Empire levels have been in the business of making quality levels for a long time. Recently Milwaukee Tool bought them out which only means one thing, innovation. Milwaukee tends to be a company that is always pushing the envelope and creating new and exciting products. While levels aren’t always exciting, they are necessary if you want to get a job done the right way.
Empire Torpedo Level Review – Features
The 10″ torpedo level features an all metal frame to protect it against the job site conditions.
On the bottom rail, there are rare earth magnets that allow this level to stick to metal even upside down.
On the top rail, there is a small groove that allows this to sit on top of pipe such as PVC. The groove is intended for scribing and measuring. There is also a top viewing window.
The vials are protected by a plastic encasement.
There are three vials. On the middle vial, there is a read slope at 1/8″ and 1/4″ in either direction.
The vials use a blue liquid for TrueBlue viewing.
Empire Torpedo Level Review – Performance
It’s hard to really measure the performance of a level but there are a couple of things that stood out to me.
The magnets are very strong even when using on the bottom of a pipe. The vials are fairly easy to read. While I like green vials, the blue is nice, I just wish it was a deeper blue as I think that would make it a little easier to read.
The groove on the top of the level makes it much easier using this on top of PVC pipe.
Empire Torpedo Level Review – Value
For the price, this level is hard to beat. Most other levels of this caliber are priced higher. Sure you can get a cheap plastic level for less, but who really wants that? For a price tag of $18, it’s hard to beat.
Empire Torpedo Level Review – Final Thoughts
Overall this is a great level. Lightweight and offers some great features. Made in the USA is important to me and this level has that proud flag. While I do wish the blue was a deeper blue, it’s still easy to read in darker areas.
