Firecore 16-Foot Aluminum Grade Rod - 10ths, 5 Sections Telescopic with Bubble Level-FLR500B

After 3 months of daily use I've come to these conclusions:Pros:1) Its cheap: You can buy 3-4 of these compared to 1 good quality SECO fiberglass rod. Treat them as temporary. Great if your rods grow feet and walk off to join another trade.2) Light and strong enough to hold its own weight fully extended out horizontal with reasonable/minimal deflection. Great for one person measuring & marking a set distance from a structure. Can use all day fully extended with no soreness. Would much rather pack this into the site than a Fiberglass rod. You barely notice you have it and it's more compact 4' sections are more packable in a backpack or stakebag.Cons:1) Its cheap: you'll have to actually use it as a level rod and that's it. The lock buttons break pretty easily and repairs are exclusively tape...always include a roll of electric tape as your edc when using this rod. It's not a walking stick, a pole to lean on, a push pole or a catch/pike pole. It's a level rod. Thats it. It's design to be just good enough to not suck at being a level rod.2) it's flimsy. You're not putting a 5/8" all thread on the end and using it as a makeshift rover pole. Banish the thought. Just looking at a R8/R12 header will break this thing.Conclusions: Light weight and just good enough to not suck at its specific task. If you expect the concrete crew is looking for a level rod; leave your $200 fiberglass rod at the house and let them steal this thing. It's good enough to get you through the day but crappy enough noone will steal it a second time.

After looking around and reading many reviews on this product. I chose this for my laser. I'm not a contractor so I wasn't looking to spend hundreds on one..I only needed for basic usages around my property and this fit my needs perfectly. Price point was perfect. Very durable and I love it comes with a storage case.

The media could not be loaded. I was surprised to find that in addition to 1/8s of an inch on one side, this Rod also has 10's of a foot on the other side. (Not a problem -- just surprised!)My only complaint is that there is no place in the carrying case for the bubble level. I used a rubber band to strap it to the top (narrow) part of the rod, and it fits in the carrying case fine. But rubber bands don't last very long, so it's not a great solution.

We use this to scale log decks as a timber sale is closing out as a means to estimate the volume of logs left on the log landing. This product appears to be durable and is lighter than the fiberglass unit we lugged around in the past. The numbers are easy for my "aging" eyes to see. Price point was fair, and we received it in a timely manner. The only downside at this point is the carrying case is a bit too delicate for me. Overall happy with the product thus far!

I will start with the total nitpicking. There is an awesome little level you can use if your measuring on a grade (i.e. steep driveway) that just kinda floats around in the bag. I have almost lost it a few times taking the firecore out of the bag usually drops out as you’re pulling out the measuring stick ( bag also very nice). I now have it twist tied to the firecore would have been awesome (for the price) to maybe have a separate little pocket on the case for the level.That said this thing is awesome. I needed a way to accurately measure many overhanging trees on a steep driveway in an attempt to drag my 37ft 5th wheel trailer onto our property. Being in CA it’s a major sin to do almost any cutting to the super old oak trees lining my drive. However I also didn’t want a branch tearing off with or both of the A/C units on the trailers roof. With a bit of mapping and measuring I guaranteed that I was removing only a minimal few little branches and got the trailer up the drive intact. I will find many more uses I am sure. Maybe I’ll start charging my friends and family as it has been borrowed multiple time.

Worked well when grading around my home and leveling our above ground pool

For what you pay, this is a great tool. Solid build, rigid, great for my home improvements

Did the job i need it to do.