Pulsing laser or steady beam?

[bilgerat57]

I've been seeing some advertisements for "Pulsing" laser sights lately. I'm just wondering if there is really any advantage. Does anyone out there have any experience with them? If so what is your impression about it? The main claim seems to be that they are easier to see in daytime use. I have to wonder if there's any basis in fact or if this is just a faster way to drain the batteries? In all seriousness, it seems to me that it would be a liability in darkness. Kind of a pulsing neon sign saying "Shoot Here!" Having just recently come around to the idea of using a laser sight, I'm trying to broaden my knowledge base. Thanks!

[HowardCohodas]

Check this thread.

http://forums.crimsontrace.com/index.php?topic=33790.msg6490#msg6490

[ToddG]

A pulsing laser uses less electricity. That's why the pulsing laser is popular among devices that have to fit in the smallest possible space (like the guide rod lasers).

While the laser may pulse quickly, it is still not providing you with 100% visual verification of where your gun is pointed. Thus, if you're trying to shoot a fast string of fire (say, knocking down a plate rack) you can easily have everything ready to go for the next shot -- gun down from recoil, finger prepped -- but then you need to wait for a fraction of a second to get that verification that you're aimed in properly. It can completely screw up your rhythm.

One potential plus to blinking lasers, or at least something the "blinkers" use in their marketing material, is that in terms of using the laser as a de-escalation or intimidation tool the blinking laser won't be mistaken for a pen laser or other cheap toy. So if a BG has a blinking laser on his chest, in theory he's that much more convinced he's about to have a new lead-based internal organ.

Crimson Trace has experimented with blinkers (the prototype M&P Lasergrip had both steady and pulse modes) and given a choice, almost everyone shoots better with the steady beam.

[HowardCohodas]

Pulsing how?  Do you mean blink the laser to make it more noticeable or do you mean pulse it at elevated power level hi-low-hi-low very quickly?

-Jon

As Jon points out, pulsing in these applications has two meanings. Pulsing so that you notice the pulse has the drawbacks outlined by Todd. The purported benefits of being better able to pick up a blinking dot over a steady dot in highly lighted situations appears to be subjectively beneficial by some, but not all testers.

The meaning of pulsing to turn the laser on and off at a rate higher than the eye can detect would permit operating the laser at a higher power but at less than full time. Would a strategy using higher peak power for a brighter dot but not constantly result in better visibility but maintain long battery life and diode life? And if it did, would it be worth the additional complexity in circuitry? I would be interested in hear Jon or other engineers opine on this aspect.

[bilgerat57]

I'm not an engineer or a technician, but it seems to me that energizing and de-energizing a system would be more power consumptive than a steady beam. It may not be applicable in this technology, but in larger scale electrical devices, there is a high power surge at start-up that ramps down to the steady operating level. Engineers please don't flame me for my ignorance!  I'm trying to learn.
I can see where a pulsing laser would be more useful as a pointer for others. As I understand it, the human eye is drawn to movement and peripheral vision would be drawn to the blink.  I take the point however, about that fraction of a second disrupting your rhythym in a rapid fire, multiple target environment. Personally, I don't think I need a pulsing light to tell me where my weapon is pointed. I just want a steady beam that stays where my hand points it. Seems like a pulse beam would require more components in the system also. I'm a firm believer in "The more parts you have, the more that can go wrong!" principle.
 As far as the pulsing light blinking on your chest being more intimidating?..........I'll have to think about that one. Personally, any type of sighting beam centered on my person evokes the same type of visceral reaction as a 12 gauge being racked by a police officer who mistakenly believed I was burglarizing a business. (Long story - dirty underwear!)
 Please feel free to tell me I'm full of it if you think I need it. I'm just long term firearms enthusiast trying to learn something new. Sometimes I need to be smacked between the eyes to get my attention! I just started getting interested in these lasers and the tactics for them. I ordered a set of CT grips for my Glock 19 the other day and I'm pretty excited about trying them out. I've tried a few others that friends had on their weapons (not CT, by the way) and I wasn't overly impressed.

[Team CTC-Jon]

Bilgerate,

You are correct that the startup for mechanical systems with a lot of inertia require a lot of juice and time to get up to speed.  For instance a 100hp electric motor has a heck of a lot of mass that needs to accelerate up to speed (not to mention what ever it is coupled to).  Even some electrical systems with a lot of capacitance or inductance have a lot of juice required to get those components up to steady state (kinda of speaking out of school there a bit as I am a mechanical engineer).

The laser diodes, generally speaking, can get up to power with most drivers without a huge amount of start up energy.  I am sure there are systems out there where this isn't the case.  I think it comes down to a balancing act as the engineers ask themselves, "Does it take more power to keep it going or start it up?"  We are always trying to balance things of this nature.  When it comes down to it, the best way to find out is to test it.

I suspect that lasers are blinked to save power and also dissipate heat, but it is all a bunch of hand waving and conjecture on my part without testing it.  We have not been required to do this in our systems. 

In my range time, I like solid over blinky (personal preference).  As Todd pointed out, there is faster time between targets because a non-blinky laser creates a solid line rather than a dashed line.  If you have a blinky laser, run it back and fourth across the wall and you will see what I mean.  Some times the targets fall between the bright dashes and screws the whole shootin' match up (yes, that was a bad pun  ).

Again....all hand waving and conjecture.

Thanks,
Jon

[bilgerat57]

"Again....all hand waving and conjecture"

Maybe so, but it's educated and experienced handwaving and conjecture. That counts for a lot.

I was actually thinking more along the lines of flourescent lighting and items like that. I suppose with microminiature circuits the power drain would be minimal at best.
 Curiosity is my curse! Thanks for the feedback and keep up the good work!

[Team CTC-Jon]

bilgerat,

Funny, I was thinking about the fluorescent lights too.  Their ballasts were what I was thinking of when I was talking about the highly inductive or highly capacitive circuits.  Not  knowing exactly how they work (other than jack the voltage up and regulate it after it gets it going) I didn't want to venture too far out of my lane, use it for an example, and get blasted in front of everyone. 

thanks,
Jon

[KCBob]

Jon-
Using your example of the movement between targets, I can say with certainty that I could over-run or miss a target during the transition from point to point, especially if I were in a hurry, using a blinking laser dot. Combined with movement, what would normally be an eye attraction would become an eye distraction, confusion or misdirection. Very good point (no pun intended).