Red lasers are near the edge of the visible light spectrum at 700 nanometers, and green lasers are in the center of the visible light spectrum at 550 nanometers, making them much easier for human eyes to detect.

Green lasers are up to 4 times brighter than red lasers and are visible in daylight as far as 650' (198 m) away with the naked eye and up to 1,000' (305 m) with a detector. They also produce a clean, sharp line with less scatter over long distances than red lasers.

The work environment plays a significant role in the type of laser that is the most appropriate for you. If you are working in a small, dark area, a red laser may be adequate but not all-encompassing. If you are working at a massive oil refinery, a large enclosed manufacturing facility, or an outdoor environment, you will need the more powerful green laser. In either case, you must ensure that your laser is rated to operate in the environment you plan to use it. A typical laser pointer is not rated for use in a hazardous work environment, no matter which color.

Historically green lasers have been significantly more expensive than red because of the outdated laser color conversion technology they used. 

This resulted in inferior lost-cost red lasers being substituted for the much more visible green variants. With the advent of actual green laser diodes, the cost of producing them has been dramatically reduced. As this cost continues to come down, the number of green laser products in intrinsically safe work environments will increase.

Because of the knowledge and expense required to engineer intrinsically safe green laser products, a limited number of companies can achieve this. Nightstick, a global manufacturer of over 50+ intrinsically safe professional, portable LED lighting products, has developed a new ETLus listed intrinsically safe Class I Division 1 flashlight with an integrated 3R green laser pointer built-in combining two tools into one compact package.

Locate a dealer near you at www.nightstick.com