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Oka! It sounds like we're narrowing it down. Is it pretty agreeable that a 520 direct diode is one of the more stable and durable lasers? Durable enough to say, drop it on the ground? Or throw my backpack on the ground with it inside? To be in 100 degree direct sunlight for a few hours...

Thank you for all the responses guys. Unfortunately, there is less consensus on the topic than I was hoping for. Also, I was hoping we would be able to stay on topic slightly more than we are. Great ideas about radios, sat phones, distress beacons, etc... But I am referring solely to...

Oka, so basically I'm getting a "no" from two different people. That's good to know that I'm not going to waste hundreds of dollars on something that's not even going to work well hah. What flashlights would you recommend? Anyone else have input?

No... we're not talking about that anymore. In fact, I never was. The thread was hijacked for a while by someone who brought that up.

Just to reiterate. You're saying, say, a 500mW 532 on a cloudless night is virtually invisible? Must less visible from miles away? How many mW are we talking to be clearly visible on a cloudless night? And what about this focused flashlights, how far are these able to be seen?

Sure, that's a possibility. I don't know how strong that would look though surrounded by thick brush. You might need to find some sort of clearing for that to even be visible. So it seems to have more drawbacks than the other two options.

Thanks for the feedback guys. I guess I need to think about a flashlight instead. Let's suppose you're in a helicopter flying over vast forest looking for someone at dusk or night. You're searching for any form or light or something that sticks out. If I shine a laser or a flashlight...

If I'm in a survival situation, what "people" are you referring to? There isn't going to be any "people" around. Remember, this is deep into national forest. There will almost certainly be emergency people looking to when I'm scheduled to come back home on a certain date and 1-2 days has past...

Hey guys, Haven't logged on here in a while but it's good to be back. I'm not an engineer, I know very little about lasers and nothing about building them. I am looking to purchase one however. I've just started doing some medium-distance backpacking trips and began thinking some sort of...

A little late, but welcome Britishkid! Everyone I've met here is extremely helpful, polite, and knowledgeable. I'm sure you'll enjoy it!

I agree with you Atomic, from what I've heard from most people the reliability and stability of a single mode diode is the way to go. However, I was under the impression that a 50mW 450 would have fairly little beam visibility and a 20mW 450 wouldn't have any. So when you say it will still be...

Good stuff DorDie. I appreciate the recommendation. I'll ping him about it and see what he says. However, I'm still thinking along the lines of 20-50mW now, so 250mW just might be too extreme for me hah. I've kind of given up on the whole visible beam idea due to the fact that I want to be...

I understand where you're coming from. To be honest, I do want you to tell me to go with the high powered 445! hah. But more than that, I want you to tell me what's realistic like I know you have been. It's unfortunate it's just not realistic for what I want, but that's life. So I'm thinking...

Thanks for your input! Again, thanks for your input as well. I'm still getting tons of new information so I really appreciate the help. And the thing is, this just IS part of my research. How else better to research something than asking people with years of experience? If you find it...

Sorry I haven't replied in a while. As I said I was out of the country and really didn't have great wifi access. I'm back now though! Oka, that's a big misunderstanding I had I guess. I had no idea it could only be turned on for fairly brief moments. As I've been thinking about it more I...

Thanks for your continuing to help out Atomic. I'm totally getting what you're saying, but it's hard for me to relate because I don't own a 520. Could you maybe speak in terms of 532? That is, how many mW of 445 would I need to equal the beam visibility of say a 50mW 532? Also I think...

I just joined LPF this week but already I know what my dream laser would be. That is, I'm trying to make a 445 laser gun sight. Some members in my thread on it have already helped me a bunch in understanding what I should be looking for/how to get it to work. 1) 445nm 2) Single mode diode 3)...

To turn on accessories, yes. Do you own? How do you do it? EDIT: I'm not leaving out the possibility of using the activation pad. But if the laser I'm aiming to get caps at 50mW, a 15% decease from that may not be worth it. Hard to tell at this point but I'm not taking that option off the...

Oka, the visual really helps. Yes, you are right about weighing done the AR-15 too much. As well as weight displacement would be off. However, I think I would be comfortable going 1-2 inches longer (the picture with you holding it in your hand was perfect visual). So do you think you could...

Ah oka, thanks for the clarification. Sorry, it sounded as if you said you can see the 445 beam TOO much and yet not as much as 30mW of 520 (unless you go 200mW of 445). Do mean the beam would be so visible at 50-100mW that you couldn't be able to see the dot and thus where you are aiming? I...