You'd expect a $53,700 backpack laser to be some DARPA super weapon that's stuck in a perpetual "five years away" as more and more cable specials are produced on the matter. But actually, the backpack laser already exists and it's reserved for the men and women risking their lives to restore old buildings.
Clean Laser System's backpack laser cleans without chemicals, pumping out a 20W programmable beam to vaporize contaminants like paint, grease and rust. Also, the laser is safer to use on many surfaces since it's non-abrasive and will not leave a foreign residue.
Unfortunately, other than necessitating protective eye wear, the lasers won't cause much harm. But a man can dream, can't he, of a wonderful world where a simple mugging can result in cleanly dismembered appendages?