Advice needed for my "ideal" laser pointer

Hello all,

Have been looking around the whole night yesterday, and the day before, for a laser pointer with following specs, but to no avail:

• Class I or II
• not red (used enough throughout construction sites, I need to be visible)
• has to be very visible in all conditions (interior, exterior)
• 18650 battery
• high quality aluminium host

I am a proud owner of a Nitecore P25 that I use for my work (surveyor on construction sites) as well, and I was hoping to find a similar quality laser pointer (not as bulky than the flashlight though ).

Been looking around, but haven't found much. At some point I found an amber laser 589nm at Dragon Laser, but it jumps to 3 mW immediately for that battery type (18650).

Being on construction sites, with movement everywhere, and people working all around, I try my best to avoid trajectories that can possibly be crossed by fellow people, but my actual pointer is a crappy 3$ overspec'ed tool which scatters bit too much at even couple of meters distance.

On a sidenote, I use laser pointers to make my cats move a bit as well.

Sorry for this big block of text, and thank you for your time helping me.


Kind regards,

If I remember correctly class II maxes out at 1mW...There is no way you can get a visible beam at such low power.
You need at least 100mW to have a visible beam at night! :beer:

Jim

1mW and an 18650 wow... and need to be visible in all conditions (dot). It is true that 589 is bright. it is about as bright as 520 but because of its color daytime visibility may be a problem. To get the exact specs you are looking for you are most likely need a custom build from CNI. You would need to request a 1mW 532 module built into a PGL-A. If you feel like spending a lot more and getting near maximum visibility you could request 1mW of 561nm built in one of their large PGL hosts. It would be far more simple and viable if your power limit was IIIa.

My intention is just pointing at architectural objects. No need to see the beam itself.

Might be for a personal project later on.

Just need something of good quality and resilience to point with.

Now that I think of it, might as well add a key switch in the back for extra safety.

My gripe about IIIa is the danger for the eyes. Bad reflection on a steel beam, and I might be responsible for someone losing sight.

589 is orange-yellow, and 532 is green, iirc. 561 would be yellowish-green?
Still different enough from the red liners used on those sites.

Will continue looking at home, based on your reactions.

I have no idea what the thread was called but you could most likely find it with some time some one did the irradiance calculations and unless you point the beam right in your eye and stare at it you would not hurt yourself with a IIIa pointer.

Bad reflection on a steel beam

Click to expand...

say you are pointing at a beam 75ft away the laser must travel that whole distance then when it hits the steel it will reflect and unless you have mirror polished steel what will most likely reflect back is a "cloud" of uncollimated light. Then that "cloud needs to travel whatever distance it may be to someones eyes. I just tested this with 300mW of red reflecting off of a matte aluminum surface and a polished aluminum surface. at 1' there is a dim red cloud reflected off the matte surface at about 6' the cloud is no longer visible at 300mw(it was visible at 1.3W) with the polished surface it was visible at greater distances but it was still a messy uncollimated blob because of the imperfections in the metal. the only person I would recommend a class I/II laser to would have to be my friend who runs a sword shop, that place is like 60% reflective and 90% retro-reflective

Ah, ok, so I could go for Class IIIa then.

Will give Dragon Laser a look for 561nm pointers, if they have.
I love the amber colour alot, but it is of no use if it'd be hardly visible in daylight.

Thank you alot for your time and answers. :thanks:

561 will be a yellow green chartreuse color. Dragonlasers should not have it because people had to pester CNI (where dragonlasers products are made) to get 561nm built in to a handheld. You most likely will have to go directly through CNI and ask for 1-5mW of 561 in a pgl host. Keep in mind that 561 is a finicky DPSS wavelength. you may get well under 5mW or even peak over that amount at 6-10mW+. It all depends on the temperature. It will also be quite expensive 20mW of 561 goes for about $800usd. For that much you could get 80-100mW+ of amber 589. You could go the green route. It will be more stable than 561. You could get it built into an 18650 host or you could do the GLP host which is like a large pen. It is very heavy and it feel good in your hand. Here is a thread on mine. A green one would be slightly different because it would have a black and gold motif. It does run on Cr2's though which have a far lower capacity than an 18650. 5mW of 532 would still be very visible during the day and would cost many times less. the glp would cost $50usd and the pgl would be in the ballpark of $100-150usd.

I think I will go for something more standard.

It'll be my first, professionally chosen laser, based on technical data.

Mmm, just seen that even Class IIIa is not common... Dragon Lasers jumps to 30mW for an 18650 green laser pointer. Only the 589nm laser pointer in 18650 form seems to stick to a reasonable 5mW (which would be the upper limit of Class IIIa, right?).

MDK said:

I think I will go for something more standard.

It'll be my first, professionally chosen laser, based on technical data.

