Feb 4 2008Homemade Flashlight Is Relatively Bright
Optics engineer Ralf Ottow built himself a flashlight. But not just any flashlight -- he built a 38-million-candlepower flashlight with a plasma mercury arc bulb. He calls it the Maxablaster. I call it bright as shit.
The Maxablaster creates a highly focused beam of light with a high UV content not so different from a star. So UV-filtering glass was added to block the potentially harmful rays—though evidently this thing is still plenty bright enough to burn skin, as it has Ottow's on at least one occasion.
Sweet. And I thought last week's Wicked Torch was something. I'm going to make one and use it instead of candles for my mother-in-law's birthday cake. I'm not totally sure how old she is, but 38-million sounds close enough. True story, she used to date Methuselah's older brother.
Maxablaster Flashlight Burns Skin, Clouds, Vampires [gizmodo]
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Reader Comments
1. laz - February 4, 2008 2:19 PM
a friend of mine bought a similar one to this...at the same time that he had spot lights installed all around his 1/2 acre property...the idea being that it kept burglars away. it works. it also makes it day time at his house permanently.
2. tmhs - February 4, 2008 4:10 PM
I wish my wang shot a beam of light from it too.
3. Tap - February 4, 2008 4:19 PM
Ralf Ottow has the coolest name ever.
4. guate6 - February 4, 2008 5:29 PM
Damn, and holy shit. 38 Million lumens? Wow. Hell, who needs a grill anymore, just turn the flashlight on and you can incinerate a whole cow at once. I can see this being stolen and used by the forces of evil.
"...high UV content, not too different from a star." WTF? Damn. "make your very own home-made star" I wonder what kind of power it uses...hopefully solar, wind, water-generator AND hamster wheels (with hamsters on roids).
5. Grover - February 4, 2008 5:56 PM
Homemade Flashlight Is Relatively Bright
Underselling is my favorite kind of funny.
6. Sesmu - February 4, 2008 6:55 PM
Wow, either I'm really nerdy or you just referenced VtM. :P
7. guate6 - February 4, 2008 10:03 PM
I wonder if you can blind airplane pilots with this...hmm...
Doc Oc should have considered this instead of his home-made-sun when wanting to create his own star.
8. 800hightech - February 5, 2008 2:02 AM
Home made devices never cease to amaze me.......crazy what people come up with in the name of science....and D.I.Y
9. boredom - February 5, 2008 9:13 AM
Anyone else noticed that it says he's burnt himself with it on more than one occassion? What did he not noticed it was on?
Aside from that this thing is holy shit cool. Mount it in the back of your car for those pesky tailgaters. Or in the front to burn away the fog.
10. Alex - February 5, 2008 1:07 PM
Wow. This makes earlier's firestarting flashlight look like some pathetic matchstick.
11. cam - February 5, 2008 5:54 PM
sounds legit, but i want to see a video of this thing in action :)
12. cam - February 5, 2008 5:54 PM
sounds legit, but i want to see a video of this thing in action :)
13. Mr. Beerhouse - February 7, 2008 2:54 PM
Man, I want one of these...just so I can sit on my porch drunk on Jack pointing it at airplanes flying by....or at least follow pregnant chick around pointing it at their bellys