I would be a little cautious with the red one in an urban/suburban environment. While it fans out the beam on a surface, when looking at it you will see a pinpoint of red light, one might think they are being targeted by a weapon’s laser sight.

Pete

If someone thought you were targeting them it sounds like you are either horsing around where/when you shouldn't be or ITEOTWAWKI

I hate to say it, but Pete is probably right. Recently we have seen an increase in firefighters being fired at as they arrived on scene of working fires.

The other issues is, if you are far enough up that you need a laser flare to signal firefighters on the ground... you are probably so high up in the building you will likely not be able to open a window and rescue from that height would be near impossible from the exterior. You best bet is to get to a stairwell and start heading down if the stairwell is clear.

Thanks for the corrected info...I'd based the red/green on the performance of my own ITT gen3 unit which is several years old, and how it sees green vs red. I shouldn't have assumed that modern gear is the same, or that the laser is the same as other green light. I wonder if maybe a little bit of the IR is making it through the blocking filter, and that's one reason it works so well? Just a guess here. I'll now have to test a friend's green laser with my ITT unit.

So allow me to ask a dumb question.

I think I understand the value of the laser. It certainly concentrates the light and does not "waste" energy in different directions. Also, if you shine it upwards, it marks your position very well i.e. an observer can readily trace the beam back to its source.

But is a laser better than a strobe light? What about the new generation of powerful flashlights that include a strobe option? I would think the strobe would also be highly visible to S&R personnel.

Pete

For my tastes (YMMV) I would prefer the green rescue laser. However at current cost a McMurdo Fast Find PLB is only slightly more expensive.

As I own neither piece of equipment, i would first look to the PLB over a laser device...unless said laser beam was created by the Allan Parsons Project in which case I would spent 100 million dollars.

If you are interested in more info than you can shake a stick at on lasers (pointer and other styles), look here:

Laser Forum

On second thought, absolutely do NOT look there. You might accidentally hurt yourself, or find inexpensive reliable products that could be used to help save your life in an emergency.