Bosch GLL100G 100 Ft Self-Leveling Laser with Green Beam
This review was created as part of a paid affiliate program with the Home Depot.
My first order of business with this and every product review is a disclaimer: I am not a professional contractor. I am a farmer and a fine furniture maker. When it comes to construction and renovation projects, I’m a DIYer and weekend warrior. That said, I doubt many professional contractors will be reading my tool reviews. My goal in reviewing tools and products is to provide honest feedback based on my own use and experience with these tools to other regular folks like me- wanting to get their hands dirty, try new things, and get the best value for their hard earned dollars.
So Lets talk about the Bosch 100ft Self-Leveling Laser with Green Beam
The past three months, we’ve been overhauling my woodworking, fabrication, and blacksmithing shops to create a more organized, efficient space with a logical workflow. As part of that, we tried to give every single tool a spot where it can live permanently, a spot where it can always be found and always put away. And that means we ended up hanging a WHOOOOLLLLLEEEEE lot of stuff up on the walls. Enter, the Bosch 100ft Self-Leveling Laser.
This laser is easy to use right out of the box. Put batteies in, flip on the switch, and either use the included mounting bracket, set it on the nearest useful surface, or mount it on your own stand. It has the two most common thread sizes for mountable tools and cameras, so I can pretty conveniently use whatever stand happens to be close by with this laser. It self-levels and projects in seconds, and it helped calm my OCD while hanging straight wall panels for hanging tools. The only thing that wasn’t great about this whole experience was that the thing is so dang level, my panel placement was perfect, while my walls were not, but hopefully in the new shop I build in Nashville, we won’t have the same woes with out of plumb walls as we’ve had in this old building.
Battery life is great, it runs on AA batteries, and since I’ve been using rechargeable batteries for my camera equipment, we’ve just added a few more into the rotation for the lasers as well. We haven’t had problems using it in Seattle rain or humidity, and the green beam is definitely a big improvement over the red beam in terms of outside visibility, but I’ve yet to find a laser I can use in full sun. In morning or evening light, or on overcast days, visibility with this laser is about 60 feet outdoors. In bright light situations, it is about 6’. That hasn’t ever posed a problem for me though because I’ve not been in a situation where I’ve needed more than that.
The Bosch GLL100G tool has a $249 Price tag. Is it worth it?
We’ve reviewed a lot of Bosch levels and grading equipment the past couple of years and this is of the same premium quality. When working indoors, it’s a lot easier to control the light situation, so if you’re looking for a less expensive option for assistance hanging pictures and leveling things for DIY home products, I highly recommend the Bosch GLL30. But if you’re looking for a better “all around” tool and you’ve got to do much of anything in the daylight, you’re going to want to go with a much more powerful laser beam like the GLL100G has to offer.