Did you know you can make a 200+ mW red laser strong enough to light a match, by taking the laser diode from a DVD RW unit and putting it into a low power laser pointer, replacing its existing low power diode
http://www.instructables.com/id/EWM4YR2F4WY1LQ2/
I had a dead DVd RW here (Liteon) I got the diode/heatsink assembly out, connected it to 2 Ni Mh AA cells and wow this deep red diffuse light lit up the ground (I had it facing down). It was many, many times brighter then my 0.8 mW red laser pointer. Ive no doubt if that diode was installed into a laser pointer it would show a very visible red beam and go for many km. Sadly, on trying to remove the diode from the heatsink I damaged it, it no longer lases, rather just emits a small amount of red light like a normal diode.
To make a really exotic (and dangerous ) pointer get one of these
http://www.photonic-products.com/pro...violetblue.htm
a blue-violet laserdiode