Kit: Bosch Laser Rangefinder

Back in the ‘80s, when I first started work, I was introduced to the latest in high tech measuring equipment: a Wild-Heerbrugg DISTOMAT range finding theodolite. I used it to calibrate navigation and positioning systems in the days before precision GPS. That device could measure distances over several thousand yards to within an inch – quite astonishing, even now. It cost a (not so) small fortune.

Well, times have changed and devices derived from that technology are now available to me in my home. Bosch make a line of handheld laser measuring devices that are no longer solely in the realm of the professional. The Bosch DLR165K Laser Distance Measuring Device is amazingly compact, incredibly precise, and surprisingly affordable.

It allows you to quickly, and with supreme accuracy, measure a house or garden project – quite literally singlehandedly. Amazing, unless of course you’re one of the guys from this video.

When they’re having this much fun, is it any wonder construction projects always overrun?