confusion at Amazon about eclipse glasses

[modeltrains]

Seems to be some confusion at Amazon about eclipse glasses

"Two separate Amazon solar eclipse glasses sellers called KGW Saturday following Amazon's recall. Both said their products were verified as safe and manufactured by companies approved by NASA. But their glasses are still under a recall.

Manish Panjwani's Los Angeles-based astronomy product business, AgenaAstro, has sold three times its average monthly revenue in the past month. Ninety-five percent is related to the solar eclipse. He hired seven extra temporary workers just to help with the pre-eclipse boom.

Panjwani's eclipse glasses come from two NASA-approved sellers: Thousand Oaks Optical in Arizona and Baader Planetarium in Germany. He said he provided documentation to Amazon proving the products' authenticity weeks ago, with no response from Amazon."
...
Panjwani said Amazon is temporarily retaining some of his profits because of the recall.He also has almost 5,000 glasses at an Amazon warehouse, which customers can no longer purchase.

https://www.abc10.com/news/eclipse/...r-eclipse-glasses-week-before-event/463977511

"Note: Baader Planetarium's AstroSolar Safety Film and AstroSolar Photo Film, sold in the U.S. by Alpine Astronomical and Astro-Physics (see below), are not certified to meet the ISO 12312-2 international safety standard and are not designed to work as eclipse shades or handheld solar filters. Baader's AstroSolar Silver/Gold Film, on the other hand, does meet the ISO 12312-2 safety standard for filters for eyes-only direct viewing of the Sun."
"Numerous other astronomy- and science-related enterprises and organizations sell eclipse glasses made by the companies listed above. If you buy from any of these businesses, you know you are getting ISO-compliant safe solar viewers.
Astronomy, Science & Optics Vendors
Adler Planetarium [sold out]
Adorama Camera
Agena AstroProducts
..."

https://eclipse.aas.org/resources/solar-filters

 

[Swissyhawk]

I received this email from Amazon two days ago.

Hello,

We’re writing to provide you with important safety information about the eclipse products you purchased on Amazon (order #115-9299447-XXXXXX for Hobart 770129 Oxy/Acet, Goggle - Flip Front, 50mm Eye Cup Shade 5).

To protect your eyes when viewing the sun or an eclipse, NASA and the American Astronomical Society (AAS) advise you to use solar eclipse glasses or other solar filters from recommended manufacturers. Viewing the sun or an eclipse using any other glasses or filters could result in loss of vision or permanent blindness.

Amazon has not received confirmation from the supplier of your order that they sourced the item from a recommended manufacturer. We recommend that you DO NOT use this product to view the sun or the eclipse.

Amazon is applying a balance for the purchase price to Your Account (please allow 7-10 days for this to appear on Your Account). There is no need for you to return the product. You can view your available balance and activity here:

url removed

For more information about safely viewing a solar eclipse please see the NASA and AAS websites.

If you purchased this item for someone else, please pass along this information to the recipient.

We hope to see you again soon.

Sincerely,

Customer Service

The funny thing is I ordered these "welding" googles over a year ago for a friend's kid to use with his Ghostbuster's costume. They had nothing to do with the eclipse. I didn't even know about the eclipse. I think there are some lawyers at Amazon who are very worried about getting sued if people damage their eyes.

 

[modeltrains]

Whoa, that's leaning a bit toward the crazy side of the equation. Maybe beyond worried lawyers in to paranoid lawyers.

 

[Bat-mite]

My son got his pair from the teacher at his astronomy club. We have already used them to look at the sun, and nobody went blind. Here's hoping they're good! :eyepop:

 

[SCP]

I recall reading just a #14 or stronger welding lens is required. This was, of course, on a welding equipment suppliers site. They had made a kit available for viewing the eclipse without buying a whole welding hood.

I have looked at the sun many times, actually even at shades less than 14. Does seem like a lot of litigation induced paranoia.

 

[jadebox]

We bought solar eclipse glasses to include as freebies in orders that we sent out over the past month. In order to get the price down enough to be able to afford to give them away, we ordered a bunch of them. A big bunch.

Since we had far more than we needed as giveaways, we listed them for sale on our web site and on eBay for a bit more than what we paid for them. We didn't realize that "a bit more than we paid for them" meant us having the lowest price on the internet for small quantities. We received more than 50 orders in one day! Oh, goodie. We bumped the price up a little just to spread out the orders somewhat, but still sold out quickly.

In regards to the original post ... I am very glad that we did research and bought the glasses from a reputable manufacturer. I did sweat a little when the first list of good manufacturers from NASA did not include Lunt even though I knew Lunt has a good reputation as a supplier of solar viewing products. The AAS list came out a short time later and it included Lunt as a good vendor. Whew.

-- Roger

 

[TBob]

I recall reading just a #14 or stronger welding lens is required. This was, of course, on a welding equipment suppliers site. They had made a kit available for viewing the eclipse without buying a whole welding hood.

I have looked at the sun many times, actually even at shades less than 14. Does seem like a lot of litigation induced paranoia.

I thought I had read the same thing about shade 14 but read up a bit on this. Nasa (https://eclipse2017.nasa.gov/safety) says shade 12 or higher is OK. I tried my shade 13 welding hood and it seems to be just right for viewing.