Laser sights and airsoft...

[Merchant]

...I couldn't find a better place to post this so I thought I would just put it here. Anyway I'm considering mounting one on a rifle and wondered what you guys thought of them, seeing as you could potentially blind someone with one. So are they worth it? is it not that big of a risk? ect ect.

[league 4]

This is really not the right section.....

But if you want to use one, go for it. Nobody's stopping you. It's personal preference, I personally don't use them but some people do.

[Beran]

some people hate them and insist that they are a danger. other people swear by them. indoors, they definitely help with fast target acquisition. outdoors they just give away your position.

[Merchant]

Then where should it be? lol

I see. My dad is extremely worried about the idea of one for airsoft at all (not just me owning one).

[Beran]

ive had a laser passed over my eyes before. you get a little bit of a ghost dot for a while, but it goes away. it takes pretty prolonged exposure to do permanent damage, longer than it takes for you to realize theres a bright-ass light and close your eyes.

besides, people are shooting projectiles at you in excess of 225mph, and sometimes at more than 20 rounds per second. id think your dad might be a little more concerned about that.

[Bush Killer]

I used one indoors back in the day at SZ. I personally didn't find it very useful, but there is definitely a "cool factor" for the user. Ultimately, it just comes down to having fun, and if you like that little red (or green) dot on your target, go for it!

[Ivan Daylovich™]

The best use I've seen for them is zombie games.

They look cool at night (who cares if they give away your position you're fighting zombies), they help you acquire a target quickly, and they let your team mates know you've got that zombie covered.

I'd like to get one if I was ever a player in a zombie game.

[Fred]

lasers won't do any permanent damage unless it's shooting into your for more than a minute or two maybe more.

[Steve]

Personally, I would have posted this in the Tactical Equipment section. Of course, I would have used the search function first, and that would have shown me that my questions had been asked and answered numerous times already.

Rather than playing the "Are you lazy or stupid?" game, though, I will break the tradition and answer your questions to the best of my ability.

Safety:
Lasers, like many other products, are rated for safety. Class IIIb and lower lasers, typically with 35mW of power, are rated as eyesafe. In practice, this means that it would take at least several minutes of exposure to cause lasting harm. Most laser aiming units you will find are in the 5mW range.

Effectiveness:
Both red and green lasers are readily available. Green lasers tend to be more expensive, but are correspondingly easier to see as well as being brighter and having a longer effective range.

Uses:
Laser aiming modules are great training tools. In CQB, they can reduce target acquisition time and increase first round hit probability. They allow element leaders to identify targets for their team.

Disadvantages:
The source of the beam is very obvious to the target. Sufficient dust or smoke in the air will render the beam visible along the beam path. The beam is zeroed at a fixed distance point along a sharply curving ballistic path. The origin of the beam can generally be seen further than the user can observe the terminus. The terminal end of the beam can give away your presence, so the same light discipline you would observe with any other illumination source must be observed.

[Ginocide]

Hasn't any of you guys ever had a brother with a laser pen? Laser's don't do significant damage in small amounts.

[Steve]

Hasn't any of you guys ever had a brother with a laser pen? Laser's don't do significant damage in small amounts.

http://www.laserpointersafety.com/FAQ/FAQ.html