Testing Illegal Blue Lasers from eBay (and making them even stronger)

I bought a couple blue laser pointers on eBay. I received two laser death rays. Then I made them even stronger.

social media sillyness:

Normally I'm not interested in buying handheld lasers off of the internet as what I can make is usually more interesting. That being said there were some eBay listings for blue lasers pointers that caught my eye. Although the claimed output power was under 5mW (ebay's limit as well as the US federal limit) the pictures showed lasers that appeared to be very strong. Now importing a handheld laser stronger than 5mW is usually illegal here, but these listings explicitly stated the lasers had an output that was under the legal limit. Even so, I wanted to play it safe (legally at least) so I found US sellers/resellers of these "5mW" lasers.

The lasers turned out to be INCREDIBLY strong, HUNDREDS of times stronger than advertised. While this may seem like a good thing, a laser like this will blind you permanently the instant it hits you in the eye. Wearing proper eye protection is a must when dealing with these.

It's common for sellers to exaggerate the power of flashlights, cars, etc., so why would these sellers lie in the opposite direction about lasers? It turns out this is the only way they can get away with selling powerful lasers on eBay without blatantly breaking the rules. The bigger issue is that handheld lasers like this are federally restricted in most countries. This isn't a problem for say a seller in China shipping to the US, as our laws aren't relevant there. This a huge issue for all of these US resellers that are sending out powerful lasers by the thousand though, and the FDA very well may lay a smackdown at some point.

Obviously I have nothing against owning strong lasers, but trying to pass off a burning lasers as eye safe in order to make a few bucks is incredibly dangerous. I realize most people will have an idea of what they are getting into, but those out there that aren't aware of the extreme danger involved are going to lose an eye. You think I'm exaggerating but permanent eye injuries happen ALL THE TIME from the cheap death rays bought online. If you really want a powerful laser, read up on lasers and laser eye safety and start small before working your way up to a big laser.

[LtDub]

*Goes blind in one eye*


“Woah, that hurt”

[unique]

THESE ARE NOT TOYS


*tries to shave his arm with it*

[michaeljacksin]

This guy is legendary, he sounds like he wants to have emotion but he cant

[narixm]

This dude's personality can be summed up by a Home Alone inspired sitcom, and I personally love that
plus the fact that he's obsessed with lasers makes it so much better

[jacoblindeman]

Cuts left hand off

“Wow, slices right through that”

[rizzgamer]

*Burns a hole through his TV*

_"Oh wow, that's amazing"_

[Iottary]

*Slices wire clean off and sets multiple items on fire.*
_minutes later_
*Points laser at his arm.*

[jacklets]

Burns his house down

“Oh wow, that’s amazing.”

[Tae-N]

This mans voice sounds amazing

Its like hes bored with life but excited at the same time

[blarpnarp]

i love how im a minute in and hes already talked his way out of a felony

[theteenageengineer]

Funny story about high power lasers that comes from a friend of mine who is an electrical engineer who works with lasers all the time. He said that back in the day Fleetwood Mac was doing concerts with laser shows. They would setup these giant super powerful lasers to do the shows with and at one point a safety inspector showed up to see just how safe these shows were. The crew was clearly not paid enough because they didn’t care when the safety inspector showed up and one of the crew members took out a cigarette, stuck it in beam of one of the lasers and lit it, the safety inspector saw that and shut down the entire show.

[dakotakay]

"It won't ignite my propane tank..."
POINTS HIGH POWERED LASER AT PROPANE

[epsteinsmurderer]

Cuts pet in half
“Woah, that’s crazy, that’s some serious power”

[linkslate]

The fact he put glasses on the camera makes me feel included 10/10 fan service

[electricnezumi]

bringing "laser hair removal" to a whole new, much more dangerous level

[siyuanthesuper]

Gets the third degree burn

“Oh wow, that’s amazing.”

[justinlambert]

Gets third degree burn

"WOW I can't believe it gave me third degree burns"

[kylesimpson]

"Lets see if it burns through my hand"

5 seconds later
"Wow slices right through that that's amazing"

[pixelmentia]

*propane tank explodes, destroying house*

“Wow, that’s so cool.”

[joshmyers]

*laser goes through his finger*

“Oh wow, that’s amazing”