S3 Spyder III Arctic

I'm honestly a little scared that the Wicked Lasers Spyder III exists. Normally, the lasers the general public can get its hands on are more or less, you know, for pointing at movie screens and pissing people off. The Spyder III? For $300, you've got yourself a damn lightsaber.

Just check out this warning:

Extremely dangerous is an understatement to the power of 1W of laser power. It will blind permanently and instantly and set fire quickly to skin and other body parts, use with extreme caution and only when using the included eye protection. Customers will be required to completely read and agree to our Class IV Laser Hazard Acknowledgment Form.

Blind instantly? Set skin on fire? You could really do some damage with this thing. Somehow that Class IV Laser Hazard Acknowledgment Form doesn't make me feel any better. It should be as hard to get something like this as it is to get a handgun. (Well, or like something dangerous that's actually hard to get. Like a, um, tank?)

Wicked Lasers, long known for their ultra-powerful, compact and expensive lasers made mainstream news a few weeks ago by advertising the world's most powerful hand held laser. As if making a 1 watt laser wasn't enough to grab headlines, the media coverage soon turned into a frenzy when George Lucas thought the new Wicked Lasers S3 Arctic looked a little too much like the famous Light Sabers from Star Wars.

The S3 Series is the world's first 1 watt consumer laser. The beam emitted is a deep shade of cobalt blue and as you will see later in this article, it can be seen a long way from the source. Wicked is claiming a battery life of 120 minutes before charging is needed and luckily for us the S3 comes with a handy charger, so you will have not be cycling through double A batteries every 15 minutes.

Just as impressive as the laser beam is the housing it comes from. Wicked Lasers came up with an aluminum case that not only looks military grade, but it is truly military grade. Built into the lasers housing is a new feature that Wicked is calling a Smart Switch. This will keep your laser safe from accidental discharge if it were to fall into the wrong hands.

If you are a male aged 5 to 45, you think lasers are uber cool. The question is whether or not you think they are cool enough to shell out 300 Dollars for one. This is the question I have been mulling over for the last couple of days. On the surface the Wicked Lasers S3 Arctic is a really neat toy that you will get some enjoyment out of, but like many toys, you will eventually outgrow it. When it comes to long term usefulness, you may want to ask yourself how often you will need the ability to shine a blue light on an object…even if it is a mile away. This really isn't a question for me to answer for you, but something you will need to decide for yourself.

Taking the cost and your financial situation out of the equation, I can attest to the Arctic 1 watt laser being by far the brightest, most powerful and coolest laser I have seen. I won't be using the laser every day or carrying it with me, but it is going to be fun to have around and use from time to time. I know all of my friends like coming over and playing with it before we get down to some serious first person shooter action. My boys are now convinced that their dad is a real jedi in training too, which allows me to use my jedi mind trick to get them to clean their rooms. Who wouldn't spend 300 Dollars to make that last for a month or more?

The Wicked Lasers S3 Arctic 1 watt blue laser is available at wickedlasers.com for 299.99 with three lenses. For an additional 29.99 you can get the full lens pack that adds additional beam types (like flashlight, crosshairs, lines and more). The quality of the construction is better than you could imagine and the beam is brighter than you would think possible.


   After seeing a request about the laser burning stuff; I realized I forgot to add the video!