Well I loaned out my dads old transit to an "associate" way back. I have given up hope of ever getting it back. It was a 1950's beauty, all metal, krinkle paint, lots of brass, wood tripod... Too bad, I have the memories of using it with him. It was the kick-off of many projects. I have mostly learned my lesson about loaning out stuff.

All i need is a horizontal only builders level, automatic leveling would be nice. I don't want a laser, just optical builders level with tripod. I might only use it once per year.

Which one? Does it matter if the body is plastic? At home Depot they have the Bosch rig at about $340. But Amazon has many brands. The user reviews confuse me.

WHY cant you call the guy and push for return ?

I managed to keep my Dad's Sears field level.  The stick has a leather case, seen lots of use but not that much by me, like others once a year or two, but darned handy when you need it.

As for borrowed tools, I have a wet erase board in my shop with name, tool, and borrow date.  Loaned a 4" belt sander to a kid that once worked for me, newlywed and he was refinishing hardwood floors in their house.  Several years later I saw him and asked about the sander, he had sold the house and when he moved said he wondered where the heck it came from, I got it back a few days later and well taken care of.  It can happen.

 Well JW,,,thas a great idea,,I've loaned out so many danged tools and never had em come back,,,and I get so friggin upset for not remembering who in the hack I loaned it to,,,,

 Right now,,I'm missing one of my 1/2" electric drill and one of my 2 ton come-a-longs. I just cannot remember who I loaned em to,,,and like ole Mr Miller says when I do remember,,,, they are gonna wish they had never heard of ole Joe and his tools,,,,,!!!! Sorry mofo's,

This is similar to what i bought............ this is on e-bay under "David White Transit".

So if the subject comes up if you didn't return stuff so fast that wrench would still be around. But about 5 years latter a almost new one came up on Craig's list. I think it was only 3 or 400 bucks. A old guy retired from putting up big steel buildings had 2 or 3 of them.  

Hey Ray, my daughter says they expect it to hit 108 degrees in Sacramento this week.

But still, I do miss some aspects of California. The #1 farm state in the US of A.

Dusty

 I was very impressed when I was introduced to a "Water Level" when a contractor used on to set and level HUGE towers hundreds of feet tall and many, many tons worth,,,and that is what they used to level em,,,,very impressive,,,!!

After a while things were not going right, I brought both ends of the level back together to check. The water had warmed up and had expanded and was no longer at the zero mark.

Dusty