Hand levels are often mis-labeled as pocket transits on Ebay. A transit, by definition, measures horizontal and vertical angles in increments of at least one degree. A hand level does not measure angles but merely ensures that a line of sight is parallel to the horizon. Hand levels are usually small telescopes, from 2 to 10x with vertical and horizontal cross-hairs like a telescopic rifle sight, a level bubble mounted on the tube, and a prism that allows the bubble to be viewed while looking through the telescope. The idea is to align the cross-hairs on a measuring tape or elevation rod and read the height on the horizontal plane (by keeping the level bubble between the registration lines). By subtracting the height of instrument (distance from ground surface to the obwerver's eye) from the reading, you obtain the difference in elevation between the two points. The accuracy of a hand level decreases with distance, depending on magnification and optical resolution.

Some hand levels include three horizontal cross-hairs, as do most transits, which is apparently where the confusion between levels and transits arises. The upper and lower horizontal hairs are called stadia hairs and can be used to estimate the distance between the instrument and the rod or tape, if the stadia interval is known. The difference between the top hair reading and the bottom hair reading multiplied by the stadia interval is the distance estimate. Most transits have a stadia interval of 1:100. Hand level stadia intervals are usually between 1:25 and 1:50. The presence of stadia hairs does not make the instrument a transit.  It is simply a higher-quality hand level. The accuracy of an elevation estimate can also be increased significantly by averaging the reading of the three horizontal hairs rather than simply taking the center hair reading. Like most optical survey instruments, the popularity of hand levels in general is waning as laser instruments become more prevalent.