When I heard that Irwin was coming out with a new line of hand-held levels, I wondered why. The world has enjoyed lots of great levels for years, so what could Irwin do differently? In a phrase, they’ve focused on design refinement. At first glance their new line of levels look similar to others, but it doesn’t take much time using them to see the value of several small but useful advantages. The top edge of each level is continuous, even past the spirit vials, making for much easier scribing along the entire length of the level. Also, the protective rubber end caps either pull right out or retract, for those times when you need a continuous straight edge, even right into a corner. The 6” torpedo level also includes a little plastic button that extends out the side when you push it. Activate the button, lay the tool down on this button and it automatically shows the proper slope for drain pipes. Irwin levels aren’t the cheapest, but the value is certainly there. These are currently the highest quality levels that I’ve seen so far.