How safe are EOTechs, really???

[Good_Knight]

I mean in terms of long-term damage done to the eye/vision. I mean, they do put a sticker on there that says in plain english: "Laser radiation, DO NOT stare into beam"; and "Avoid exposure, laser radiation is emitted from this aperture"

Okay now, I read the manual and it says that, with the glass as a protective shield, the exposure to laser radiation is a Level IIa. Level IIa...ahhhh ok!?!!! What does that mean? Is it safe or not? And if it IS safe, why the explicit warning sticker right on the darn thing???

[SkyStorm82]

tag......because I can't figure out how to suscribe on the iphone version of this site.

I don't think it is all that bad for our eyes though. Of course I know nothing about lasers.

[mrvkamp]

In short, I wouldn't worry about it.

The first thing you need to understand (in case you don't already) is that when it says "radiation", this is radiated light - nothing to do with nuclear radiation or anything of that nature.

Laser systems are controlled by of all places, the Food and Drug Administration. They are categorized by output level - IIA is actually the old classification system:

"A region in the low-power end of Class II where the laser requires in excess of 1000 seconds of continuous viewing to produce a burn to the retina. Commercial laser scanners are in this subclass."

You can read about the enitire classification systems (old and new) here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser_safety

[Ballistic043]

plus, remember you are looking into the projected reflection of the laser and not into the beam itself which would be a different story. like staring into the sun naked eye or seeing its reflection off a black car