Mmm, just seen that even Class IIIa is not common... Dragon Lasers jumps to 30mW for an 18650 green laser pointer. Only the 589nm laser pointer in 18650 form seems to stick to a reasonable 5mW (which would be the upper limit of Class IIIa, right?).

Click to expand...

Anything over 5mW is considered Class IIIb until you hit 500mW. Anything below <5mW is Class IIIa until you hit 1mW(generally speaking) Be aware that most DL lasers are over-spec, even though the power being listed is 5mW, it most likely will output more.

If you want a guaranteed <5mW 589 laser check out Laserglow. Be aware they only offer a CR2 battery version I believe, and their prices will be higher but they do also quality test every laser.

You might have better luck if you were willing to go for a higher powered laser. Based on what you've said, you want a nice visible dot, a good quality aluminum host, it to be fairly durable, us a single 18650, and to have a keylock.

Based on that, this laser would suit your needs well:
PL 532nm 100-700

You can get a 100 mW model, which would offer the visibility you want, while being safe. The only way you could hurt someones eye with it is if you hit them right in the eye. Its not going to reflect off anything with enough power to do harm.

On the subject of safety, I bring my lasers to my college (because my instructors are awesome) and all 20 of us all have a go with it and nobody has ever been hurt. Just instruct people on the safe operation of a laser, and you'll be fine.

EDIT: If you were to change your preference of battery and were willing to use a laser that takes 2X 16340's, then this might be even better for your needs:
http://www.laserbtb.com/productshow.asp?id=76

It comes in as low as 30 mW which is even more safe, and its a pure diode laser which would make it more durable.

EDIT II:
Perhaps if you cannot find a pre-made laser that fits your needs, you could commission one of this forums many builders to construct a laser for you.

Mmmm, interesting, although I am surprised at how much those pointers weigh :wtf:

Does that 18650 battery one really weigh 1,5 kgs?

I like the lens shutter and key lock though. The 16340 batteries will be a no go.

I can charge 18650 with my Nitecore P25, but I have nothing for 16340s. And laserbtb doesn't seem to sell batteries, only a charger (selling pointers and chargers, but no batteries ).

Thank you once again, Blackwolf, Tha Greenlander and Blarg King.

I learn something at every post (and still I read most stickies). :beer:

Blarg King said:

You might have better luck if you were willing to go for a higher powered laser. Based on what you've said, you want a nice visible dot, a good quality aluminum host, it to be fairly durable, us a single 18650, and to have a keylock.

Based on that, this laser would suit your needs well:
PL 532nm 100-700

You can get a 100 mW model, which would offer the visibility you want, while being safe. The only way you could hurt someones eye with it is if you hit them right in the eye. Its not going to reflect off anything with enough power to do harm.

Click to expand...

I would have thought the HL series would be more practical to suggest especially if it's being used as a pointer. the PL is large and heavy verging on "lab portable". I also don't think it's all that sensible to suggest that someone is perfectly safe waving around a 100mW laser, all that needs to happen is 5-10% of that laser light gets reflected back and you're looking at potential eye damage.

Although this thread has probably already confused the heck out of the OP, my suggestions are as follows:

LP 638nm 660nm 5-130 - Skylaser 638nm pen, brighter red, get it in 5mW for maximum balance of safety and visibility.

LP 515nm 532nm 1-150 - Skylaser 515nm pen, direct green diode 5mW. Little bit brighter than the 638, more expensive.

Laserglow Technologies - Laserglow pointers, a whole "host" (har har) of pointers in various colours and not above 5mW.

None of my suggestions capitalise on the need for a 18650 as you generally won't find hosts that take such that are below 5mW. It's not sensible to advocate waving around powerful laser pointers in public as safety should be no compromise.

The only possible thing to be wary of with the Skylaser pens is they may be very overspec, whereas the laserglow ones are metered to meet laser power regulations.

Been checking around on the different sites.

Now hesitant between

• LP 515nm 5 mW + IR filter from laserbtb
  (LP 515nm 532nm 1-150)
• Laserglow Lyra 532nm 5 mW

The first one is more expensive, but has FDA protections like key switch. (is it for all models?)

I'll survive with it only using AAA batteries :cryyy:

PS: laserbtb is laser diode, whilst Lyra is DPSS, so, on the laserbtb LP, the IR filter is useless, right?

^

Yes you don't need an IR filter for the 515nm model. And yes, all the 515nm pen models from laserbtb have a "FDA safety switch".

It all depends on you really at this point...

If you go with LG you are guaranteed to receive a <5mW pointer and the quality will be superb. If you go with the 515nm from laserbtb the quality won't be as high as LG and the pointer will most likely output 5mW>. That being said, less people have seen 515nm than 532nm.

go with the 515. it is a diode so it is far less fragile than the DPSS 532. In your field I would go with the durability.

Well, that's done, in 10-16 days, if all goes well, I'll be father of a new baby :drool:

Went for the laserbtb 515 5mW. :san: