I’ll make this brief, since I’ve started to work on my Dewalt media event coverage and have my own eclipse-viewing preparations to make.
If you don’t have properly rated eclipse glasses by now, you’re probably not going to be able to find them anywhere. Your best bet is to find a friend or family member that has extras. If you want to try anyways, here’s some info: https://eclipse.aas.org/resources/solar-filters ; scroll down to “retail chains.”
You might be able to score eclipse glasses at certain public events – there’s more info at that previous link.
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There are plenty of articles about how to experience the eclipse without special glasses. Most focus on how to make projections of the sun for safe viewing.
Why do you need eclipse glasses?
Have you ever went outside during the later morning or early afternoon and felt the sun on your face, arm, neck, back, or other part of your body? You know how your car gets hot if you leave it in the sun? How metal surfaces can be hot to the touch?
Looking at the sun without proper safety filters will cook your eyeballs. No, it’s not that simple, but hopefully it helps the point get across.
Think of a sunburn, but one that permanently burns the insides of your eyes very quickly. Even worse, you won’t feel it happening, and so you might think your actions aren’t causing any harm or injury. I suppose it’s like touching a hot pan with your hand, when your arm is numb.
A solar eclipse makes the sun appear less bright, but the visual light is still bright enough to damage your eyes. The infrared light is high enough to damage your eyes. The ultraviolet light is high enough to damage your eyes.
Because the sun appears less bright when occluded by the moon, your instinct to look away is reduced – from what I’ve read. But the risk and potential for irreparable harm is not reduced at all.
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The recent alerts and controversy about counterfeit or non-ISO-rated eclipse glasses is because they might not reduce the visual, IR, or UV light enough to be safe and avoid harm.
One of the AAS’s recommended brands of solar eclipse glasses block:
- 100% of IR light
- 100% of UV light
- 99.999% of visual light
Ineffective solar eclipse glasses that aren’t rated or certified in any way might block visual light, but might not block enough UV or IR light. If there hasn’t been proper 3rd party testing or vetting, there’s no way to know.
Don’t look at the sun with unprotected eyes.
Do NOT look at the sun with unprotected eyes.
DO NOT LOOK AT THE SUN WITHOUT PROTECTION.
Even if you have brand new solar eclipse filter glasses from an ISO-rated reputable manufacturer and retailer, inspect them before use. Follow the directions. Use caution.
As a reminder, sunglasses, polarized or not, do NOT offer solar eclipse protection.
Only properly tested, certified, and undamaged solar eclipse glasses, when used as directed by the manufacture and authorities on solar eclipse viewing, are designed for direct visual viewing of the sun.
If you’re in the path of totality, what I’ve read is that it’s only safe to remove filtering glasses once no light can be seen through solar eclipse glasses. Once the tiniest bit of light returns, the glasses must be worn again. Refer to authoritative sites or advice for more information.
NASA has some good safety information. Please give it a quick read-through.
Do NOT look through unfiltered lenses of any kind, even if you’re wearing solar eclipse glasses.
I am not an authority on the matter. It’s your responsibility to learn more, I simply wanted to remind you of a few things you might have already read or heard, and to urge you to spend a few more minutes to learn what you need to protect yourself and those who might rely on you for safety advice. Nothing I wrote here should be construed as professional advice, because it’s not. In addition to the NASA link, the NSF American Astronomical Society has a wealth of info: https://eclipse.aas.org/. Here’s their page on eye safety: https://eclipse.aas.org/eye-safety .
I talked to many friends, acquaintances, and random people these past few days, during my trip to Dewalt’s media event, and some of the misinformation I heard ranged from mildly incorrect to widely dangerous and absurd. Look to NASA, the AAS, and other authorities for eclipse safety information and advice.
Here’s a simulation of what you can expect to see at what times: https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/7/25/16019892/solar-eclipse-2017-interactive-map
Be safe, and enjoy the eclipse!
I’d love to hear about your experiences! Good luck, and clear skies to all!
Oh, and if you’re on the road, be safe! Lots of local authorities are recommending that anyone driving to areas of totality bring all the water, food, and toilet paper they might need. I also heard of expected gas shortages, but didn’t see that on the news yet.
If you’re travelling for work, good luck. There are already huge delays on certain highways.
Image: Captured on Jan. 30, 2014, by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory observing an eclipse from space.
Chris
Safety goggles with welding glass electrical taped in front of it?? Don’t suggest it. But it’s what I’m using.
Stuart
I read that #14 glass could be suitable, but there are variations and uncertainties involved.
Drew M
#12 is dark enough but I’d suggest #13 or #14.
Toolfreak
Shade 13 is apparently the closest welding glass gets to an ideal between visibility and protection, but of course, Shade 13 is very, very uncommon.
