A sub-nanosecond microchip laser was constructed using a Nd:La0.15Gd0.85VO4 with Cr4+:YAG saturable absorber. A single 880 ps pulse was recorded under an incident pump power of 4.91 W, corresponding to a repetition rate of 35 kHz. When the incident pump power exceeded 5 W, the system transferred a single picosecond pulse train into 0.9/1.1 ns two pulse train forms. The average output power increased from 108 mW to 130 mW, corresponding to a peak power decrease from 3.5 kW to ~1.8 kW, which might be utilized for laser pulse self-calibrations in time-of-flight distance measurements.