrow low-divergence beam" means that the beam stays practically the same width over very large distances. It is not like a torch, where the beam of light spreads out in a cone and becomes dimmer as it is spread over a larger radius. The laser beam stays focused and therefore (give or take a bit of diffusion by atmospheric conditions) can still deliver the same wallop of light (and energy!) many miles away. With a 1W green laser you can take a pilot's eye out at 45 miles. Personally I don't think these devices should be sold any more freely than a gun.
First course of action: gathering every mirror I can find. Second course of action: buying a fog machine.
I've just found out where to order one and as far as I can find they ship to the UK as its not illegal here yet.
Technically what makes it a laser is a population inversion in the silicon, allowing the pretty naughty trick of stimulated emission. The beam is very spatially coherent, but it's likely to be quite wavy in temporal coherence, making for an ineffective long-distance burner. The beam dispersion on blue-ish lasers is higher than green, although I'm not sure on the exact coefficient at 440nm. With the quoted beam divergence (i.e. optimal) the beam diameter increases 1.5mm per 100 metres, making it pretty wide by the time you get to a mile or so. I'm not disputing that it'll be dazzling, but blinding? Definitely not. In fact the NOHD for that particular laser, even being a massive 1W beastie, is only 211m. i.e. Once you travel 211m away from the laser there is no chance of permanent vision damage even from direct sight. All that said the general public probably shouldn't be allowed to use high-powered lasers. The trouble is the enthusiasts always get trodden on with that kind of legislation. If I were a home scientist I'd be rather miffed if I couldn't get a decent laser to be able to make holograms or something similar if that were my love.
If you were a home scientist then surely there could be a loop hole by making the sale of only the laser component from registered retailers i.e RS components and a such. That way they would have to set it up on a test bench for there experiments to creating such visual effects Packaging it into a nice little torch sized unit with a built in battery only services one purpose. That is to be a stupid little menace! Personally it should be banned, as some dick with one pointing it at aircraft or traffic is too removed from the actual effects they are causing. It's almost fire and forget because the 'user' doesn't see the direct effect unlike firing another potential weapon. Case in point, take one little dumb punk with laser pen, points into traffic and a driver gets blinded and a high speed accident occurs, now how is that any different than taking a .22 rifle and shooting the driver in the face. Both cause pain and lasting damage even before the car accident occurs. Or how about next time your flying on hoilday just after receiving your 'very cool' Spyder III some sod blinds both pilots just after take-off, causing the only two guys on the aircraft able to fly the plane to struggle blind to land the plane, sound fun? You might say I have blown the example a little out of proportion but that is just how serious this could be.
Totally agree on the portability factor, they should be made into a typical bench laser size. The trouble with solid state lasers is that they're nice and compact, unlike the gas lasers of old.
Class 4 lasers include all lasers with beam power greater than class 3B. By definition, a class-4 laser can burn the skin, in addition to potentially devastating and permanent eye damage as a result of direct or diffuse beam viewing. These lasers may ignite combustible materials, and thus may represent a fire risk. Lasers in this class have output powers of more than 500 mW in the beam and may cause severe, permanent damage to eye or skin without being magnified by optics of eye or instrumentation. Diffuse reflections of the laser beam can be hazardous to skin or eye within the Nominal Hazard Zone. i.e. the light scattered off a wall is still powerful enough to burn your skin and damage your eyes. The British military don't even use the Class IV lasers on the apache helicopter gunship unless they are in specific designated training areas where they won't blind anyone.
feel that burning feeling on the back of your head, yes your right you are soon going to be proud owner of a freshly installed .50cal bullet in the back of your head. Enjoy!