Darker is supposedly ok but lighter really is not if you value your eyesight.
The big problem is variations in the actual darkness of the glass and if the Shade rating is even accurate. Low quality welding glass is obviously just made to be dark and cheap, but even brand name stuff is not really consistent, but then again it’s not intended for looking at the sun.
I’m guessing there’s more than a few people that have damaged their eyesight looking through welding glass that they thought should have been ok but wasn’t.
I’d definitely, definitely suggest either buying the eclipse glasses for a few bucks (or get them at a library/observatory/museum for free!) or making a pinhole viewer.
Drew M
I’ve seen people weld without helmets and their eyeballs didn’t fall out of their head in flames even though the UV coming off a TIG arc is something like 10x stronger than the UV off the sun.
All this eye damage from looking at the sun is alarmist nonsense.
My Miller autodark goes up to 13 max so it’s not as uncommon as you think.
Truth is that your average cheap sunglasses have 100% uv filtering. Most safety glasses have 100% uv filtering. The problem is simply that the sun is too bright to stare at on almost any day unless its on the horizon. Why it isn’t so bright when it’s setting, I don’t know but it sure is nice to sit and watch after a long day.
Mike
At sunset and sunrise there is at least 10 extra miles of the lowest thickest part of the earths atmosphere between you and the sun. All that extra atmospheric gas and dust dull the sun and also makes it a reddish orange color. Same happens to the moon.
Toolfreak
Stuff like “eye damage from the sun is alarmist nonsense” needs to be removed for the safety of others.
UV and the intensity of the light are two completely different things. Yeah, you can get away with less protection using TIG, but use any arc welder without protection and you’ll go blind eventually and get a nice bout of skin burn and cancer to boot.
The reason you can look at the sun sometimes when it’s lower in the sky is the angle you’re seeing the light at. The lower the angle, the less direct the light. That and atmospheric conditions sometimes filter out a good bit of the light as well.
Stuart
I vehemently disagree – calling eye safery “alarmist nonsense” is inappropriate and just plain factually wrong.
There are many accounts of eclipse-caused eye damage. Thus, it is factual to say that staring at the sun with unprotected eyes can cause irreversible permanent damage to your eyesight.
Richard G.
Actually in the old days people were healing their vision by looking at the sunset when it is not that bright.
jtr165
yeah, the post that this string of comments fall off of, would ideally never have been made…but on almost anything comment related to this eclipse stuff; they’re everywhere.
‘I can look at bright stuff and I’m fine, so danger and problems related don’t exist’ -The Internet
chris
I do not know what type of glass it is specifically, but I have used it before to view Jupiter crossing the sun a few years ago. I had no problems using it. I just taped it to the goggles so I didn’t have to hold the glass in front of my face. Also, how was the Dewalt event?! Im really only seeing posts about a few select products, mostly the cooler and the new flexvolt framing saw. was wondering when you were going to do the post showcasing more of the products there. No rush!
Stuart
The Dewalt event was great!
I have a lot to say about much of what we saw, but it’ll take me more time to put things together.
I’m still exhausted, and as mentioned I have prep to do for tomorrow, so you probably shouldn’t expect anything until at least tomorrow night. I think I have a cold, which isn’t helping.
The cooler has first-glance appeal, but is not very excitable. I was told they’re trying to get a small cooler with a similar 10 quart capacity built in the USA too, and that would be exciting to me.
The rear-handle saw was a standout, and there’s new van racking solutions, a 3-drawer ToughSystem box, some electrical cable tools, and lots more smaller but still exciting and newsworthy releases.
Gary
And of course that Craftsman teaser???
Stuart
What Craftsman teaser?
Gary
In your preview you predicted a Craftsman teaser … just wondering if you learned anything.
Chris
I’m really curious about the cordless die grinder!
Jim Felt
I’m right now less then 2 hours from the eclipse totality of all of 1:50 seconds. But the last one I witnessed was clouded over here in Oregon.
Most of my photography colleagues are either using 1000mm plus lenses or like me just shooting the ground effects and enjoying the occasion on a cloudless summer morning.
We’ve all got AAS approved glasses and camera/telescope filters.
Don’t use anything else!
Or make a pinhole and let it project onto a white surface. It too is a 100% safe.
Totality is the gold standard for the eclipse viewing. Do it if you can.
