I had the opportunity to review the PLS 5G green dot laser. Green lasers are all the rage right now, as they are more accurate and easier on the eyes. The 5G came right as I was getting slow on trim, so I was able to put it thru a variety of tasks. First thing I noticed was the nice plastic ammo can case with foam carved to hold all the pieces. The laser itself was in a bag also. I liked this a lot, as it did ride around in the bed of my truck for a few weeks going from job to job. The laser itself had a lock switch to lock the head so it wasn’t bouncing around in transport, a great feature that I wish some of the competitors had. Very well thought out packaging.
Chris Klee
The plastic ammo can style box is excellent. It really protects the unit and smartly stores all the included accessories. Within the case, the laser also stores in a bag that you can also attach to your belt.
Chris Klee
The plumb bob feature was outstanding for laying out basement wall locations. The sparkies also used it for laying out the lighting dead-on.
This laser is a 5-point laser. I didn’t think about what that meant until I got this unit and started using it. I have always used line lasers. Luckily, the first job I had it on was framing a basement. This unit has a plumb-bob feature that was awesome for framing. The laser has a metal stand that screws on and lines the plumb bob up with the edge of the bottom plates. This makes getting a mark on the ceiling a breeze. I show this more in the video. We were able to lay out the floor then get all our marks up on the ceiling to nail out plates exactly where we wanted them. The electricians laid out their lights on the floor and used the laser plumb-bob feature to mark the ceiling for where to install the can lights.
Chris Klee
I like that the on/off switch is simple and easy to engage.
Chris Klee
The lock switch for protecting the internal workings of the unit is great. Between that and the box, it survived lots of time in the back of my truck.
The next job I had this on was a small trim job. Not having a line made it difficult to use for cabinets or wood walls (see Chris’s excellent 2-part series on shiplap here). I did use it to line up a straight line by measuring a set distance on both ends then using a target to get the board straight. The same thing could have been done with a chalk line for what I was doing, but for a long line, this tool would be hard to beat. For commercial metal-stud work, I could see this 5-line laser being a solid winner lining up long runs of straight walls and working as a plumb bob.
Despite my being new to dot lasers, the PLS measured up. It’s well packaged and very accurate. For framing, this unit seems like it excelled where lesser lasers fall off. This laser is perfect for doing plumb-bob work and keeping long straight lines in check. All told, even though this laser is more of a rough-carpentry tool than I am used to, it delivered on the accuracy that I needed across several projects and trades.