Wicked Lasers – the lightsaber you can buy

I recently received the link to Wicked Lasers by a workmate looking for my feedback on the latest product offering – a handheld blue laser with an output power of 1Watt (yes, 1 Watt) for $197.

The apparent similarity in design to a lightsaber handle is completely accidental.

Link Here

At first I thought it was the usual malarky – diode from Blu-Ray, misrepresenting the power, wrong price… But no, it actually seems to be genuine.

Up until recently true blue lasers have been very expensive (several thousands of dollars for relatively low power devices), but the new 445nm modules are the first of a new wave of direct laser diodes – devices that produce the output color directly, rather than produce an intermediate color first, and then convert.

I’m actually kind of amazed that these thing are for sale at all. A 1W laser is *insanely* dangerous. Even viewing the reflected dot from a white surface is enough to do permanent eye damage. Up until now my high power experience has been with 600mw green lasers – and these were scary enough.

So anyway, after much deliberation, I decided to place an order for one.

Just to see what all the fuss is about.

The last time I checked Wicked Lasers was about a week out on filling orders, but with all the attention the site has been getting recently I don’t expect it to show up any time soon. Before I bought it they made me complete a waiver that ensures I’ll use it responsibly.

But to quote someone on a recent forum: “If I can’t point it at objects, or people, or the sky, or a wall – then what the hell can I do with it??”