RX9
The NASA link you posted includes the following passage on welding helmets/glasses:
“‘Viewing with Protection — Experts suggests that one widely available filter for safe solar viewing is welders glass of sufficiently high number. The only ones that are safe for direct viewing of the Sun with your eyes are those of Shade 12 or higher. These are much darker than the filters used for most kinds of welding. If you have an old welder’s helmet around the house and are thinking of using it to view the Sun, make sure you know the filter’s shade number. If it’s less than 12 (and it probably is), don’t even think about using it to look at the Sun. Many people find the Sun too bright even in a Shade 12 filter, and some find the Sun too dim in a Shade 14 filter — but Shade 13 filters are uncommon and can be hard to find. The AAS Reputable Vendors of Solar Filters & Viewers page doesn’t list any suppliers of welder’s filters, only suppliers of special-purpose filters made for viewing the Sun.To find out more about eyewear and handheld viewers go to https://eclipse.aas.org/eye-safety/eyewear-viewers.”
TL:DR- Shade 12 or higher should be good to go.
The one big issue I have is with the auto-darkening feature. The light sensors on most auto-dark helmets use infrared light to trip. I tried using several different flashlights to trip the sensor on my welding helmet in a dark room and all of the LED flashlights, including an M18 Milwuakee trueview lantern, did not work very well. However, an incandescent bulb flashlight, held close to the sensor, works rather reliably. I suspect that incandescent bulbs put out a lot more infrared range light than LEDs.
My solution for today is to record on a smartphone from inside a welder’s helmet. If the helmet doesn’t work, the worst that happens is that my phone camera is busted.
Shan
Stuart:
I would really like to know if you discovered any new rollouts or expansions of Dewalt’s hand tool line(s). I think I own almost every hand tool they make and am ready for something new, and hopefully, a much expanded lineup.
So, any news…..?
Shan
Sorry for the off topic question.
Adam
You don’t need a filter for you phone. It is a wide angle lens and won’t be affected. Apple even says you will be fine. The only people that need to worry are ones with the super zoom lenses, but if they own that kind of lens, I’d hope they know what they are doing.
You could get glasses at a Hydroponic shop. They sell glasses for people who use the high powered grow lights indoors, otherwise they would end up with eye problems. Not going to be cheap, but it is a solution. I feel a little bit safer with mine over the “filter” sandwiched between some cardboard.
While looking at the Dewalt announcements after a mention in a post above, I see they have a 20v lawn mower. That could very well get me to have some yellow in my garage.
http://www.dewalt.com/company-info/news-and-press
Mr. Gerbik
I forgot that the eclipse was happening today. I guess I was too busy working. I had to make a run to HD for some materials so I was flying down 285 and all of a sudden I thought the apocalypse was here. Every dumbass traffic causing soccer mom on the road freaked out & almost caused a mile long pile up. It was horrible. I’m in Atlanta, so we caught the tail end of it. I’m glad didn’t waste a 5hr round trip going up to north GA (which is what the local news recommended) for 5 minutes. My old lady would’ve hit the roof having to sit in traffic with the kids for something like that. How much did those special eclipse glasses cost? Aren’t the sun’s rays bad for your eyes whether there’s an eclipse or not?
Richard G.
My Speedglass by 3M auto dimming welding glass was just perfect, saw it clear. I put settings on max shade and fastest delay, so it went dark at the same moment it saw the sun. I wore my sunglasses as well, because I was taking pictures.
But overall, the total darkness was magnificent. The only bad part was my drive back home, 15mph for 4 damn hours, as all the people who came to north -east Georgia seems to me was driving back on that road )) But it was well worth it and most likely I will go in 2024 to see it again.
Brian
I agree. We drove from Tampa, FL to Northern Georgia (Clayton) for the totality…it was absolutely worth the drive. The difference between a little light and totality was HUGE. Then I see what my friends saw in pictures and it totally confirms that it was worth it.
We actually ended up watching from a HD parking lot because of the traffic, it was on a hill and worked out perfect. I also ended up with a Milwaukee 2740-21CT 18-guage nailer kit for $99 so that made it even better.
Pete
Apparently twitter is full of people who have “headaches” and “eyes hurt” because of the idiots who didnt have the correct eye wear or had knock off eye wear.
It was cloudy in my town anyways so we couldnt see nothin! But we had our auto dimming welding hoods ready to go in case we got a break in the clouds. But nope. I’ll have to youtube it lol.
ThinkDifferent
One of the nuts who drove way too far to get smack in the middle of the path of the eclipse (in eastern TN)…. for 2:37 of totality. Took my young son, who was enthralled. Stuck in miserable traffic coming back along with everyone else. Still, it was worth every bit of it.
For those who have seen a total eclipse, I do not need to explain. For those who have not, I cannot explain. It is like night and day, literally. Pun intended.
It’s a long way from now, but I intend to see the next one in the US (2024). I highly recommend it. Heck, I might even go to Chile or Argentina in 2019 (the next one).