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• This level promises an accuracy of 0.0005 inches/inch. What matters more to me is that I can’t see any difference in the position of the bubble when flipping the level around. That means it’s as accurate as it needs to be within the readability of the bubble.

• This wooden level is not yet old and uselessly warped. Give it time.

• This machinist’s level promises an accuracy of 0.02mm/m, or 0.00002 inches/inch. That’s about 8 seconds of arc. It’s hard to get the bubble centered in a level this accurate: the difference between level and visibly not level is two ten-thousandths of an inch (0.005mm) over its length.

• This plumb bob came with a transit, but it’s just like those you’d buy separately for common plumbing and picture hanging tasks.

• This one has divisions every 0.2 degrees, and a full range of 3 degrees in any direction.

• This level can be read to better than one tenth of a degree (6 minutes of arc), which corresponds to a slope of about one part per thousand. But even a one-degree tilt throws it completely off the scale.

• These cute little blocks are 1D, 2D, and 3D levels. Since there is no such thing as level in three directions at once, the 3D one must be meant to be fastened to things that can be either level or plumb (vertical).

• This fancy electronic water level has a detector and beeper on one end. You set the fancy end at the level you want on one side, then slowly lift the other end up until you hear the beep.

• This level has a laser beam in line with its bubble, allowing you to extend the level line a great distance away.

• If you need a specific angle, a level like this lets you dial in any angle you like and then get the bubble leveled.

• Red level

• Old transits are beautiful brass instruments of great precision.

• This 3D level is meant to be strapped to a fence post so you can check that it is exactly vertical in both directions before adding concrete around it. When I recently built a fence I used the Empire brand level from the previous page instead, because I wanted the posts to actually come out right.

• This is a manual panorama head, used to rotate a camera in steps around a circle to take a very wide picture. It has a pair of bubble levels to get it level in both directions, and a protractor scale so you can turn it by fixed amounts.

• This commercial water level kit has two clear tubes with garden hose fittings on the bottom: you supply however much garden hose you need.

• This crude bullseye level will only get things approximately level: each division is 1 degree.

• This level is meant to be magnetically stuck to the brake disk in a car wheel, so you can align the wheel correctly. It has an adjusting screw to let you accurately level the vial within the level.

• I don’t think there’s any compelling advantage one way or the other between two straight levels and one bullseye level.

• I bought several brands of string level for a project once and couldn’t use any of them. They were just too far away from actually showing level. Holding a proper level up to the string worked better.

• In fact they are so beautiful that people make barely-functional modern reproductions just to look pretty and brassy on a shelf.

• Because smartphones all have accelerometers in them, it just takes is a bit of programming in the form of an App to turn a phone into a pretty good digital level. This is the only level I know of that comes with advertising, but hey, someone’s got to pay the bills.

Do you have a better example of this kind of tool? Let me know by leaving a comment, and include a picture of it if you can so everyone can see!