This week we got to do some hands on with the new Swanson Savage Torpedo levels. These new Swanson Savage levels are made of solid billet aluminum and feature new “Brightview” vials which almost seem to light up from within. The way they are designed they really tend to suck in light to make the level easier to read, even in dimmer areas. The Savage series of levels (including the Lil Savage) have 4 really strong rare earth magnets which, in the demo we tried, allowed us to pick up a 12 pound block of steel without losing grip. If you’re doing commercial work with steel studs this could really come in handy.
The Swanson Savage levels come with a nice V-grooved edge so they’ll do well sitting atop a piece of copper piping or anything else that has a rounded edge but needs to be leveled. The Savage model has 0, 90, 30 and 45 degree integrated leveling vials while the Lil Savage has 0, 90 and 45 degrees. The Lil Savage adds a “Tri-loc” attachment which allows you to clamp the torpedo level onto conduit so you can get it accurately level when bending. It’s a handy option and one that will likely put this level into a lot of electrician’s tool bags.
