Thrower flashlights seem to fascinate many enthusiasts and is a gateway into the hobby. Recently LEP lights have taken that distance to new levels using lasers, what I have for you today here is a very powerful blue laser that can reach an incredible distance, and even burn things. Thanks to JLasers for sending me their 1.6W 450nm blue laser.
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JLasers: 450nm the laser I have: https://www.jlasers.org/lasers/450nm-1600mw
JLasers Website: https://www.jlasers.org
Laser Safety Glasses that I have: https://amzn.to/3C7pDbP
Safety
Before I get into the actual review, I did want to touch on safety here. These lasers are a class 4 lasers, and that’s directly related to their power. This is not a toy and can do serious damage to people, pets, and things when used incorrectly. Pointing them at an aircraft is a felony in many places. You really should invest in some special laser glasses to protect yourself when using this especially inside. I have a pair of Honeywell Uvex Ultra-Spec 2000 which provide protection and conveniently are also what I use when curing UV glue when I glue tritium tubes in place. I will link to them in the comments below.
Performance
Check out the video for this. The results are pretty impressive and it’s near the first half of the video 🙂
Talk about the host & lens
So internally the light is using an Osram PTLB450B 5.6mm multimode laser diode powered by a JLasers JBL450 single mode boat driver. It produces a laser beam at the 450nm wavelength. To my eyes, this is a dark blue almost purple beam. Lasers have a duty cycle here to prevent damage, it’s recommended to run it for up to 1 minute on, and then 5 minutes off to cool. The 14500 battery goes positive side up, and interfaces directly with the PCB. One thing I would like to see is a small brass contact like you see on many flashlights, this can help with wear and ensure a good connection in the future, and more compatibility with other batteries if say spring was used.
JLasers recommends a 14500 lithium ion button top battery capable of at least 3A discharge. I found that I could run these Vapcell Gold flat tops without a problem, but the laser was less powerful since it was just at the 3A limit, it took more time as a result to burn cardboard. I ended up running instead of this blue Vapcell that was a button top and capable of 7A continuous discharge, the change in performance was impressive until the voltage sag kicked in. It’s worth noting here that fake and poor quality Li-ion batteries are a big problem, Amazon and Ebay are bad sources for batteries, Illumn.com is my favorite seller of legit batteries in the USA.
Up front, there is a small lens that unscrews so that the beam is focusable. I melted my first lens by getting the laser too close to some black foam, trying to burn a hole through it, and instead, it melted the lens. Good to know these are replaceable if you make some rookie moves like I did. While JLasers doesn’t have this item listed on his storefront, he does sell them separately.
Everything here is packaged in a stainless steel host. This is a common host that you also see on generic flashlights on AliExpress, I actually happen to have one. I think JLasers must polish up his more, though because there is a big difference in appearance. Machining here is pretty decent, the threads are a little gritty but the included grease helps. These are tail-activated lasers with a mechanical reverse clicky switch and lanyard attachment at the tail. It’s not tapped or milled for a pocket clip which I think is ok in this application. There is a spring-loaded piston in the rear, and at the front, there is a battery polarity sticker on the inside of the host which is a nice touch. The weight of my battery and lanyard was 120.7g.
The packaging was a very basic generic cardboard box. I think it would add to the product to add a Certificat of Authenticity with the specs of the laser, and maybe a half page of safety and operating instructions.
Website
JLasers is a small business out of Canada and that’s worth noting here because of the website. Functionally the website is fine, but it was created using Google sites, so it doesn’t have it’s own domain name, and to finish your order you are bounced out to Stripe. This is fine, but in my opinion, JLasers should go ahead and spend some time bringing the site into the current century for a more cohesive and professional experience. The current format could cause some buyers to question the legitimacy if they didn’t have prior knowledge they were a trustworthy business. Right now JLaser can only be found on Facebook for social media, and it’s a little tricky to find the link on his website, but it’s under Contact Us. Hopefully, they expand out to other platforms in the future. Powerful lasers should go viral!
Customer Service
Just a quick few words about customer service with JLasers. Jim was fantastic to converse with over email. I’m not a laser expert and had a few questions, especially about safety and he was more than happy to give me additional directions and reassured me that my laser glasses were appropriate. He was super nice too when I melted the lens too which was completely my own fault.
Final Thoughts
High-powered lasers are fun and impressive to shine up into the sky, or point out things at a great distance. My retired neighbor was so impressed with mine that he had me order him one. He loves star gazing and watching the international space station fly over so I am sure this will aid in pointing out those to others.
High-powered lasers have been around for a while. I remember ordering a green laser from China about 17 years ago from China and thinking it was amazing. This one puts that to shame in terms of performance. I always wanted better lasers, especially something that could burn a match head, or pop a balloon, but knew it was pretty expensive after looking at places like Wicked Lasers, where a 1W laser in the same wavelength would run you about $200. This JLasers 450nm is only $60 and is more powerful and smaller. Now if you are in the USA there is a shipping charge that adds to the cost, but you’re still looking at about 40% cheaper for more performance. As of publishing this video, Jlasers offers 7 different models in a variety of colors and wavelengths, all being under $100 before shipping. These are hand built so it might take a little while to build when you place your order but it ends up being a fantastic value and a warranty is even offered too. I can recommend this specific laser.
JLasers: 450nm the laser I have: https://www.jlasers.org/lasers/450nm-1600mw
JLasers Website: https://www.jlasers.org
Laser Safety Glasses that I have: https://amzn.to/3C7pDbP