For those electronically inclined people - survival laser

FYI you can't actually signal anyone with a laser unless they have a line of sight very near the beam itself, from a couple hundred feet the beam is almost unnoticeable, unless you have a view similar to the view the user has.
 
Joel Stave said:
Not to be a killjoy or anything, but could someone please explain to me the utility of a laser in a survival situation? For signaling, a regular bright light would be more effective, because it doesn't have to be aimed as carefully to be seen (and won't blind your rescuers). To start a fire, a lighter, flint and steel or matches in a waterproof container are all more effective and less fragile. What other uses could there be?
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Look on the bright side (pun intended), if they signal aircraft with this, the FBI will get to them before any SAR personnel. :D
 
I saw a video of a guy somewhere who pumped up a mag light unti l the light was so intense, it would ignite newspaper in a second.
 
where can i get the laser housing that is mentioned in the video? i may try and make this one but maybe use a larger powersource like a 2c flashlight:D
 
ok... so I got a 30mw green laser today. Holy crap is it bright.

Beam is visible w/o the usual dust tricks, even with the moon out today (granted, not a full moon). It does "taper off" after a bit of distance, but I can't estimate the distance w/o some point of reference (which is difficult if you're just pointing it up) I'd say ~100 meters.
I do want to try to test this to verify / refute 65535's point.
The beam isn't super bright - it's visible with the naked eye, but I didn't see it in my camera's viewfinder - the camera has a small sensor and isn't the greatest for dark movies. If I had my tripod, I'm sure it would easily be visibly w/ a shutter speed of ~1/6"
The beam makes it real easy to aim freehand.

Reflection is a bit of a danger. Not something to be screwed around with - and 30mw is a whole lot less than 200mw. Can't really explain how bright it is.

You can use the reflection of the beam on surfaces like a wall as a pretty decent flashlight -
If I turn off my desk lamp and my 2 21" monitors and point it at the ceiling, I can see the whole room quite well - it beats a cheap led flashlight I have - without my eyes adjusting.

The "dot" on pretty much any surface is not good for your night vision ;)

If you shine it on reflective materials, it is incredibly bright. Appears to easily overpower a surefire aimed at the same material, although the surefire has a lot less contrast because the light isn't nearly as focused.

More to follow....
 
did you try to burn anything like balloons and matches? it shows several of examples on wickedlasers.
 
rctk1 said:
did you try to burn anything like balloons and matches? it shows several of examples on wickedlasers.
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No such luck. Doesn't seem to blind flies either ;)

I think you need a bit more power than 30mw to do that.
 
Joel Stave said:
Not to be a killjoy or anything, but could someone please explain to me the utility of a laser in a survival situation? For signaling, a regular bright light would be more effective, because it doesn't have to be aimed as carefully to be seen (and won't blind your rescuers). To start a fire, a lighter, flint and steel or matches in a waterproof container are all more effective and less fragile. What other uses could there be?
Click to expand...

This is the only laser I would consider carying for survival use.
https://greatlandlasers.com/index.php
and here is a review of this laser from Doug Ritters Web site.
http://www.equipped.com/rescuelaser.htm
 
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